Multiproxy approach to track changes in the ecological condition of wetlands in the Gunbower Forest, a Ramsar site
- Mall, Neeraj, Gell, Peter, Kattel, Giri, Gadd, Patricia, Zawadzki, Atun
- Authors: Mall, Neeraj , Gell, Peter , Kattel, Giri , Gadd, Patricia , Zawadzki, Atun
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Marine and Freshwater Research Vol. 73, no. 10 (2022), p. 1196-1211
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Gunbower Forest is bordered by the Murray River and Gunbower Creek and hosts several floodplain wetlands listed under the Ramsar Convention. Sediment cores were retrieved from three wetlands to trace changes to their ecological state over time. The basal sediments of the wetlands date back to the beginning of river regulation in the 1930s, suggesting that only after then were they inundated sufficiently often to allow for net sediment accumulation. The diatoms preserved in the lower levels of all cores suggest clear, freshwater conditions prevailed during that period. Increased sediment and nutrient loads are inferred by increased epiphytic forms and nutrient indicators. Over recent decades the wetlands have transitioned to plankton dominance, reflecting greater connectivity to the river and distributary, and a reduced light environment. This pattern resembles to that recorded both upstream and downstream, suggesting a regional-scale change in the wetlands of the southern Murray-Darling Basin. © CSIRO 2022.
- Authors: Mall, Neeraj , Gell, Peter , Kattel, Giri , Gadd, Patricia , Zawadzki, Atun
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Marine and Freshwater Research Vol. 73, no. 10 (2022), p. 1196-1211
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Gunbower Forest is bordered by the Murray River and Gunbower Creek and hosts several floodplain wetlands listed under the Ramsar Convention. Sediment cores were retrieved from three wetlands to trace changes to their ecological state over time. The basal sediments of the wetlands date back to the beginning of river regulation in the 1930s, suggesting that only after then were they inundated sufficiently often to allow for net sediment accumulation. The diatoms preserved in the lower levels of all cores suggest clear, freshwater conditions prevailed during that period. Increased sediment and nutrient loads are inferred by increased epiphytic forms and nutrient indicators. Over recent decades the wetlands have transitioned to plankton dominance, reflecting greater connectivity to the river and distributary, and a reduced light environment. This pattern resembles to that recorded both upstream and downstream, suggesting a regional-scale change in the wetlands of the southern Murray-Darling Basin. © CSIRO 2022.
Healthy waterways and ecologically sustainable cities in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration (northern China) : challenges and future directions
- Kattel, Giri, Reeves, Jessica, Western, Andrew, Zhang, Wenjing, Dowling, Kim
- Authors: Kattel, Giri , Reeves, Jessica , Western, Andrew , Zhang, Wenjing , Dowling, Kim
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water Vol. 8, no. 2 (2021), p.
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: The cities across the northern dry region of China are exposed to multiple sustainability challenges. Beijing-Hebei-Tianjin (BTH) urban agglomeration, for example, experiences severe water shortages due to rapidly expanding urban populations, industrial use, and irrigation-intensive agriculture. Climate change has further threatened water resources security. Overuse of water resources to meet the demand of various water sectors has far-reaching health and environmental implications including ecosystem sustainability. Surface water and groundwater pollution present public health risks. Despite the extraordinary policies and efforts being made and implemented by the Government of China, the BTH region currently lacks coordination among stakeholders leading to poor water governance. Consultation among scientists, engineers and stakeholders on regional water security issues is crucial and must be frequent and inclusive. An international symposium was held in Shijiazhuang in early November 2019 to identify some of the key water security challenges and scope of an idealized future eco-city in the region by developing a sustainability framework. This work drew on experiences from across China and beyond. Scientists agree that integration of science, technology, and governance within an appropriate policy framework was particularly significant for combating the issue of water insecurity, including in the region's newly developed city, Xiong'an New Area. An emerging concept, “Healthy Waterways and Ecologically Sustainable Cities” which integrates social, ecological and hydrological systems and acts as an important pathway for sustainability in the 21st century was proposed in the symposium to tackle the problems in the region. This high level biophysical and cultural concept empowers development goals and promotes human health and wellbeing. The framework on healthy waterways and ecologically sustainable cities can overcome sustainability challenges by resolving water resource management issues in BTH in a holistic way. To implement the concept, we strongly recommend the utilization of evidence-based scientific research and institutional cooperation including national and international collaborations to achieve the Healthy Waterways and Ecologically Sustainable Cities goal in the BTH in future. This article is categorized under: Water and Life > Conservation, Management, and Awareness. © 2020 Wiley Periodicals LLC. **Please note that there are multiple authors for this article therefore only the name of the first 5 including Federation University Australia affiliate “Giri Kattel, Jessica Reeves and Kim Dowling” is provided in this record**
- Authors: Kattel, Giri , Reeves, Jessica , Western, Andrew , Zhang, Wenjing , Dowling, Kim
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water Vol. 8, no. 2 (2021), p.
