The implications of brief floodplain inundation for local and landscape-scale ecosystem function in an intermittent Australian river
Oliver P. Pratt
A * , Leah S. Beesley A , Bradley J. Pusey A , Samantha A. Setterfield A and Michael M. Douglas A
A
Abstract
Floodplain inundation creates a diversity of aquatic habitats that diverge in their physical, chemical and biological characteristics through space and time, influencing site-scale ecological processes, with implications for local and landscape-scale ecosystem functioning.
In this study, we characterise conditions of pools on the floodplain and pools in the main channel of the Fitzroy River, north-western Australia.
We used linear models to investigate the spatial and temporal dynamics of top–down and bottom–up forces acting on phytoplankton and zooplankton.
Floodplain pools showed considerable heterogeneity compared with the main channel and were shallow and turbid with high nutrient loads, whereas main-channel pools were deep, clear and nutrient-limited. Phytoplankton and zooplankton biomass (mass per unit volume) were considerably greater and more variable in floodplain pools than in the main channel, where both were largely absent. On the floodplain, bottom–up processes drove water-column productivity (e.g. nutrients to phytoplankton to zooplankton) to a degree not observed in the main channel, providing a valuable resource pathway supporting consumer populations locally and catchment wide. We detected no top–down effects in floodplain pools and no top–down or bottom–up effects in the main channel.
Maintaining flows that inundate the floodplain and promote habitat heterogeneity in the Fitzroy River is crucial for preserving local and landscape-scale ecosystem functioning.
Water managers should take into account the important contribution of floodplain pools to the wider riverine ecosystem and ensure these habitats are not unduely affected by water resource development.
Keywords: bottom–up, consumer control, Fitzroy River, floodplain, Martuwarra, northern Australia, phytoplankton, primary production, resource control, secondary production, top–down, zooplankton.
References
Amoros C, Bornette G (2002) Connectivity and biocomplexity in waterbodies of riverine floodplains. Freshwater Biology 47, 761-776.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Arthington AH, Balcombe SR, Wilson GA, Thoms MC, Marshall J (2005) Spatial and temporal variation in fish-asselemblage structure in isolated waterholes during the 2001 dry season of an arid-zone floodplain river, Cooper Creek, Australia. Marine and Freshwater Research 56, 25-35.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Baldwin DS, Mitchell AM (2000) The effects of drying and re-flooding on the sediment and soil nutrient dynamics of lowland river–floodplain systems: a synthesis. Regulated Rivers: Research & Management 16, 457-467.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Balzer MJ, Hitchcock JN, Hadwen WL, Kobayashi T, Westhorpe DP, Boys C, Mitrovic SM (2023) Experimental additions of allochthonous dissolved organic matter reveal multiple trophic pathways to stimulate planktonic food webs. Freshwater Biology 68, 821-836.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Barbieri MM, Berger JO (2004) Optimal predictive model selection. The Annals of Statistics 32, 870-879.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Barlow CG, Rodgers LJ, Palmer PJ, Longhurst CJ (1993) Feeding habits of hatchery-reared barramundi Lates calcarifer (Bloch) fry. Aquaculture 109, 131-144.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Beesley LS, Pusey BJ, Douglas MM, Gwinn DC, Canham CA, Keogh CS, Pratt OP, Kennard MJ, Setterfield SA (2020) New insights into the food web of an Australian tropical river to inform water resource management. Scientific Reports 10, 14294.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |
Beesley LS, Killerby-Smith S, Gwinn DC, Pusey BJ, Douglas MM, Novak PA, Tayer TC, Keogh CS, Kennard MJ, Canham CA, Setterfield SA (2023) Modelling the longitudinal distribution, abundance, and habitat use of the giant freshwater shrimp (Macrobrachium spinipes) in a large intermittent, tropical Australian river to inform water resource policy. Freshwater Biology 68, 61-76.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Bottrell HH, Duncan A, Gliwicz ZM, Grygierek E, Herzig A, Hillbricht-Ilkowska A, Kurosawa H, Larsson P, Weglenska T (1976) A review of some problems in zooplankton production studies. Norwegian Journal of Zoology 24, 419-456.
