Impact of wildfires on sediment quality in estuaries in New South Wales, Australia.

Climate change is increasing wildfire intensity, introducing new risks to estuarine systems. However, the impacts of wildfires on estuaries and their recovery remain poorly understood. To address this, we conducted a large-scale longitudinal survey investigating sediment quality across river-to-estuary systems affected by fire.

Contaminant pulse following wildfire is associated with shifts in estuarine benthic communities.

Novel combinations of climatic conditions due to climate change and prolonged fire seasons have contributed to an increased occurrence of "megafires". Such large-scale fires pose an unknown threat to biodiversity due to the increased extent and severity of burn. Assessments of wildfires often focus on terrestrial ecosystems and effects on aquatic habitats are less documented, particularly in coastal environments.

Wildfires cause rapid changes to estuarine benthic habitat.

Estuaries are one of the most valuable biomes on earth. Although humans are highly dependent on these ecosystems, anthropogenic activities have impacted estuaries worldwide, altering their ecological functions and ability to provide a variety of important ecosystem services. Many anthropogenic stressors combine to affect the soft sedimentary habitats that dominate estuarine ecosystems.

Testing biomarker feasibility: a case study of Laeonereis culveri (Nereididae, Annelida) exposed to sewage contamination in a subtropical estuary.

The feasibility of biomarkers to accurately detect pollution in estuaries and coastal areas appears to be overestimated in the scientific literature, and is likely stemming from a bias towards publishing only positive results. Herein, we test the applicability of antioxidant capacity and lipid peroxidation to detect potential in situ sewage impacts on a subtropical estuary. We experimentally assessed variation in malondialdehyde (MDA, an indicator of lipid peroxidation) and total antioxidant capacity against peroxyl radicals (ACAP) through transplantations of the worm Laeonereis culveri from control to sewage-polluted areas.