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: The cities across the northern dry region of China are exposed to multiple sustainability challenges. Beijing-Hebei-Tianjin (BTH) urban agglomeration, for example, experiences severe water shortages due to rapidly expanding urban populations, industrial use, and irrigation-intensive agriculture. Climate change has further threatened water resources security. Overuse of water resources to meet the demand of various water sectors has far-reaching health and environmental implications including ecosystem sustainability. Surface water and groundwater pollution present public health risks. Despite the extraordinary policies and efforts being made and implemented by the Government of China, the BTH region currently lacks coordination among stakeholders leading to poor water governance. Consultation among scientists, engineers and stakeholders on regional water security issues is crucial and must be frequent and inclusive. An international symposium was held in Shijiazhuang in early November 2019 to identify some of the key water security challenges and scope of an idealized future eco-city in the region by developing a sustainability framework. This work drew on experiences from across China and beyond. Scientists agree that integration of science, technology, and governance within an appropriate policy framework was particularly significant for combating the issue of water insecurity, including in the region's newly developed city, Xiong'an New Area. An emerging concept, “Healthy Waterways and Ecologically Sustainable Cities” which integrates social, ecological and hydrological systems and acts as an important pathway for sustainability in the 21st century was proposed in the symposium to tackle the problems in the region. This high level biophysical and cultural concept empowers development goals and promotes human health and wellbeing. The framework on healthy waterways and ecologically sustainable cities can overcome sustainability challenges by resolving water resource management issues in BTH in a holistic way. To implement the concept, we strongly recommend the utilization of evidence-based scientific research and institutional cooperation including national and international collaborations to achieve the Healthy Waterways and Ecologically Sustainable Cities goal in the BTH in future. This article is categorized under: Water and Life > Conservation, Management, and Awareness. © 2020 Wiley Periodicals LLC. **Please note that there are multiple authors for this article therefore only the name of the first 5 including Federation University Australia affiliate “Giri Kattel, Jessica Reeves and Kim Dowling” is provided in this record**
Are freshwater systems in lower mekong basin (Southeast asia) resilient? a synthesis of social-ecological system
- Authors: Kattel, Giri
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Environmental Research Communications Vol. 2, no. 11 (2020), p.
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Social-ecological resilience of freshwater systems in lower Mekong basin in southeast Asia is largely unknown. Over the recent past, the freshwater ecosystems in the region have gone through severe environmental stress. Climate change, sea level rise, over-extraction of water and eutrophication together have increased vulnerability to regime shifts of ecosystems in the region. Regime shifts can have long-lasting effects on social-ecological resilience. Response diversity plays a central role in linking ecological, social, and financial systems and enhances resilience. Documenting regime shifts and associated feedbacks as well as the role of response diversity in social-ecological resilience and ecosystem goods and services in the region is essential for future sustainability. In this study, primarily, I have described mechanisms behind emergence of feedback loops at a time of regime shifts and its impacts on ecological resilience. Secondly, I have developed a framework for social-ecological resilience of freshwater ecosystems for southeast Asian region. Thirdly, I have provided current contexts of social-ecological resilience of two of the most productive freshwater ecosystems in the lower Mekong basin of southeast Asia: the Tonle Sap Lake (Cambodia) and the Vietnamese Mekong Delta. Finally, in conclusion, I have outlined the key roles response diversity plays in showing the effects of environmental stress and maintaining social-ecological resilience in the region. © 2020 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd.
- Authors: Kattel, Giri
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Environmental Research Communications Vol. 2, no. 11 (2020), p.