| Google Scholar |
Bunn SE, Davies PM, Winning M (2003) Sources of organic carbon supporting the food web of an arid zone floodplain river. Freshwater Biology 48, 619-635.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Bunn SE, Thoms MC, Hamilton SK, Capon SJ (2006) Flow variability in dryland rivers: boom, bust and the bits in between. River Research and Applications 22, 179-186.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Bureau of Meteorology (2024) Climate statistics for Australian locations. Available at http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw_003006.shtml [Verified 13 February 2024]
Burford MA, Cook AJ, Fellows CS, Balcombe SR, Bunn SE (2008) Sources of carbon fuelling production in an arid floodplain river. Marine and Freshwater Research 59, 224-234.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Burford MA, Webster IT, Revill AT, Kenyon RA, Whittle M, Curwen G (2012) Controls on phytoplankton productivity in a wet–dry tropical estuary. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 113, 141-151.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Burrows RM, Beesley L, Douglas MM, Pusey BJ, Kennard MJ (2020) Water velocity and groundwater upwelling influence benthic algal biomass in a sandy tropical river: implications for water-resource development. Hydrobiologia 847, 1207-1219.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Burrows RM, Douglas MM, Bunn SE, Pusey BJ, Setterfield SA, Garcia EA, Kennard MJ (2022) 4. Case study: Tropical freshwater food webs- spatial and conceptual gaps in our understanding of their ecology and management. In ‘Environmental flows synthesis to support uptake of environmental flows research in northern Australia’. (Eds MJ Kennard, LS Beesley, SE Bunn, MA Burford, RM Burrows, CA Canham, D Crook, MM Douglas, EA Garcia, A King, SA Setterfield, K O’Mara, J Marshall, BJ Pusey, B Stewart-Koster, M Venarsky) pp. 26–49. (Griffith University: Brisbane, Qld, Australia)
das Candeias DA, Moi DA, Simões NR, Azevedo F, Meerhoff M, Bonecker CC (2022) High temperature, predation, nutrient, and food quality drive dominance of small-sized zooplankton in Neotropical lakes. Aquatic Sciences 84, 49.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Dixon I, Dobbs R, Townsend SA, Close P, Ligtermoet E, Dostine P, Duncan R, Kennard MJ, Tunbridge D (2011) Trial of the Framework for the Assessment of River and Wetland Health (FARWH) in the wet–dry tropics for the Daly and Fitzroy Rivers. Tropical Rivers and Coastal Knowledge (TRaCK) research consortium, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT, Australia.
Douglas MM, Bunn SE, Davies PM (2005) River and wetland food webs in Australia’s wet–dry tropics: general principles and implications for management. Marine and Freshwater Research 56, 329-342.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Faggotter SJ, Webster IT, Burford MA (2013) Factors controlling primary productivity in a wet–dry tropical river. Marine and Freshwater Research 64, 585-598.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Feitosa IB, Huszar VLM, Domingues CD, Appel E, Paranhos R, Almeida RM, Branco CWC, Bastos WR, Sarmento H (2019) Plankton community interactions in an Amazonian floodplain lake, from bacteria to zooplankton. Hydrobiologia 831, 55-70.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Fellman JB, Dogramaci S, Skrzypek G, Dodson W, Grierson PF (2011) Hydrologic control of dissolved organic matter biogeochemistry in pools of a subtropical dryland river. Water Resources Research 47, W06501.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Frau D (2022) Grazing impacts on phytoplankton in South American water ecosystems: a synthesis. Hydrobiologia 849, 833-860.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Frau D, Devercelli M, José De Paggi S, Scarabotti P, Mayora G, Battauz Y, Senn M (2015) Can top–down and bottom–up forces explain phytoplankton structure in a subtropical and shallow groundwater-connected lake? Marine and Freshwater Research 66, 1106-1115.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Frau D, Battauz Y, Alvarenga PF, Scarabotti PA, Mayora G, Sinistro R (2019) Assessing the relevance of top–down and bottom–up effects as phytoplankton structure drivers in a subtropical hypereutrophic shallow lake. Aquatic Ecology 53, 265-280.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Furst DJ, Aldridge KT, Shiel RJ, Ganf GG, Mills S, Brookes JD (2014) Floodplain connectivity facilitates significant export of zooplankton to the main River Murray channel during a flood event. Inland Waters 4, 413-424.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Garcia EA, Townsend SA, Douglas MM (2015) Context dependency of top–down and bottom–up effects in a northern Australian tropical river. Freshwater Science 34, 679-690.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
