Water use across a catchment and effects on estuarine health and productivity: Little Swanport

The most recent field study of the Little Swanport estuary, Tasmania carried out by Crawford et al. (2006) collected monthly samples at sites throughout the estuary between January 2004 and January 2005. Measurements included water column nutrients, chlorophyll-a, dissolved oxygen, salinity, phytoplankton, zooplankton and oyster growth. This work demonstrated that freshwater flows had a significant effect on salinity, turbidity, dissolved oxygen and nutrient levels in the estuary. However, monthly sampling didn’t provide the temporal resolution necessary to detect potential flow-on effects on the biology (e.g. phytoplankton and zooplankton dynamics, oyster growth). To gain

an improved understanding of the temporal dynamics of the estuary, including the response to freshwater flow, samples were collected weekly (chlorophyll-a), fortnightly (nutrients and zooplankton) and bimonthly (oysters) between March 2006 and June 2008 at a site in the lower estuary where the majority of oysters are farmed

Simple

Identification info

Date (Creation)
2011-11-22T10:33:00

Principal investigator

Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute (TAFI) - Crawford, Christine, Dr
Private Bag 49
Hobart
TAS
7001
Australia
ORCID ID >

Collaborator

Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute (TAFI) - Ross, Jeff, Dr
Private Bag 49
Hobart
TAS
7001
Australia
ORCID ID >

Purpose
To complete an investigation of environmental flow regimes required to maintain the health and production of oysters from the Little Swanport estuary through continued collection of environmental data under different flows and by the development of an estuarine model to predict the effects of different flow regimes.
Credit
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC): 2005/072
Credit
Natural Resource Management (NRM) South
Status
Completed

Principal investigator

Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), University of Tasmania (UTAS) - Crawford, Christine, Dr
IMAS - Taroona
Private Bag 49
Hobart
TAS
7001
Australia
ORCID ID >

Collaborator

Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), University of Tasmania (UTAS) - Ross, Jeff, Dr
IMAS - Taroona
Private Bag 49
Hobart
TAS
7001
Australia
ORCID ID >

Topic category
  • Oceans

Extent

N
S
E
W


Temporal extent

Time period
2006-03-01T00:00:00 2008-06-30T00:00:00

Vertical element

Minimum value
0
Maximum value
3
Identifier
EPSG::5715
Name
MSL depth
Maintenance and update frequency
Not planned

Resource format

Title
Microsoft Excel (xls)
Date
Edition
2003
Global Change Master Directory Earth Science Keywords v.5.3.8
  • Agriculture | Agricultural Aquatic Sciences | Aquaculture
  • Human Dimensions | Environmental Impacts | Water Management
  • Biosphere | Aquatic Habitat | Estuarine Habitat
  • Biosphere | Aquatic Habitat | Benthic Habitat
  • Oceans | Coastal Processes | Intertidal Zone
  • Oceans | Ocean Chemistry | Nutrients
  • Oceans | Ocean Chemistry | Chlorophyll
  • Biosphere | Zoology | Zooplankton
Keywords (Theme)
  • Oyster aquaculture
  • Catchments
  • Environmental flows
  • Estuarine health
Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC): Fields of Research
Keywords (Theme)
  • Ammonia
  • Nitrate plus Nitrite
  • Phosphate
  • Silicate
  • Chlorophyll a
  • Abundance - zooplankton
  • Shell length - oyster
  • Shell width - oyster
  • Shell depth - oyster
  • Live weight - oyster
  • Dry weight - oyster

Resource constraints

Classification
Unclassified

Resource constraints

Use limitation
The data described in this record are the intellectual property of the University of Tasmania through the Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute.

Resource constraints

Linkage
http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by/2.5/au/88x31.png

License Graphic

Title
Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Australia License


>

Website
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au/

License Text

Other constraints
The citation in a list of references is: citation author name/s (year metadata published), metadata title. Citation author organisation/s. File identifier and Data accessed at (add http link).
Other constraints
Please contact J. Ross for access to the data.

Associated resource

Title
Tasmanian Estuaries Monitoring
Date (Creation)
2011-11-16T00:00:00
Language
English
Character encoding
UTF8
Supplemental Information
Crawford, C., Hundloe, T., Ross, J., & Fulton, B. (2010). Water Use across a catchment and effects on estuarine health and productivity. FRDC Final Report: 2005/072.

