title: The Influence of Nutrients on Aquatic Primary Production and Food Webs in Subtropical Streams of South East Queensland, Australia
Creators: name: Schmitt, Andrea V
Publisher: name: Griffith University
Year: 2005
Subjects: subject: In-stream nutrient concentrations
subject: water quality
subject: Moreton Bay (Queensland)
subject: freshwater streams
subject: riparian vegetation

description: The increasing world population and with it the increased pressure on food production are likely to challenge the availability of quality fresh water resources in the near future. To compound the looming water crisis, caused by an increased demand for water available for agricultural production, the quality of our fresh water resources is also likely to suffer from the consequences of increased population pressure, i.e. urbanization of land and growth of industries, and food production, i.e. agricultural use of land. Moreton Bay, South East Queensland, Australia, is listed under the United Nations Convention on Wetlands and is also a declared Marine Park. The Moreton Bay area, however, is already one of the five fastest growing urban areas in the developed world. Prognoses about future population growth and urban and industrial development in the area, have hence given rise to growing concerns about the future water quality in this international environmentally important area. Therefore the aim of the current study was to investigate the fate of nutrients in freshwater streams in the Moreton Bay area in order to gain a better understanding of nutrient pathways in aquatic systems and assist in refining the National Water Quality Management Strategy to provide better management of our waterways. To achieve this, the effects of land use on water quality were determined at 22 study sites in the Brisbane River Catchment. Within the catchment five main types of land use were identified, including urban, rural residential, cropping, grazing and mixed types of land use. Water quality was sampled during three seasons: the pre-wet (October - November), wet (December - March) and dry (April - August) season. Nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations in ambient stream water varied significantly spatially, i.e. types of land use, and temporally, i.e. seasons. At some sites, during certain times of the year, nutrient concentrations were found to exceed the range recommended by the Australian Water Quality guidelines. Nutrient concentrations were particular high in urban areas, especially during the dry season. It was also found that the 15N signatures in aquatic plants, i.e epipelic algae, correlated strongly with in-stream nitrogen concentrations. The large variability of in-stream nutrient concentrations, and the related changes in nitrogen isotopic signatures in aquatic plants, made it obvious to suggest that changes in land use may significantly impact on water quality in the catchment. Other changes in land use, for example riparian vegetation clearing, are also commonly observed in areas under urban, industry and/or agricultural growth pressure. This is of particular concern, given riparian vegetation is important not only in controlling nutrient and other organic matter input into streams, but also in regulating light levels for in-stream primary production. Previously riparian zones have been shown to be a prime source of carbon and energy for aquatic food webs in some studies, whereas other studies suggested the main driver of food webs is in-stream primary production. The current study used stable isotope analysis track carbon and nitrogen pathways through aquatic systems and determine the primary source of carbon and energy in aquatic food webs. Despite large spatial and temporal variability of 13C, aquatic consumers were closely tracking the carbon isotope signatures of plants and it was suggested that epilithic and epipelic algae are the main contributors to the carbon and energy budget of aquatic consumers.In realizing this importance of algae in aquatic systems, the next step in this study was to examine the relative importance of light and nutrient availability to periphyton and the effects of changes of these variables on plant biomass and primary production. In an in-situ experiment the levels of light and nutrients available to periphyton, were altered. Although nutrients and light may have colimited standing crop of periphyton, other variables were clearly limited by light. Parallel to this experiment on periphyton, the nutrient availability to Vallisneria spp. was experimentally altered to investigate the effects of changes in nutrient availability and nutrient limitation on other aquatic plants. The biomass of this submerged macrophyte increased three-fold in nitrogen and phosphorus sufficient areas over nutrient limited treatments. The physiological response, i.e. changes in concentrations of amino acids, of periphyton to changes in environmental conditions was also investigated on a large scale, i.e. spatial and temporal variability of amino acids, and a local scale, i.e. amino acid changes in artificially altered light and nutrient availability. This response was of particular interest in this study, as it was previously shown that physiological changes in plants impact on the quality of plants as food for consumers. The physiological changes in aquatic plants could thus provide an important link between nutrient input into streams (e.g. from terrestrial sources), impacts on aquatic plants (e.g.. nutrient uptake and physiological responses in plants) and effects on aquatic consumers (e.g. changes in food quality of plants and therefore impacts on biomass, growth and overall health of aquatic consumers).