Journal
MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN
Volume 117, Issue 1-2, Pages 161-170Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.01.050
Keywords
Coral; Light attenuation; Suspended sediment concentrations; Dredging
Funding
- Western Australian Marine Science Institution (WAMSI),WAMSI Dredging Science Node
- Chevron Australia
- Woodside Energy Limited
- BHP Billiton as environmental offsets
- WAMSI Joint Venture partners
- University Postgraduate Award
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As part of an investigation of the effects of water quality from dredging/natural resuspension on reefs, the effects of suspended sediment concentrations (SSCs) (0, 30,100 mg L-1) and light (similar to 0, 1.1, 8.6 mol photons m(-2) d(-1)) were examined alone and in combination, on the corals Acropora millepora, Montipora capricornis and Porites spp. over an extended (28 d) period. No effects were observed at any sediment concentrations when applied alone. All corals in the lowest light treatments lost chlorophyll a and discoloured (bleached) after a week. Coral mortality only occurred in the two lowest light treatments and was higher when simultaneously exposed to elevated SSCs. Compared to water quality data collected during large dredging programs and natural resuspension events (and in the absence of sediment deposition as a cause-effect pathway) these data suggest the light reduction associated with turbidity poses a proportionally greater risk than effects of elevated SSCs alone. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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