Effects of Land-Use Change on Characteristics and Dynamics of Watershed Discharges in Babeldaob, Palau, Micronesia
Joint Authors
Richmond, Robert H.
Victor, Steven
Fabricius, Katharina E.
Harrison, Peter
Wolanski, Eric
Golbuu, Yimnang
Source
Issue
Vol. 2011, Issue 2011 (31 Dec. 2011), pp.1-17, 17 p.
Publisher
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
Publication Date
2010-09-26
Country of Publication
Egypt
No. of Pages
17
Main Subjects
Earth Science , Water and Environment
Abstract EN
This study assessed the impacts of differing levels of land development in four watersheds in Palau on river sediment yield and on sedimentation and turbidity.
Area corrected sediment yield was strongly related to land development (r2=0.96, P=0.02), varying from 9.7 to 216 tons km−2 yr−1 between the least and most developed watershed.
Mean sedimentation rates on reefs ranged from 0.7 to 46 mg cm−2 d−1, and mean turbidity ranged from 9 to 139 mg l−1.
The higher values exceeded those known to harm corals.
Because Palau's watersheds and estuaries are small, river floods were short-lived (typically lasting less than a day) and the estuaries adjusted just as quickly to a number of different estuarine circulation patterns that, in turn, generated a large variability in the export of riverine fine sediment to the reefs.
The ultimate fate of the fine sediment deposited on the reefs depended on wind resuspension, local currents, and geomorphology (whether the bay was open or semi-enclosed).
Palau's small estuaries were generally not as effective as bigger estuaries in trapping sediments and thus at sheltering the reefs.
Therefore, greater efforts are needed to control and mitigate land activities that contribute to the increase in sediment yield.
American Psychological Association (APA)
Golbuu, Yimnang& Wolanski, Eric& Harrison, Peter& Richmond, Robert H.& Victor, Steven& Fabricius, Katharina E.. 2010. Effects of Land-Use Change on Characteristics and Dynamics of Watershed Discharges in Babeldaob, Palau, Micronesia. Journal of Marine Sciences،Vol. 2011, no. 2011, pp.1-17.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-990961
Modern Language Association (MLA)
Golbuu, Yimnang…[et al.]. Effects of Land-Use Change on Characteristics and Dynamics of Watershed Discharges in Babeldaob, Palau, Micronesia. Journal of Marine Sciences No. 2011 (2011), pp.1-17.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-990961
American Medical Association (AMA)
Golbuu, Yimnang& Wolanski, Eric& Harrison, Peter& Richmond, Robert H.& Victor, Steven& Fabricius, Katharina E.. Effects of Land-Use Change on Characteristics and Dynamics of Watershed Discharges in Babeldaob, Palau, Micronesia. Journal of Marine Sciences. 2010. Vol. 2011, no. 2011, pp.1-17.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-990961
Data Type
Journal Articles
Language
English
Notes
Includes bibliographical references
Record ID
BIM-990961