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Social-ecological resilience of freshwater systems in lower Mekong basin in southeast Asia is largely unknown. Over the recent past, the freshwater ecosystems in the region have gone through severe environmental stress. Climate change, sea level rise, over-extraction of water and eutrophication together have increased vulnerability to regime shifts of ecosystems in the region. Regime shifts can have long-lasting effects on social-ecological resilience. Response diversity plays a central role in linking ecological, social, and financial systems and enhances resilience. Documenting regime shifts and associated feedbacks as well as the role of response diversity in social-ecological resilience and ecosystem goods and services in the region is essential for future sustainability. In this study, primarily, I have described mechanisms behind emergence of feedback loops at a time of regime shifts and its impacts on ecological resilience. Secondly, I have developed a framework for social-ecological resilience of freshwater ecosystems for southeast Asian region. Thirdly, I have provided current contexts of social-ecological resilience of two of the most productive freshwater ecosystems in the lower Mekong basin of southeast Asia: the Tonle Sap Lake (Cambodia) and the Vietnamese Mekong Delta. Finally, in conclusion, I have outlined the key roles response diversity plays in showing the effects of environmental stress and maintaining social-ecological resilience in the region. © 2020 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd.
Integration of palaeo-and-modern food webs reveal slow changes in a river floodplain wetland ecosystem
- Kattel, Giri, Eyre, Bradley, Gell, Peter
- Authors: Kattel, Giri , Eyre, Bradley , Gell, Peter
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Scientific Reports Vol. 10, no. 1 (2020), p.
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Large rivers, including the Murray River system in southeast Australia, are disturbed by many activities. The arrival of European settlers to Australia by the mid-1800s transformed many floodplain wetlands of the lower Murray River system. River impoundment and flow regulation in the late 1800s and, from the 1930s, resulted in species invasion, and elevated nutrient concentrations causing widespread eutrophication. An integrated palaeoecology, and palaeo-and-modern food web approach, incorporating mixing models, was undertaken to reveal changes in a regulated wetland (i.e. Kings Billabong). The lack of preserved sediment suggests the wetland was naturally intermittent before 1890. After this time, when used as a water retention basin, the wetland experienced net sediment accumulation. Subfossil cladocerans, and δ13C of Daphnia, chironomid, and bulk sediment, all reflected an early productive, likely clear water state and shifts in trophic state following river regulation in the 1930s. Food web mixing models, based on δ13C and δ15N in subfossil and modern Daphnia, fish, and submerged and emergent macrophytes, also indicated a shift in the trophic relationships between fish and Daphnia. By the 1970s, a new state was established but a further significant alteration of nitrogen and carbon sources, and trophic interactions, continued through to the early 2000s. A possible switch from Daphnia as a prey of Australian Smelt could have modified the food web of the wetland by c. 2006. The timing of this change corresponded to the expansion of emergent macrophytes possibly due to landscape level disruptions. The evidence of these changes suggests a need for a broader understanding of the evolution of wetlands for the management of floodplains in the region. © 2020, The Author(s).
- Description: Funding details: National Key Research and Development Program of China Stem Cell and Translational Research, #2016YFC0402900 Funding details: National Key Research and Development Program of China Stem Cell and Translational Research, #2016YFE0201900 Funding details: Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science, Australian Research Council, ARC;ACES, DP160100248 Funding details: Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science, Australian Research Council, ARC;ACES, LE0668495
- Authors: Kattel, Giri , Eyre, Bradley , Gell, Peter
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Scientific Reports Vol. 10, no. 1 (2020), p.
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Large rivers, including the Murray River system in southeast Australia, are disturbed by many activities. The arrival of European settlers to Australia by the mid-1800s transformed many floodplain wetlands of the lower Murray River system. River impoundment and flow regulation in the late 1800s and, from the 1930s, resulted in species invasion, and elevated nutrient concentrations causing widespread eutrophication. An integrated palaeoecology, and palaeo-and-modern food web approach, incorporating mixing models, was undertaken to reveal changes in a regulated wetland (i.e. Kings Billabong). The lack of preserved sediment suggests the wetland was naturally intermittent before 1890. After this time, when used as a water retention basin, the wetland experienced net sediment accumulation. Subfossil cladocerans, and δ13C of Daphnia, chironomid, and bulk sediment, all reflected an early productive, likely clear water state and shifts in trophic state following river regulation in the 1930s. Food web mixing models, based on δ13C and δ15N in subfossil and modern Daphnia, fish, and submerged and emergent macrophytes, also indicated a shift in the trophic relationships between fish and Daphnia. By the 1970s, a new state was established but a further significant alteration of nitrogen and carbon sources, and trophic interactions, continued through to the early 2000s. A possible switch from Daphnia as a prey of Australian Smelt could have modified the food web of the wetland by c. 2006. The timing of this change corresponded to the expansion of emergent macrophytes possibly due to landscape level disruptions. The evidence of these changes suggests a need for a broader understanding of the evolution of wetlands for the management of floodplains in the region. © 2020, The Author(s).