Content Information

Content type
Physical measurement
Name
Ammonia

Name
mg/m3
Name
Nitrate plus Nitrite

Name
mg/m3
Name
Phosphate

Name
mg/m3
Name
Silicate

Name
mg/m3
Name
Chlorophyll a

Name
mg N/m3
Name
Abundance - zooplankton

Name
Shell length - oyster

Name
mm
Name
Shell width - oyster

Name
mm
Name
Shell depth - oyster

Name
mm
Name
Live weight - oyster

Name
Dry weight - oyster

Name
mg

Distribution Information

Distribution format
  • Microsoft Excel (xls)

Distributor

Principal investigator

Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), University of Tasmania (UTAS) - Crawford, Christine, Dr
ORCID ID >

OnLine resource
REPORT - Project Report [direct download]

Resource lineage

Statement
Samples were collected weekly (chlorophyll-a), fortnightly (nutrients and zooplankton) and bimonthly (oysters) between March 2006 and June 2008 at a site in the lower estuary where the majority of oysters are farmed. Duplicate water samples were collected from ~20 cm below the surface for analysis of ammonia, total oxidised inorganic nitrogen (nitrite + nitrate), phosphate and silicate. Nutrient analysis was conducted by Analytical Services Tasmania (AST) using the American Public Health Association (APHA) Method 4500 on a Lachat Instrument auto analyser. Duplicate water samples for chlorophyll-a were collected using an integrated sampler consisting of 3 m long, 2.5 cm diameter tubing which sampled the entire water column to a depth of ~3 m. The sample was then filtered through a Whatman GF/F glass microfibre filter, and the filtrate wrapped in aluminium foil and frozen. Chlorophyll-a concentrations were measured spectrometrically following 90% acetone extraction (Strickland & Parsons 1972). To ensure consistency with the units used in the ecosystem model (mg Nitrogen m-3), chlorophyll-a was converted to nitrogen using a ratio of 7 mg N mg Chl-a-1 (see Murray & Parslow 1997). Zooplankton was sampled using a 100 mm mesh, single conical plankton net that was 3 m long and 0.6 m in diameter, towed ~20–30 m behind a boat. An ocean flow meter suspended in the mouth of the net was used to calculate sample volume. Samples were immediately preserved using 4% buffered formalin in seawater and later sorted in a Bogorov tray under a dissecting microscope. When zooplankton abundances were very high, samples were split using a Folsom splitter. Zooplankton abundance was converted to biomass in milligrams of nitrogen per cubic metre (mg N m-3) using existing information on the average nitrogen content of the major families (K Swadling, unpub data). To gain an improved understanding of the dynamics of oyster growth in the estuary, particularly the response to environmental flows, the growth and change in condition of oysters was measured bimonthly. The start samples consisted of 280 oysters, approximately 50–60 mm in length, selected from the farm, with 240 placed back on the farm; 60 per basket in each of two units (each unit has two baskets). The remaining 40 oysters were measured in the laboratory to provide an estimate of initial size and condition. After two months all of the oysters were collected and 20 oysters from each basket were measured in the laboratory. This cycle was repeated with a new batch of oysters every two months. To estimate oyster growth, shell length, width and depth were measured to the nearest millimetre using Vernier calipers and the whole live weight of the oysters was measured to the nearest milligram. To calculate oyster condition, tissue dry weight (60°C for 48 h) and shucked shell dry weight (60°C for 48 h) were measured and used to estimate the Crosby Gale Index (1990): Crosby and Gale Index (1990) = tissue dry weight (g) x 1000/ internal shell cavity capacity(g) where internal shell cavity capacity = whole live weight (g) – dry shell weight (g).
Hierarchy level
Dataset

Metadata

Metadata identifier
9b95eac0-011a-4a7b-b174-5b8a284600c2

Language
English
Character encoding
UTF8

Point of contact

Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), University of Tasmania (UTAS) - IMAS Data Manager

Type of resource

Resource scope
Dataset
Metadata linkage
https://metadata.imas.utas.edu.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/9b95eac0-011a-4a7b-b174-5b8a284600c2

Point of truth URL of this metadata record

Date info (Creation)
2021-03-30T21:49:31
Date info (Revision)
2021-03-30T21:49:31

Metadata standard

Title
ISO 19115-3:2018
 
 

Overviews

Spatial extent

N
S
E
W


Keywords

Abundance - zooplankton Ammonia Catchments Chlorophyll a Dry weight - oyster Environmental flows Estuarine health Live weight - oyster Nitrate plus Nitrite Oyster aquaculture Phosphate Shell depth - oyster Shell length - oyster Shell width - oyster Silicate
Global Change Master Directory Earth Science Keywords v.5.3.8
Agriculture | Agricultural Aquatic Sciences | Aquaculture Biosphere | Aquatic Habitat | Benthic Habitat Biosphere | Aquatic Habitat | Estuarine Habitat Biosphere | Zoology | Zooplankton Human Dimensions | Environmental Impacts | Water Management Oceans | Coastal Processes | Intertidal Zone Oceans | Ocean Chemistry | Chlorophyll Oceans | Ocean Chemistry | Nutrients

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Associated resources

Not available