George EI, McCulloch RE (1993) Variable selection via Gibbs Sampling. Journal of the American Statistical Association 88, 881-889.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Godfrey PC, Pearson RG, Pusey BJ, Arthington AH (2021) Drivers of zooplankton dynamics in a small tropical lowland river. Marine and Freshwater Research 72, 173-185.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
James CS, Thoms MC, Quinn GP (2008) Zooplankton dynamics from inundation to drying in a complex ephemeral floodplain wetland. Aquatic Sciences 70, 259-271.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Jardine TD, Pettit NE, Warfe DM, Pusey BJ, Ward DP, Douglas MM, Davies PM, Bunn SE (2012a) Consumer-resource coupling in wet–dry tropical rivers. Journal of Animal Ecology 81, 310-322.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |
Jardine TD, Pusey BJ, Hamilton SK, Pettit NE, Davies PM, Douglas MM, Sinnamon V, Halliday IA, Bunn SE (2012b) Fish mediate high food web connectivity in the lower reaches of a tropical floodplain river. Oecologia 168, 829-838.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |
Jardine TD, Woods R, Marshall J, Fawcett J, Lobegeiger J, Valdez D, Kainz MJ (2015) Reconciling the role of organic matter pathways in aquatic food webs by measuring multiple tracers in individuals. Ecology 96, 3257-3269.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |
Junk WJ, Furch K (1993) A general review of tropical South American floodplains. Wetlands Ecology and Management 2, 231-238.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Junk WJ, Bayley PB, Sparks RE (1989) The flood pulse concept in river–floodplain systems. In ‘Proceedings of the International Large River Symposium (LARS)’, 14–21 September 1986, Honey Harbour, ON, Canada. (Ed. DP Dodge) Special Publication of Fish and Aquatic Sciences 106, pp. 110–127. (Department of Fisheries and Oceans: Ottawa, ON, Canada) Available at https://ftp.cs.ru.nl/toinesmits/Recommended_readings_IWRM_2009/Water_Ecomorphological_principles/1989JunkThe%20flood%20pulse%20concept%20in.pdf
Karim F, Peña-Arancibia J, Ticehurst C, Marvanek S, Gallant J, Hughes JM, Dutta D, Vaze J, Pethernam C, Seo L, Kitson S (2018) Floodplain inundation mapping and modelling for the Fitzroy, Darwin and Mitchell catchments. A technical report to the Australian Government from the CSIRO Northern Australia Water Resource Assessment, part of the National Water Infrastructure Development Fund: Water Resource Assesments. CSIRO, Australia.
Kay WR, Smith MJ, Pinder AM, Mcrae JM, Davis JA, Halse SA (1999) Patterns of distribution of macroinvertebrate families in rivers of north-western Australia. Freshwater Biology 41, 299-316.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Kennard MJ, Pusey BJ, Olden JD, Mackay SJ, Stein JL, Marsh N (2010) Classification of natural flow regimes in Australia to support environmental flow management. Freshwater Biology 55, 171-193.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Kingsford RT, Roshier DA, Porter JL (2010) Australian waterbirds: time and space travellers in dynamic desert landscapes. Marine and Freshwater Research 61, 875-884.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Koning AA, McIntyre PB (2021) Grassroots reserves rescue a river food web from cascading impacts of overharvest. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 19, 152-158.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Lear KO, Ebner BC, Fazeldean T, Whitty J, Morgan DL (2023) Inter-decadal variation in diadromous and potamodromous fish assemblages in a near pristine tropical dryland river. Ecology of Freshwater Fish 32, 444-463.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Lewis WM, Hamilton SK, Lasi MA, Rodríguez M, Saunders JF (2000) Ecological Determinism on the Orinoco Floodplain: a 15-year study of the Orinoco floodplain shows that this productive and biotically diverse ecosystem is functionally less complex than it appears. Hydrographic and geomorphic controls induce a high degree of determinism in biogeochemical and biotic processes. BioScience 50, 681-692.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Medeiros ESF, Arthington AH (2008) The importance of zooplankton in the diets of three native fish species in floodplain waterholes of a dryland river, the Macintyre River, Australia. Hydrobiologia 614, 19-31.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Molinari B, Stewart-Koster B, Adame MF, Campbell MD, McGregor G, Schulz C, Malthus TJ, Bunn S (2021) Relationships between algal primary productivity and environmental variables in tropical floodplain wetlands. Inland Waters 11, 180-190.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Mosepele K, Kolding J, Bokhutlo T, Mosepele BQ, Molefe M (2022) The Okavango Delta: fisheries in a fluctuating floodplain system. Frontiers in Environmental Science 10, 854835.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Ning NSP, Nielsen DL (2011) Community structure and composition of microfaunal egg bank assemblages in riverine and floodplain sediments. Hydrobiologia 661, 211-221.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Nunn AD, Tewson LH, Cowx IG (2012) The foraging ecology of larval and juvenile fishes. Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries 22, 377-408.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