- Description: Funding details: National Key Research and Development Program of China Stem Cell and Translational Research, #2016YFC0402900 Funding details: National Key Research and Development Program of China Stem Cell and Translational Research, #2016YFE0201900 Funding details: Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science, Australian Research Council, ARC;ACES, DP160100248 Funding details: Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science, Australian Research Council, ARC;ACES, LE0668495
First human impacts and responses of aquatic systems : A review of palaeolimnological records from around the world
- Dubois, Nathalie, Saulnier-Talbot, Emilie, Mills, Keely, Gell, Peter, Battarbee, Rick, Bennion, Helen, Chawchai, Sakonvan, Dong, Xuhui, Francus, Pierre, Flower, Roger, Gomes, Doriedson, Gregory-Eaves, Irene, Humane, Sumedh, Kattel, Giri, Jenny, JeanPhilippe, Langdon, Peter, Massaferro, Julieta, McGowan, Suzanne, Mikomagi, Annika, Ngoc, Nguyen, Ratnayake, Amila, Reid, Michael, Rose, Neil, Saros, Jasmine, Schillereff, Daniel, Tolotti, Monica, Valero-Garces, Blas
- Authors: Dubois, Nathalie , Saulnier-Talbot, Emilie , Mills, Keely , Gell, Peter , Battarbee, Rick , Bennion, Helen , Chawchai, Sakonvan , Dong, Xuhui , Francus, Pierre , Flower, Roger , Gomes, Doriedson , Gregory-Eaves, Irene , Humane, Sumedh , Kattel, Giri , Jenny, JeanPhilippe , Langdon, Peter , Massaferro, Julieta , McGowan, Suzanne , Mikomagi, Annika , Ngoc, Nguyen , Ratnayake, Amila , Reid, Michael , Rose, Neil , Saros, Jasmine , Schillereff, Daniel , Tolotti, Monica , Valero-Garces, Blas
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Journal article , Review
- Relation: Anthropocene Review Vol. 5, no. 1 (2018), p. 28-68
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Lake sediments constitute natural archives of past environmental changes. Historically, research has focused mainly on generating regional climate records, but records of human impacts caused by land use and exploitation of freshwater resources are now attracting scientific and management interests. Long-term environmental records are useful to establish ecosystem reference conditions, enabling comparisons with current environments and potentially allowing future trajectories to be more tightly constrained. Here we review the timing and onset of human disturbance in and around inland water ecosystems as revealed through sedimentary archives from around the world. Palaeolimnology provides access to a wealth of information reflecting early human activities and their corresponding aquatic ecological shifts. First human impacts on aquatic systems and their watersheds are highly variable in time and space. Landscape disturbance often constitutes the first anthropogenic signal in palaeolimnological records. While the effects of humans at the landscape level are relatively easily demonstrated, the earliest signals of humaninduced changes in the structure and functioning of aquatic ecosystems need very careful investigation using multiple proxies. Additional studies will improve our understanding of linkages between human settlements, their exploitation of land and water resources, and the downstream effects on continental waters.
- Description: Lake sediments constitute natural archives of past environmental
- Authors: Dubois, Nathalie , Saulnier-Talbot, Emilie , Mills, Keely , Gell, Peter , Battarbee, Rick , Bennion, Helen , Chawchai, Sakonvan , Dong, Xuhui , Francus, Pierre , Flower, Roger , Gomes, Doriedson , Gregory-Eaves, Irene , Humane, Sumedh , Kattel, Giri , Jenny, JeanPhilippe , Langdon, Peter , Massaferro, Julieta , McGowan, Suzanne , Mikomagi, Annika , Ngoc, Nguyen , Ratnayake, Amila , Reid, Michael , Rose, Neil , Saros, Jasmine , Schillereff, Daniel , Tolotti, Monica , Valero-Garces, Blas
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Journal article , Review
- Relation: Anthropocene Review Vol. 5, no. 1 (2018), p. 28-68
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Lake sediments constitute natural archives of past environmental changes. Historically, research has focused mainly on generating regional climate records, but records of human impacts caused by land use and exploitation of freshwater resources are now attracting scientific and management interests. Long-term environmental records are useful to establish ecosystem reference conditions, enabling comparisons with current environments and potentially allowing future trajectories to be more tightly constrained. Here we review the timing and onset of human disturbance in and around inland water ecosystems as revealed through sedimentary archives from around the world. Palaeolimnology provides access to a wealth of information reflecting early human activities and their corresponding aquatic ecological shifts. First human impacts on aquatic systems and their watersheds are highly variable in time and space. Landscape disturbance often constitutes the first anthropogenic signal in palaeolimnological records. While the effects of humans at the landscape level are relatively easily demonstrated, the earliest signals of humaninduced changes in the structure and functioning of aquatic ecosystems need very careful investigation using multiple proxies. Additional studies will improve our understanding of linkages between human settlements, their exploitation of land and water resources, and the downstream effects on continental waters.
