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The
Centre for Coastal Biogeochemistry is a specialist group within
the School of Environmental Science and Management at Southern Cross
University. It is the only research group in Australia specifically
dedicated to understanding how physical, geological, chemical and
biological processes (biogeochemistry) interact to control the fate
and effect of material on the metabolism of coastal ecosystems.
The Centre is an international leader in facilitating better understanding
and improved management of tropical coastal waterways (rivers, estuaries
and inshore reef systems) impacted by nutrient enrichment and other
stressors such as climate change, habitat loss, hydrological modifications
and acid sulfate soils.
The
aims of the Centre are:
to undertake high quality and innovative research that contributes
to the understanding and improved management of coastal waterways
impacted by nutrient enrichment and other stressors (e.g.
climate changes, habitat loss; hydrological modifications,
acid sulphate soils);
• to provide undergraduate, post-graduate and continuing
professional education that will equip students and working
professionals to study and manage coastal eutrophication (nutrient
enrichment)-related issues;
• to provide consultancy services to Australian and
overseas government and private agencies involved in the management
of nutrient enrichment of coastal waterways, and
• to promote awareness within the community and amongst
professionals the importance of biogeochemical research for
understanding and managing coastal eutrophication through
scientific and non-scientific publications, through public,
local, national and inter-national conference presentations,
short courses and workshops.
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Members of the Centre use a variety of techniques for studying coastal
ecosystems including in-situ process measurements (e.g. denitrification),
laboratory experiments, in-situ 15N stable isotope tracer experiments,
construction of carbon and nitrogen budgets and modeling. Much of
our work is directed at identifying the factors that modify the
response of different coastal ecosystems to nutrient enrichment,
in particular the role of benthic-pelagic coupling, evaluating how
nutrient enrichment interacts with other stressors such as acid
sulphate soils, and developing simple tools such as C,N,P budgets,
mixing diagrams and salt-balance models for guiding the management,
rehabilitation and protection of coastal ecosystems. The Centre’s
research is funded through ARC Discovery, ARC Linkage, ARC LIEF,
Environmental Trust, Coasts and Clean Seas and SCU grants and local,
state, and federal government and private contracts. The Centre
collaborates with researchers in Denmark, The Netherlands, Germany,
Greenland, and the USA.
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