HIDDEN SOURCE OF GREAT BARRIER REEF NUTRIENT POTENTIAL UNCOVERED

The Great Barrier Reef is one of Australia's most important environmental and economic assets. It is estimated to contribute Australian dollars 56 billion per year and supports about 64,000 full-time jobs, according to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation. However, the reef is under increasing pressure.

- 

While much public attention is focused on the impacts of climate change on the Great Barrier Reef and the debate around its endangered status, water quality is also crucial to the reef's health and survival. Our new study, published today in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, found that previously unquantified groundwater inputs are the largest source of new nutrients to the reef. This finding could potentially change how the Great Barrier Reef is managed.

Too much of a good thing Nutrient enrichment can also promote the breeding success of crown-of-thorns starfish, whose increasing populations and voracious appetite for corals have decimated parts of the reef in recent decades. What are the sources of nutrients driving the degradation of the reef? Previous studies have focused on river discharge.