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Estimating production of gilvin from catchment leaf litter during seasonal rains
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Estimating production of gilvin from catchment leaf litter during seasonal rains

S. Qiu, A.J. McComb, R.W. Bell and J.A. Davis
Marine and Freshwater Research, Vol.56(6), pp.843-849
2005
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Abstract

The yellow substance, gilvin, is an important component of water quality in natural waters. Quantitative study of gilvin production is difficult since gilvin is not a well defined substance. In the present study, leaf litter from four common tree species of south-western Australia were exposed to rainy weather for 183 days and leachate properties were monitored. The gilvin leaching from litter was estimated using a ‘humic acid (HA) equivalent’ concept, derived by drawing an analogy between the spectrophotometric properties of gilvin and that of humic acid. Gilvin (g440, m-1) was leached from litter primarily during the first few weeks after the commencement of the wet season. On average, 13% less gilvin was leached under ‘flooded’ conditions compared with ‘non-flooded’ conditions. Litter leaching in the presence of soil caused a significant time lag (about a month) for the peak load to occur, and reduced the total gilvin in the leachate through soil–litter interactions. Banksia menziesii leaves produced little gilvin, equivalent to 6.6% of that leached from the flooded gum. The Eucalyptus species, such as flooded gum and jarrah, common in wooded catchments in the region, appeared to be a major player producing yellow-coloured substances under annual rainfall conditions in south-western Australia.

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UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#6 Clean Water and Sanitation
#13 Climate Action
#14 Life Below Water

Source: InCites

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InCites Highlights

These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output

Citation topics
3 Agriculture, Environment & Ecology
3.45 Soil Science
3.45.1049 Dissolved Organic Matter
Web Of Science research areas
Fisheries
Limnology
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Oceanography
ESI research areas
Plant & Animal Science
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