TropWater and College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia.
Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Townsville, Queensland 4814, Australia.
Mar Pollut Bull. 2021 May;166:112194. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112194. Epub 2021 Mar 6.
We review the literature on the ecology, connectivity, human impacts and management of freshwater and estuarine systems in the Great Barrier Reef catchment (424,000 km), on the Australian east coast. The catchment has high biodiversity, with substantial endemicity (e.g., lungfish). Freshwater and estuarine ecosystems are closely linked to the land and are affected by human disturbance, including climate change, flow management, land clearing, habitat damage, weed invasion, and excessive sediments, nutrients and pesticides. They require holistic integrated management of impacts, interactions, and land-sea linkages. This requirement is additional to land management aimed at reducing pollutant delivery to reef waters. Despite advances in research and management over recent decades, there are substantial deficiencies that need addressing, including understanding of physical and biological processes and impacts in ground waters, large rivers and estuaries; ecological effects of pesticides; management and mitigation for invasive species and climate change; and explicit protection of non-marine waters.
我们回顾了大堡礁集水区（424,000 平方公里）淡水和河口系统的生态学、连通性、人类影响和管理方面的文献，该集水区生物多样性高，具有大量的特有物种（例如肺鱼）。淡水和河口生态系统与陆地紧密相连，并受到人类干扰的影响，包括气候变化、水流管理、土地开垦、生境破坏、杂草入侵以及过多的沉积物、养分和农药。它们需要对影响、相互作用和陆海联系进行整体综合管理。这一要求除了旨在减少污染物输送到珊瑚礁水域的土地管理之外。尽管近几十年来研究和管理取得了进展，但仍存在大量需要解决的问题，包括对地下水、大河和河口的物理和生物过程和影响的理解；农药的生态影响；入侵物种和气候变化的管理和缓解；以及对非海洋水域的明确保护。
