Algal Response to Sewage Nutrients in Tropical Tidal Creeks

Geoscience Australia Data published a study comparing phytoplankton and benthic microalgae responses to nutrient loads in tidal creeks with and without secondary treated sewage. The research measured concentrations of sewage markers like coprostanol, nitrogen, phosphorus, chlorophyll a, and primary productivity rates. This dataset likely contains the environmental monitoring data collected for this in situ study.

Use Cases

• Modeling nitrogen limitation in phytoplankton based on nutrient concentration data.
• Correlating sewage discharge markers like coprostanol with algal biomass indicators.
• Comparing primary productivity responses between phytoplankton and benthic microalgae communities.
• Assessing spatial gradients of nutrient pollution downstream from discharge points.

Strengths

• Data is from a controlled field study comparing creeks with and without sewage discharge.
• Includes multiple measured variables: coprostanol, nitrogen, phosphorus, chlorophyll a, and primary productivity rates.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to data_gov_au, focusing on a specific tropical estuary.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Field study comparing tidal creeks with and without secondary treated sewage discharge.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-14 04:48:21.957627; freshness should be verified.

Geography

A tropical estuary.