- Description: Lake sediments constitute natural archives of past environmental
A century-scale, human-induced ecohydrological evolution of wetlands of two large river basins in Australia (Murray) and China (Yangtze)
- Kattel, Giri, Dong, Xuhui, Yang, Xiangdong
- Authors: Kattel, Giri , Dong, Xuhui , Yang, Xiangdong
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Journal article , Review
- Relation: Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Vol. 20, no. 6 (2016), p. 2151-2168
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Recently, the provision of food and water resources of two of the world's largest river basins, the Murray and the Yangtze, has been significantly altered through widespread landscape modification. Long-term sedimentary archives, dating back for some centuries from wetlands of these river basins, reveal that rapid, basin-wide development has reduced the resilience of biological communities, resulting in considerable decline in ecosystem services, including water quality. Large-scale human disturbance to river systems, due to river regulation during the mid-20th century, has transformed the hydrology of rivers and wetlands, causing widespread modification of aquatic biological communities. Changes to cladoceran zooplankton (water fleas) were used to assess the historical hydrology and ecology of three Murray and Yangtze river wetlands over the past century. Subfossil assemblages of cladocerans retrieved from sediment cores (94, 45, and 65 cm) of three wetlands: Kings Billabong (Murray), Zhangdu, and Liangzi lakes (Yangtze), showed strong responses to hydrological changes in the river after the mid-20th century. In particular, river regulation caused by construction of dams and weirs together with river channel modifications, has led to significant hydrological alterations. These hydrological disturbances were either (1) a prolonged inundation of wetlands or (2) reduced river flow, both of which caused variability in wetland depth. Inevitably, these phenomena have subsequently transformed the natural wetland habitats, leading to a switch in cladoceran assemblages to species preferring poor water quality, and in some cases to eutrophication. The quantitative and qualitative decline of wetland water conditions is indicative of reduced ecosystem services, and requires effective restoration measures for both river basins which have been impacted by recent socioeconomic development and climate change. © 2016 Author(s).
- Authors: Kattel, Giri , Dong, Xuhui , Yang, Xiangdong
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Journal article , Review
- Relation: Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Vol. 20, no. 6 (2016), p. 2151-2168
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Recently, the provision of food and water resources of two of the world's largest river basins, the Murray and the Yangtze, has been significantly altered through widespread landscape modification. Long-term sedimentary archives, dating back for some centuries from wetlands of these river basins, reveal that rapid, basin-wide development has reduced the resilience of biological communities, resulting in considerable decline in ecosystem services, including water quality. Large-scale human disturbance to river systems, due to river regulation during the mid-20th century, has transformed the hydrology of rivers and wetlands, causing widespread modification of aquatic biological communities. Changes to cladoceran zooplankton (water fleas) were used to assess the historical hydrology and ecology of three Murray and Yangtze river wetlands over the past century. Subfossil assemblages of cladocerans retrieved from sediment cores (94, 45, and 65 cm) of three wetlands: Kings Billabong (Murray), Zhangdu, and Liangzi lakes (Yangtze), showed strong responses to hydrological changes in the river after the mid-20th century. In particular, river regulation caused by construction of dams and weirs together with river channel modifications, has led to significant hydrological alterations. These hydrological disturbances were either (1) a prolonged inundation of wetlands or (2) reduced river flow, both of which caused variability in wetland depth. Inevitably, these phenomena have subsequently transformed the natural wetland habitats, leading to a switch in cladoceran assemblages to species preferring poor water quality, and in some cases to eutrophication. The quantitative and qualitative decline of wetland water conditions is indicative of reduced ecosystem services, and requires effective restoration measures for both river basins which have been impacted by recent socioeconomic development and climate change. © 2016 Author(s).