O’Hara RB, Sillanpää MJ (2009) A review of Bayesian variable selection methods: what, how and which. Bayesian Analysis 4, 85-117.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Petheram C, Hughes J, Stokes C, Watson I, Irvin S, Musson D, Philip S, Turnadge C, Poulton P, Rogers L, Wilson P, Seo L, Pollino C, Ash A, Webster T, Yeates S, Chilcott C, Bruce C, Stratford D, Taylor A, Davies P, Higgins A (2018b) Case Studies for the Northern Australia Water Resource Assessment. A technical report to the Australian Government from the CSIRO Northern Australia Water Resource Assessment, part of the National Water Infrastructure Development Fund: Water Resource Assessments. CSIRO, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
Pettit NE, Bayliss P, Davies PM, Hamilton SK, Warfe DM, Bunn SE, Douglas MM (2011) Seasonal contrasts in carbon resources and ecological processes on a tropical floodplain. Freshwater Biology 56, 1047-1064.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Pettit NE, Jardine TD, Hamilton SK, Sinnamon V, Valdez D, Davies PM, Douglas MM, Bunn SE (2012) Seasonal changes in water quality and macrophytes and the impact of cattle on tropical floodplain waterholes. Marine and Freshwater Research 63, 788-800.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Pettit NE, Naiman RJ, Warfe DM, Jardine TD, Douglas MM, Bunn SE, Davies PM (2017) Productivity and connectivity in tropical riverscapes of Northern Australia: ecological insights for management. Ecosystems 20, 492-514.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Plummer M (2003) JAGS: a program for analysis of Bayesian graphical models using Gibbs sampling. In ‘Proceedings of the 3rd International Workshop on Distributed Statistical Computing (DSC 2003)’, 20–22 March 2003, Vienna, Austria. (Eds K Hornik, F Leisch, A Zeileis) pp. 1–10. (DSC: Vienna, Austria)
Poff NL, Ward JV (1990) Physical habitat template of lotic systems: recovery in the context of historical pattern of spatiotemporal heterogeneity. Environmental Management 14, 629-645.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Poff NL, Allan JD, Bain MB, Karr JR, Prestegaard KL, Richter BD, Sparks RE, Stromberg JC (1997) The natural flow regime- a paradigm for river conservation and restoration. BioScience 47, 769-784.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Polis GA, Strong DR (1996) Food web complexity and community dynamics. The American Naturalist 147, 813-846.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Power ME (1990) Resource enhancement by indirect effects of grazers: armored catfish, algae, and sediment. Ecology 71, 897-904.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Pratt OP, Beesley LS, Pusey BJ, Gwinn DC, Keogh CS, Douglas MM (2023) Brief floodplain inundation provides growth and survival benefits to a young-of-year fish in an intermittent river threatened by water development. Scientific Reports 13, 17725.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |
Pusey BJ, Jardine TD, Beesley LS, Kennard MJ, Ho TW, Bunn SE, Douglas MM (2021) Carbon sources supporting Australia’s most widely distributed freshwater fish, Nematalosa erebi (Günther) (Clupeidae: Dorosomatinae). Marine and Freshwater Research 72, 288-298.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Rayner TS, Pusey BJ, Pearson RG (2009) Spatio-temporal dynamics of fish feeding in the lower Mulgrave River, north-eastern Queensland: the influence of seasonal flooding, instream productivity and invertebrate abundance. Marine and Freshwater Research 60, 97-111.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Rejas D, Muylaert K (2010) Bottom–up and top–down control of phytoplankton growth in an Amazonian varzea lake. Fundamental and Applied Limnology 176, 225-234.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Rejas D, Declerck S, Auwerkerken J, Tak P, Meester LD (2005) Plankton dynamics in a tropical floodplain lake: fish, nutrients, and the relative importance of bottom–up and top–down control. Freshwater Biology 50, 52-69.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Rolls RJ, Leigh C, Sheldon F (2012) Mechanistic effects of low-flow hydrology on riverine ecosystems: ecological principles and consequences of alteration. Freshwater Science 31, 1163-1186.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Schaus MH, Vanni MJ, Wissing TE (2002) Biomass-dependent diet shifts in omnivorous gizzard shad: implications for growth, food web, and ecosystem effects. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 131, 40-54.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Shmeleva AA (1965) Weight characteristics of the zooplankton of the Adriatic Sea. Bulletin de L’institut Océanographique de Monaco 65, 1-24.
