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Effects of Land-Use Change on Characteristics and Dynamics of Watershed Discharges in Babeldaob, Palau, Micronesia

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dc.contributor.author Golbuu, Yimnang
dc.contributor.author Wolanski, Eric
dc.contributor.author Harrison, Peter
dc.contributor.author Richmond, Robert H.
dc.contributor.author Victor, Steven
dc.contributor.author Fabricius, Katharina E.
dc.date.accessioned 2011-02-02T20:46:08Z
dc.date.available 2011-02-02T20:46:08Z
dc.date.issued 2011 en_US
dc.identifier.uri https://hdl.handle.net/10535/6974
dc.description.abstract "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 (r 2 = 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." en_US
dc.language English en_US
dc.subject watersheds en_US
dc.subject land tenure and use en_US
dc.subject landscape change en_US
dc.subject development en_US
dc.title Effects of Land-Use Change on Characteristics and Dynamics of Watershed Discharges in Babeldaob, Palau, Micronesia en_US
dc.type Journal Article en_US
dc.type.published published en_US
dc.type.methodology Case Study en_US
dc.coverage.region Pacific and Australia en_US
dc.coverage.country Micronesia en_US
dc.subject.sector Land Tenure & Use en_US
dc.identifier.citationjournal Journal of Marine Biology en_US
dc.identifier.citationvolume 2011 en_US


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