Seagrass tolerance of oil spills - scaling of pollution impacts

Funding: 2005: $19,980
2006: $39,959
2007: $39,959
2008: $19,980

Project Member(s): Ralph, P.

Funding or Partner Organisation: Australian Research Council (ARC Linkage Projects)
Australian Maritime Safety Authority

Start year: 2006

Summary: Seagrasses provide vital ecosystem services (such as sediment stabilisation and habitat provision) in Australian coastal waters. The contribution of pollutants to current seagrass decline is poorly understood. The Australian shipping industry is the 5th largest in the world but there is very little data on the impacts of petroleum hydrocarbons on intertidal seagrasses and hence no information for coastal resource managers to use in decision-making in the event of an oil spill. This project will assess the relative toxicities of a number of petroleum hydrocarbons on Australian seagrass species to provide necessary data for the development of effective management practice

Publications:

Wilson, KG & Ralph, PJ 2012, 'Laboratory testing protocol for the impact of dispersed petrochemicals on seagrass', MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN, vol. 64, no. 11, pp. 2421-2427.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Keywords: seagrass, ecotoxicology, petrochemicals, oil spills,

FOR Codes: Environmental Impact Assessment, Plant Physiology, Natural Resource Management, Energy storage and distribution, Environmental health, Other commercial services, Management of Gaseous Waste from Commercial Services and Tourism (excl. Greenhouse Gases), Management of Gaseous Waste from Energy Activities (excl. Greenhouse Gases), Environmental assessment and monitoring, Plant physiology , Public health (excl. specific population health) not elsewhere classified

Acknowledgement of Country

UTS acknowledges the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the Boorooberongal people of the Dharug Nation, the Bidiagal people and the Gamaygal people, upon whose ancestral lands our university stands. We would also like to pay respect to the Elders both past and present, acknowledging them as the traditional custodians of knowledge for these lands.