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Effects of Catchment Activities on Macrofaunal Assemblages in Tasmanian Estuaries
journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-16, 12:34 authored by Graham EdgarGraham Edgar, Neville BarrettNeville BarrettSilt loadings associated with human activities in catchments were inferred to have an extremely widespread effect on estuarine macrobenthos around Tasmania. Estuaries with human population densities exceeding 10 km-2 in catchments consistently possessed muddy rather than sandy beds and shores, and were dominated by infauna rather than epifauna. Estuaries with human population densities below 1 km-2 in catchments possessed sandy sediments and numerous epifaunal species. These effects were consistent within groups of estuaries possessing similar hydrology and geomorphology. Although faunal composition differed substantially between estuaries possessing low and high human population densities, the number of macrofaunal species was similar. Population effects therefore could neither be detected using species richness indices, nor by the ABC method. Faunal changes were most clearly detected using disturbance indices weighted by the sensitivity of individual species to human activity. Two such indices, which are based on abundance (DI(n)) and productivity (DI(p)) data, are suggested to provide useful local indicators of estuarine health. (C) 2000 Academic Press.
History
Publication title
Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf ScienceVolume
50Issue
5Pagination
639-654ISSN
0272-7714Department/School
Institute for Marine and Antarctic StudiesPublisher
Academic PressPlace of publication
LondonRepository Status
- Restricted