Compilation of riverine water quality data from the Great Barrier Reef catchment area, northeastern Australia
This manuscript describes the collation of available water quality data from the freshwater reaches of surface streams within the Great Barrier Reef catchment area, northeastern Australia. This compilation represents one of the most comprehensive online datasets for historical tropical and subtropical freshwater quality around the world. We document the criteria for selection of the data and associated publications as well as the processes of data cleaning used to produce a qualitative assessment of the datasets. The final compilation includes 41 individual datasets that collectively report 466 sites and contain over 26,000 discrete water quality sample records totaling more than 350,000 unique water quality results. Finally, we outline the nuances of the data that end users need to take into account when combining them for spatial and temporal analyses. The dataset ensures that these valuable water quality data collected over the past four decades are preserved for the next generations of researchers, practitioners, management agencies and policy makers.
Authors
- Renee K. Gruber (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8788-6910)
- Fred Oudyn
- Shuci Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5629-1703)
- Aaron M. Davis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8278-9599)
- Christina Howley
- A. Moss (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2845-2661)
- Raethea Huggins
- Michael Nash
- Miles Furnas
- Mark J. Kennard (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4383-4999)
- R. G. V. Bramley (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0643-7409)
- Rebecca Bartley (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9471-5354)
- Michelle Tink
- Stephen Lewis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6929-6626)
- Anne‐Marie Buckle
- Dominique O’Brien (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3954-3638)
- Zoë Bainbridge (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9814-4421)
- Michelle Devlin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2194-2534)
- Emma Laxton
- Richard G. Pearson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6047-031X)
- David W. Orr (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7329-7744)
- David McJannet (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3100-9641)
- Ken Rohde
- Stephen Mackay (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2956-9626)
- Bradley D. Eyre (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5502-0680)
- Aaron Hawdon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2021-6154)
- C. S. James (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4886-787X)
- Paul C. Godfrey (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4080-5391)
- Gordon Agnew
- Reinier M. Mann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7696-0751)
- Matthew E. Cross
- Heather Hunter
- Lex Cogle
- John Faithful
- Celine Clech-Goods
- Kylee Welk
Institutions
- Griffith University (AU)
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (AU)
- Queensland Health (AU)
- Australian Institute of Marine Science (AU)
- Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (GB)
- Gold Coast City Council (AU)
- Defence Terrain Research Laboratory (IN)
- Queensland Department of Environment and Science (AU)
- Agriculture and Food (AU)
- Ingham Institute (AU)
- Department for Environment and Water (AU)
- Southern Cross University (AU)
- James Cook University (AU)
- Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Scientific Data
- Published
- 2025-02-18
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-025-04534-7
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Fish Ecology and Management Studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 4.63