Tracking a century of change in trophic structure and dynamics in a floodplain wetland: Integrating palaeoecological and palaeoisotopic evidence
- Kattel, Giri, Gell, Peter, Perga, Marie-Elodie, Jeppesen, Erik, Grundell, Rosie, Weller, Sandra, Zawadzki, Atun, Barry, Linda
- Authors: Kattel, Giri , Gell, Peter , Perga, Marie-Elodie , Jeppesen, Erik , Grundell, Rosie , Weller, Sandra , Zawadzki, Atun , Barry, Linda
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Freshwater Biology Vol. 60, no. 4 (2015), p. 711-723
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: The palaeoecological assessment, and the use of stable isotopes of carbon in subfossils of herbivores and omnivores, represents a novel approach to understand transitions in past food-web structure and the dynamics of lake ecosystems in response to natural perturbations and human impacts. Combined with records of subfossil assemblages of cladocerans and chironomids, it may be possible to decipher whether changes are attributable to external forces or internally derived system shifts. A sediment record taken from the shallow (2.3 m depth) Kings Billabong in the River Murray floodplain (Australia) was analysed to explore changes in trophic dynamics over the past century. The palaeoecological assessment revealed that littoral assemblages of cladocerans and benthic diatoms were gradually replaced by planktonic (planktonic and facultative planktonic) assemblages after river regulation in the 1920s. The stable isotopic composition of carbon (
- Authors: Kattel, Giri , Gell, Peter , Perga, Marie-Elodie , Jeppesen, Erik , Grundell, Rosie , Weller, Sandra , Zawadzki, Atun , Barry, Linda
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Freshwater Biology Vol. 60, no. 4 (2015), p. 711-723
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: The palaeoecological assessment, and the use of stable isotopes of carbon in subfossils of herbivores and omnivores, represents a novel approach to understand transitions in past food-web structure and the dynamics of lake ecosystems in response to natural perturbations and human impacts. Combined with records of subfossil assemblages of cladocerans and chironomids, it may be possible to decipher whether changes are attributable to external forces or internally derived system shifts. A sediment record taken from the shallow (2.3 m depth) Kings Billabong in the River Murray floodplain (Australia) was analysed to explore changes in trophic dynamics over the past century. The palaeoecological assessment revealed that littoral assemblages of cladocerans and benthic diatoms were gradually replaced by planktonic (planktonic and facultative planktonic) assemblages after river regulation in the 1920s. The stable isotopic composition of carbon (
Cladoceran-inferred ecological and hydrological changes of two floodplain wetlands in two large river systems, the Murray (Australia) and Yangtze Rivers (China)
- Kattel, Giri, Dong, Xuhui, Yang, Xiangdong
- Authors: Kattel, Giri , Dong, Xuhui , Yang, Xiangdong
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: Symposium on Australia-China Wetland Network Research Partnership; Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology Chinese Academy of Sciences (NIGLAS) Nanjing, China; 23rd-28th December 2014 p. 42-49
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: The landscapes of two of the world’s large river basins, the Murray and Yangtze Rivers of Australia and China, have been intensively developed for the provision of food and water resources. Long term archives of change, reveal that man-made infrastructures in the river and catchment modifications for agricultural and industrial developments have reduced the resilience of wetlands ecosystem structure and functions in recent decades. The river regulations imposed during the 20th centuries in the Murray and Yangtze Rivers have transformed hydrology and ecology of the river and associated wetlands. High resolution, subfossil cladoceran assemblages retrieved from Kings Billabong and Zhangdu Lake of the Murray and Yangtze Rivers, have strongly responded to human disturbances in the past. Ratios of littoral to planktonic (L:P) assemblages of subfossil cladocerans and the number of ephippial remains in Kings Billabong indicated the shift in hydrology and ecology of Kings Billabong, and ecological stress as a result of changes in naturally occurring dry-wet cycles following river regulation (1927 AD). Similarly, the subfossil cladoceran assemblages and their ephippia in Zhangdu Lake also reflected the impacts of the construction of the Three Gorges Dam (1954) in the Yangtze River on hydrology and ecology of the wetland.
- Authors: Kattel, Giri , Dong, Xuhui , Yang, Xiangdong
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: Symposium on Australia-China Wetland Network Research Partnership; Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology Chinese Academy of Sciences (NIGLAS) Nanjing, China; 23rd-28th December 2014 p. 42-49
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: The landscapes of two of the world’s large river basins, the Murray and Yangtze Rivers of Australia and China, have been intensively developed for the provision of food and water resources. Long term archives of change, reveal that man-made infrastructures in the river and catchment modifications for agricultural and industrial developments have reduced the resilience of wetlands ecosystem structure and functions in recent decades. The river regulations imposed during the 20th centuries in the Murray and Yangtze Rivers have transformed hydrology and ecology of the river and associated wetlands. High resolution, subfossil cladoceran assemblages retrieved from Kings Billabong and Zhangdu Lake of the Murray and Yangtze Rivers, have strongly responded to human disturbances in the past. Ratios of littoral to planktonic (L:P) assemblages of subfossil cladocerans and the number of ephippial remains in Kings Billabong indicated the shift in hydrology and ecology of Kings Billabong, and ecological stress as a result of changes in naturally occurring dry-wet cycles following river regulation (1927 AD). Similarly, the subfossil cladoceran assemblages and their ephippia in Zhangdu Lake also reflected the impacts of the construction of the Three Gorges Dam (1954) in the Yangtze River on hydrology and ecology of the wetland.
