Algal Response to Sewage Nutrients in Tropical Tidal Creeks

A study in a tropical estuary compares phytoplankton and benthic microalgae responses to nutrient loads across tidal creeks with and without secondary treated sewage. The research highlights the scale and type of algal community response to sewage nutrients in situ, using sewage markers like coprostanol. The dataset is provided by Geoscience Australia Data and was last updated on 2026-04-30.

Use Cases

• Modeling nitrogen and phosphorus dispersion from sewage discharge points based on coprostanol marker concentrations.
• Comparing primary productivity rates and chlorophyll a concentrations between sewage-impacted and control tidal creeks.
• Assessing the differential response of phytoplankton versus benthic microalgae (BMA) to nutrient loads.
• Investigating nutrient limitation (nitrogen) in coastal water columns in the absence of sewage input.

Strengths

• In-situ study design comparing creeks with and without sewage discharge.
• Measures multiple biological and chemical indicators, including coprostanol, nitrogen, phosphorus, chlorophyll a, and primary productivity.
• Dataset is hosted by Geoscience Australia Data, a national scientific agency.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Freshness should be verified as the last update timestamp is 2026-04-30, which is a future date.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

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

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-30 14:48:15.954016

Geography

Tropical estuary (specific location not stated).