TY - JOUR
T1 - Extreme eutrophication and salinisation in the Coorong estuarine-lagoon ecosystem of Australia's largest river basin (Murray-Darling)
AU - Mosley, Luke
AU - Priestley, Stacey
AU - Brookes, Justin
AU - Dittmann, Sabine
AU - Farkas, Juraj
AU - Farrell, Mark
AU - Ferguson, A
AU - Gibbs, Matthew
AU - Hipsey, Matt
AU - Huang, Leslie
AU - Lam-Gordillo, Orlando
AU - Simpson, Stuart
AU - Tyler, Jonathan
AU - Waycott, Michelle
AU - Welsh, David
PY - 2023/3
Y1 - 2023/3
N2 - Estuaries in rainfall poor regions are highly susceptible to climatic and hydrological changes. The Coorong, a
Ramsar-listed estuarine-coastal lagoon at the end of the Murray-Darling Basin (Australia), has experienced declining
ecological health over recent decades. Twenty years of environmental data were analysed to assess patterns
and drivers of water quality changes. Large areas of the Coorong are now persistently hyper-saline (salinity
>80 psu) and hypereutrophic (total nitrogen, TN > 4 mg L−1, total phosphorus, TP > 0.2 mg L−1, chlorophyll
a > 50 μg L−1) which coincided with reduced flushing due to diminished freshwater inflows and increasing
evapo-concentration. Sediment quality also was related to flushing, with higher concentrations of organic carbon,
TN, TP and sulfides as salinity increased. While total nutrient levels are very high, dissolved inorganic nutrients
are generally low. Increased lagoonal flushing would be beneficial to reduce the hypersalinisation and hypereutrophication and improve ecosystem health.
AB - Estuaries in rainfall poor regions are highly susceptible to climatic and hydrological changes. The Coorong, a
Ramsar-listed estuarine-coastal lagoon at the end of the Murray-Darling Basin (Australia), has experienced declining
ecological health over recent decades. Twenty years of environmental data were analysed to assess patterns
and drivers of water quality changes. Large areas of the Coorong are now persistently hyper-saline (salinity
>80 psu) and hypereutrophic (total nitrogen, TN > 4 mg L−1, total phosphorus, TP > 0.2 mg L−1, chlorophyll
a > 50 μg L−1) which coincided with reduced flushing due to diminished freshwater inflows and increasing
evapo-concentration. Sediment quality also was related to flushing, with higher concentrations of organic carbon,
TN, TP and sulfides as salinity increased. While total nutrient levels are very high, dissolved inorganic nutrients
are generally low. Increased lagoonal flushing would be beneficial to reduce the hypersalinisation and hypereutrophication and improve ecosystem health.
U2 - 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.114648
DO - 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.114648
M3 - Article
C2 - 36724670
SN - 0025-326X
VL - 188
JO - Marine Pollution Bulletin
JF - Marine Pollution Bulletin
M1 - 114648
ER -