Estimating visual quality, a component of culturally-associated ecosystem services in palaeo-lake environments
- Chhetri, Prem, Kattel, Giri, Dong, Xuhui, Yang, Xiangdong, Min, Xu
- Authors: Chhetri, Prem , Kattel, Giri , Dong, Xuhui , Yang, Xiangdong , Min, Xu
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: Symposium on Australia-China Wetland Network Research Partnership; Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology Chinese Academy of Sciences (NIGLAS) Nanjing, China; 23rd-28th December 2014 p. 23-26
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Evaluation of visual quality is essentially a multi-dimensional and multi-sensory experience of landscape assessment. Visual quality refers to the character, condition and quality of lakes/wetlands. It involves perceiving, preferring and valuing the visual quality by the public. Visual quality is an outcome of the perceptual, cognitive and emotional processes in response to visual stimuli of a lake environment. Visual quality therefore is dependent upon the perceptual and structural aspects of perceived scenes of wetlands. Visual assessment, an evaluating process of gaining non-material or intangible benefits by people from ecosystems, through spiritual enrichment, cognitive development, self-reflection, recreation, and aesthetic experiences, has now become one of significant research areas under cultural components of ecosystem services. Public perception in such studies is composed from both the objective and subjective elements of human–landscape interactions. However, it is still a matter of debate whether subjective–objective realities are dichotomous or supplementary to enhancing the quality of human experiences in natural settings. In fact, much research considers them as inseparable and integral parts of landscape perception, despite the tendency for disintegrating landscapes into their constituent components. There is a fundamental theoretical divergence of opinions over the question whether a landscape has an intrinsic or ‘objective’ beauty, which may be in some ways measurable or comparable, or whether beauty is a value that can be only attributed subjectively to an area or a specific landscape.
- Authors: Chhetri, Prem , Kattel, Giri , Dong, Xuhui , Yang, Xiangdong , Min, Xu
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: Symposium on Australia-China Wetland Network Research Partnership; Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology Chinese Academy of Sciences (NIGLAS) Nanjing, China; 23rd-28th December 2014 p. 23-26
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Evaluation of visual quality is essentially a multi-dimensional and multi-sensory experience of landscape assessment. Visual quality refers to the character, condition and quality of lakes/wetlands. It involves perceiving, preferring and valuing the visual quality by the public. Visual quality is an outcome of the perceptual, cognitive and emotional processes in response to visual stimuli of a lake environment. Visual quality therefore is dependent upon the perceptual and structural aspects of perceived scenes of wetlands. Visual assessment, an evaluating process of gaining non-material or intangible benefits by people from ecosystems, through spiritual enrichment, cognitive development, self-reflection, recreation, and aesthetic experiences, has now become one of significant research areas under cultural components of ecosystem services. Public perception in such studies is composed from both the objective and subjective elements of human–landscape interactions. However, it is still a matter of debate whether subjective–objective realities are dichotomous or supplementary to enhancing the quality of human experiences in natural settings. In fact, much research considers them as inseparable and integral parts of landscape perception, despite the tendency for disintegrating landscapes into their constituent components. There is a fundamental theoretical divergence of opinions over the question whether a landscape has an intrinsic or ‘objective’ beauty, which may be in some ways measurable or comparable, or whether beauty is a value that can be only attributed subjectively to an area or a specific landscape.
