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
Collaborator
- 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
Collaborator
- Topic category
-
- Oceans
Extent
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)
-
Microsoft Excel (xls)
Distributor
- 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
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