Stories of science from the Australian Rivers Institute
"Often during flood events, water from agricultural catchments will erode productive agricultural soils and carry large loads of sediment and nutrients to downstream estuaries and coastal areas. This can threaten the provision of safe drinking water for humans and the ecology of marine ecosystems, as well as sometimes necessitating costly sediment dredging and disposal operations."
Rivers, lakes, and wetlands support extraordinary diversity. Such bodies of water host more species per square kilometre than forests or oceans. Yet they are losing this biodiversity two to three times faster than forests and oceans. Populations of freshwater animals, including river dolphins, sturgeon, beavers, crocodiles, and giant turtles, have already plummeted by 88%.
By Melanie Roberts and Fernanda Adame Article Read Time: 524 words about 3 minutes. The 2019 Great Barrier Reef Outlook Report from the Australian Government Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority identifies the risk of nutrient runoff from catchments for the reef as Very High, the same rating as the 2014 and 2009 reports. --- This [...]
Australian Rivers Institute Director, Stuart Bunn. We welcome you back to another edition of the Australian RiversInstitute (ARI) Magazine. (Link). Over the past few months our staff have been active in strengthening research partnerships and establishing new connections across the globe. The importance of connections, not only with fellow researchers, industry and government but also [...]
Sediment plume washing over The Great Barrier Reef, 2019. Photo Credit: Matt Curnock. By Dr Melanie Roberts Read Time: 1000 words about 6 mins. Climate change and poor water quality are placing unprecedented pressures on the reef, and it is imperative that these stressors are eased to provide the reef with an opportunity to recover. [...]
Author: Kristin Jinks “I had no idea whether I was going to live up to the expectations of my collaborators, but it was too good an opportunity to let my doubts stop me,” explains Kristin Jinks. - Working in the environmental sciences has its perks. Including the opportunities to visit and work at [...]
Author: Laura Griffiths Emergent is a five-part blog series that takes a fresh look at ARI’s early career researchers – a group of driven, passionate people with a shared sense of responsibility about our changing world. These emerging scholars are developing skills and applying them to real world issues. Some are even taking [...]
By Professor Kylie Pitt (Originally Published at: Griffith Sea Jellies Research Lab) Pitt KA, Lucas CH, Condon RH, Duarte CM, Stewart-Koster B (2018) Claims that anthropogenic stressors facilitate jellyfish blooms have been amplified beyond the available evidence: A systematic review. Frontiers in Marine Science doi: 10.3389/fmars.2018.00451 Sea jellies have bloomed in the oceans for more than 500 million [...]
ARI Emeritus Professor Angela Arthington, Attending the 21st International Riversymposium (IRS) held in Sydney (Darling Harbour) earlier this year was a personal highlight. This symposium is famous for its diverse and inclusive program on the theme of global river basin science and management. Delegates come from far and wide, from river managers to policy developers, [...]
"We found that prawns collected closer to shore had higher concentrations of potential pollutants" says Dr Munroe