| Google Scholar |
Sparks RE (1995) Need for ecosystem management of large rivers and their floodplains. BioScience 45, 168-182.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Sturrock AM, Ogaz M, Neal K, Corline NJ, Peek R, Myers D, Schluep S, Levinson M, Johnson RC, Jeffres CA (2022) Floodplain trophic subsidies in a modified river network: managed foodscapes of the future? Landscape Ecology 37, 2991-3009.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Søndergaard M, Kristensen P, Jeppesen E (1992) Phosphorus release from resuspended sediment in the shallow and wind-exposed Lake Arresø, Denmark. Hydrobiologia 228, 91-99.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Thomaz SM, Bini LM, Bozelli RL (2007) Floods increase similarity among aquatic habitats in river–floodplain systems. Hydrobiologia 579, 1-13.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Thorp JH, Thoms MC, Delong MD (2006) The riverine ecosystem synthesis: biocomplexity in river networks across space and time. River Research and Applications 22, 123-147.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Tockner K, Pennetzdorfer D, Reiner N, Schiemer F, Ward JV (1999) Hydrological connectivity, and the exchange of organic matter and nutrients in a dynamic river–floodplain system (Danube, Austria). Freshwater Biology 41, 521-535.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Toruan RL, Dina R, Coggins LX, Ghadouani A (2022) Hydrological regime and fish predation regulate the zooplankton community size structure in a tropical floodplain lake. Water 14, 2518.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Townsend SA, Edwards CA (2003) A fish kill event, hypoxia and other limnological impacts associated with early wet season flow into a lake on the Mary River floodplain, tropical northern Australia. Lakes & Reservoirs: Science, Policy and Management for Sustainable Use 8, 169-176.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Townsend SA, Padovan AV (2005) The seasonal accrual and loss of benthic algae (Spirogyra) in the Daly River, an oligotrophic river in tropical Australia. Marine and Freshwater Research 56, 317-327.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Townsend SA, Przybylska M, Miloshis M (2012) Phytoplankton composition and constraints to biomass in the middle reaches of an Australian tropical river during base flow. Marine and Freshwater Research 63, 48-59.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Trevisan GV, Forsberg BR (2007) Relationships among nitrogen and total phosphorus, algal biomass and zooplankton density in the central Amazonia lakes. Hydrobiologia 586, 357-365.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Turschwell MP, Stewart-Koster B, King AJ, Pusey B, Crook D, Boone E, Douglas M, Allsop Q, Jackson S, Kennard MJ (2019) Flow-mediated predator–prey dynamics influence fish populations in a tropical river. Freshwater Biology 64, 1453-1466.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Vanni MJ (2002) Nutrient cycling by animals in freshwater ecosystems. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 33, 341-370.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Warfe DM, Pettit NE, Davies PM, Pusey BJ, Hamilton SK, Kennard MJ, Townsend SA, Bayliss P, Ward DP, Douglas MM, Burford MA, Finn M, Bunn SE, Halliday IA (2011) The ‘wet–dry’ in the wet–dry tropics drives river ecosystem structure and processes in northern Australia. Freshwater Biology 56, 2169-2195.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Webster IT, Rea N, Padovan AV, Dostine P, Townsend SA, Cook S (2005) An analysis of primary production in the Daly River, a relatively unimpacted tropical river in northern Australia. Marine and Freshwater Research 56, 303-316.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Winemiller KO, Montoya JV, Roelke DL, Layman CA, Cotner JB (2006) Seasonally varying impact of detritivorous fishes on the benthic ecology of a tropical floodplain river. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 25, 250-262.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Winemiller KO, Montaña CG, Roelke DL, Cotner JB, Montoya JV, Sanchez L, Castillo MM, Layman CA (2014) Pulsing hydrology determines top-down control of basal resources in a tropical river–floodplain ecosystem. Ecological Monographs 84, 621-635.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Wold S, Esbensen K, Geladi P (1987) Principal component analysis. Chemometrics and Intelligent Laboratory Systems 2, 37-52.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