Management strategies for large river floodplan lakes undergoing rapid environmental changes
- Authors: Kattel, Giri , Gell, Peter
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: International Perspectives on Global Environmental change p. 329-353
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Authors: Kattel, Giri , Gell, Peter
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: International Perspectives on Global Environmental change p. 329-353
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
Proceedings of the Australia-China Wetland Network Research Partnership Symposium
- Authors: Kattel, Giri
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Conference proceedings
- Full Text:
- Description: This publication is a compilation of short papers presented at the Australia-China Wetland Network Research Partnership Symposium, held in China at the Nanjing International Conference Hotel, 24 March 2014. The symposium, jointly organised by the Collaborative Research Network (CRN) of Federation University Australia and the Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology Chinese Academy of Sciences (NIGLAS), brought together a range of scientists including the neo-ecologists, palaeoecologists and hydrologists from both Australia and China. More than 100 students and scientists from across China attended the symposium. A majority of papers presented at the symposium have overlapping themes between ecology and hydrology of the large river and wetland systems that are exposed to a range of impacts posed by humans and recent climate change. The research focus of this volume is around the topic highlighting the conservation and management of degraded wetlands in Australia and China and the maintenance of a long term ecological resilience.
- Authors: Kattel, Giri
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Conference proceedings
- Full Text:
- Description: This publication is a compilation of short papers presented at the Australia-China Wetland Network Research Partnership Symposium, held in China at the Nanjing International Conference Hotel, 24 March 2014. The symposium, jointly organised by the Collaborative Research Network (CRN) of Federation University Australia and the Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology Chinese Academy of Sciences (NIGLAS), brought together a range of scientists including the neo-ecologists, palaeoecologists and hydrologists from both Australia and China. More than 100 students and scientists from across China attended the symposium. A majority of papers presented at the symposium have overlapping themes between ecology and hydrology of the large river and wetland systems that are exposed to a range of impacts posed by humans and recent climate change. The research focus of this volume is around the topic highlighting the conservation and management of degraded wetlands in Australia and China and the maintenance of a long term ecological resilience.
Developing a complementary framework for urban ecology
- Kattel, Giri, Elkadi, Hisham, Meikle, Helen
- Authors: Kattel, Giri , Elkadi, Hisham , Meikle, Helen
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Urban Forestry & Urban Greening Vol. 12, no. 4 (2013), p. 498-508
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Cities are characterized by dynamic interactions between socio-economic and biophysical forces. Currently more than half of the global population reside in cities which influence the global biogeochemical cycles and climate change, substantially exacerbating pressures on urban pollution, water quality and food security, as well as operating costs for infrastructure development. Goods and services such as aesthetic values, water purification, nutrient recycling, and biological diversity, that urban ecosystems generate for the society, are critical to sustain. Urban planners are increasingly facing the considerable challenges of management issues for urban ecosystems. Poor understanding of the complementary roles of urban ecology in urban infrastructure, and the functioning of ecosystems and ecological resilience of a complex human-dominated landscape has impeded effective urban planning over time, resulting in social disharmony. Here a complementary framework for urban ecology is proposed, in which ecosystems interact with land use, architecture and urban design - "E-LAUD"-affecting ecosystem and human health, and building on the concept that land uses in urban green areas, road-strips, wetlands, 'habitat islands' and urban architecture could synergistically benefit when clustered together in different combinations of urban landscapes. It is proposed that incorporation of the E-LAUD framework in urban planning forms the context of a new interdisciplinary research programme on ecological resilience for urban ecosystems and helps promote ecosystem services. (C) 2013 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.
- Authors: Kattel, Giri , Elkadi, Hisham , Meikle, Helen
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Urban Forestry & Urban Greening Vol. 12, no. 4 (2013), p. 498-508
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Cities are characterized by dynamic interactions between socio-economic and biophysical forces. Currently more than half of the global population reside in cities which influence the global biogeochemical cycles and climate change, substantially exacerbating pressures on urban pollution, water quality and food security, as well as operating costs for infrastructure development. Goods and services such as aesthetic values, water purification, nutrient recycling, and biological diversity, that urban ecosystems generate for the society, are critical to sustain. Urban planners are increasingly facing the considerable challenges of management issues for urban ecosystems. Poor understanding of the complementary roles of urban ecology in urban infrastructure, and the functioning of ecosystems and ecological resilience of a complex human-dominated landscape has impeded effective urban planning over time, resulting in social disharmony. Here a complementary framework for urban ecology is proposed, in which ecosystems interact with land use, architecture and urban design - "E-LAUD"-affecting ecosystem and human health, and building on the concept that land uses in urban green areas, road-strips, wetlands, 'habitat islands' and urban architecture could synergistically benefit when clustered together in different combinations of urban landscapes. It is proposed that incorporation of the E-LAUD framework in urban planning forms the context of a new interdisciplinary research programme on ecological resilience for urban ecosystems and helps promote ecosystem services. (C) 2013 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.
- «
- ‹
- 1
- ›
- »