NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Giddings, S. N.; MacCready, P.
2017-12-01
Estuarine exchange flow governs the interaction between oceans and estuaries and thus plays a large role in their biogeochemical processes. This study investigates the variability in estuarine exchange flow due to offshore oceanic conditions including upwelling/downwelling, and the presence of a river plume offshore (from a neighboring estuary). We address these processes via numerical simulations at the mouth of the Salish Sea, a large estuarine system in the Northeast Pacific. An analysis of the Total Exchange Flow indicates that during the upwelling season, the exchange flow is fairly consistent in magnitude and oriented in a positive (into the estuary at depth and out at the surface) direction. However, during periods of downwelling favorable winds, the exchange flow shows significantly more variability including multiple reversals, consistent with observations, and surface intrusions of the Columbia River plume which originates 250 km to the south. Numerical along-strait momentum budgets show that the exchange flow is forced dominantly by the pressure gradients, particularly the baroclinic. The pressure gradient is modified by Coriolis and sometimes advection, highlighting the importance of geostrophy and local adjustments. In experiments conducted without the offshore river plume, reversals still occur but are weaker, and the baroclinic pressure gradient plays a reduced role. These results suggest that estuaries along strong upwelling coastlines should experience significant modulation in the exchange flow during upwelling versus downwelling conditions. Additionally, they highlight the importance of nearby estuaries impacting one-another, not only in terms of connectivity, but also altering the exchange flow.
Transient controls on estuarine SPM fluxes: case study in the Dee Estuary, UK.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Amoudry, Laurent; Williams, Megan; Todd, David
2017-04-01
circulations in the estuary. Wavelet analysis provides clear evidence that such influx of sediment in the estuary is alternatively the result of periodic stratification at neap tides and of tidal asymmetry in suspended sediment concentration at spring tides. Such transient processes will be important to determine and predict estuarine responses to short-lived perturbations. Further analysis of other field campaigns will enable to determine the persistence of these processes over seasonal and annual timescales.
INDEX OF ESTUARINE BENTHIC INTEGRITY FOR GULF OF MEXICO ESTUARIES
A benthic index for northern Gulf of Mexico estuaries has been developed and successfully validated by the Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program for Estuaries (EMAP-E) in the Louisianian Province. The benthic index is a useful indicator of estuarine condition that provi...
Sediment transport processes in estuaries: An introduction
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Perillo, Gerardo M. E.; Lavelle, J. William
1989-10-01
Research on estuarine sediment transport processes has received increasing attention in recent years, attention related to concerns about water clarity, pollutant distribution and transport, dredge spoil disposal, creation and maintenance of channels and basins for navigational purposes, and shoreline erosion. Still, the geophysical community that addresses these concerns and the underlying fundamentals of sediment transport in an estuary is widely but relatively sparsely distributed around the world. The need to draw these researchers together to discuss ideas and outlooks led to the AGU Chapman Conference on Sediment Transport Processes in Estuaries that was held at the Universidad Nacional del Sur in Bahía Bianca, Argentina, from June 13 to June 17, 1988 [Perillo and Lavelle, 1988]. The meeting sought to provide a timely impetus to further progress in sediment transport research in estuaries, promote communication among researchers using different investigatory approaches, and develop collaborations among estuarine scientists in developed and developing nations.
Principal processes within the estuarine salinity gradient: a review.
