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Diatoms as Indicators of Environmental Change in Estuaries

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Applications of Paleoenvironmental Techniques in Estuarine Studies

Part of the book series: Developments in Paleoenvironmental Research ((DPER,volume 20))

Abstract

Diatoms are valuable paleo-indicators of natural processes and environmental changes caused by human activities in estuaries. They have been used to study sea level change, climate variability, floods and tsunamis, problems associated with changes in salinity and nutrients due to human activities, and to assess ecosystem responses to remediation, among others. There are many challenges such as issues of sediment disturbance and frustule preservation, as well as limitations on the development of transfer functions due to a lack of analogue sites. However, the application of diatoms to paleo-studies in a range of coastal habitats has enabled reliable and informative qualitative and quantitative reconstructions of environmental change. This chapter provides an overview of diatom estuarine ecology, different applications of diatoms to estuarine paleoecological research, their potential yet often informative limitations, and challenges going forward.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the contribution of Dr. John Gibson for his vision and enthusiasm initiating this project, and his dedication and passion for the estuarine environment. We would like to acknowledge the input from the reviewers whose suggestions contributed to significantly improving the quality of this chapter.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environment, Science and Engineering, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW, Australia

    Kathryn H. Taffs & Brendan Logan

  2. Institute of Geography and Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    Krystyna M. Saunders

  3. Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Lucas Heights, NSW, Australia

    Krystyna M. Saunders

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  1. Kathryn H. Taffs
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  2. Krystyna M. Saunders
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  3. Brendan Logan
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Correspondence to Kathryn H. Taffs .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Glaciology and Climate, Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Kaarina Weckström

  2. Institute of Geography and Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    Krystyna M. Saunders

  3. Water Research Network, Faculty of Science and Technology, Federation University Australia, Mt Helen, Victoria, Australia

    Peter A. Gell

  4. School of Life Sciences, Ultimo, New South Wales, Australia

    C. Gregory Skilbeck

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Taffs, K.H., Saunders, K.M., Logan, B. (2017). Diatoms as Indicators of Environmental Change in Estuaries. In: Weckström, K., Saunders, K., Gell, P., Skilbeck, C. (eds) Applications of Paleoenvironmental Techniques in Estuarine Studies. Developments in Paleoenvironmental Research, vol 20. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-0990-1_11

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