Telesh, Irena V; Khlebovich, Vladislav V
2010-01-01
The salinity gradient is one of the main features characteristic of any estuarine ecosystem. Within this gradient in a critical salinity range of 5-8 PSU the major biotic and abiotic processes demonstrate non-linear dynamics of change in rates and directions. In estuaries, this salinity range acts as both external ecological factor and physiological characteristics of internal environment of aquatic organisms; it divides living conditions appropriate for freshwater and marine faunas, separates invertebrate communities with different osmotic regulation types, and defines the distribution range of high taxa. In this paper, the non-linearity of biotic processes within the estuarine salinity gradient is illustrated by the data on zooplankton from the Baltic estuaries. The non-tidal Baltic Sea provides a good demonstration of the above phenomena due to gradual changes of environmental factors and relatively stable isohalines. The non-linearity concept coupled with the ecosystem approach served the basis for a new definition of an estuary proposed by the authors. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Birch, G F; Gunns, T J; Chapman, D; Harrison, D
2016-05-01
As coastal populations increase, considerable pressures are exerted on estuarine environments. Recently, there has been a trend towards the development and use of estuarine assessment schemes as a decision support tool in the management of these environments. These schemes offer a method by which complex environmental data is converted into a readily understandable and communicable format for informed decision making and effective distribution of limited management resources. Reliability and effectiveness of these schemes are often limited due to a complex assessment framework, poor data management and use of ineffective environmental indicators. The current scheme aims to improve reliability in the reporting of estuarine condition by including a concise assessment framework, employing high-value indicators and, in a unique approach, employing fuzzy logic in indicator evaluation. Using Sydney estuary as a case study, each of the 15 sub-catchment/sub-estuary systems were assessed using the current scheme. Results identified that poor sediment quality was a significant issue in Blackwattle/Rozelle Bay, Iron Cove and Hen and Chicken Bay while poor water quality was of particular concern in Duck River, Homebush Bay and the Parramatta River. Overall results of the assessment scheme were used to prioritise the management of each sub-catchment/sub-estuary assessed with Blackwattle/Rozelle Bay, Homebush Bay, Iron Cove and Duck River considered to be in need of a high priority management response. A report card format, using letter grades, was employed to convey the results of the assessment in a readily understood manner to estuarine managers and members of the public. Letter grades also provide benchmarking and performance monitoring ability, allowing estuarine managers to set improvement targets and assesses the effectiveness of management strategies. The current assessment scheme provides an effective, integrated and consistent assessment of estuarine health and
Consumption processes and food web structure in the Columbia River Estuary
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Simenstad, Charles A.; Small, Lawrence F.; David McIntire, C.
Consumption processes at several trophic levels tend to coverage in the central (estuarine-mixing) region of the Columbia River estuary, where living and dentrital food resources are entrained within the energy null of the turbidity maximum zone. Primary consumers in this region are generalist and omnivorous feeders, capable of exploiting both autotrophic and heterotrophic food web pathways. In the presence of higher standing stocks of their prey resources, feeding by secondary and tertiary consumers is also concentrated, or more effective, in the estuarine mixing region of the estuary. During the 1980-1981 studies of the estuary, total consumer (metazoan) production averaged 5.5g C m -2 within the estuary. Of the estimated 15 x 10 3mt Cyy -1 attributed to primary consumption in the water column, 83% was the result of suspension-feeding pelagic zooplankton. In comparison to grazing on phytoplankton, it was estimated that approximately 84% of primary consumption in the water column was based on suspended detritus and, presumably, associated microbiota. Endemic primary,consumers, principally epibenthic crustaceans such as the calanoid copepod Eurytemora affinis, the harpacticoid copepod Scottolana canadensis, and the crangonid shrimp Crangon franciscorum, accounted for a high proportion of the consumption of suspended particles. Wertland herbivores inhabiting the estuary's extensive marshes, on the other hand, were estimated to account for only 2 to 17% of total estuarine primary consumption. Trophic linkages to secondary and tertiary consumers were more evenly apportioned among pelagic fishes, motile macroinvertebrates, and benthic infauna. High, comparatively unknown fluxes of migratory or wide-ranging tertiary consumers, such as piscivorous birds, seals and sea lions, made estimation of their annual consumption rates in the estuary highly tenuous. The physical processes of mixing and stratification, sediments accretion and erosion, and salinity intrusion appear to
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Stark, J.; Smolders, S.; Meire, P.; Temmerman, S.
2017-11-01
Marsh restoration projects are nowadays being implemented as ecosystem-based strategies to reduce flood risks and to restore intertidal habitat along estuaries. Changes in estuarine tidal hydrodynamics are expected along with such intertidal area changes. A validated hydrodynamic model of the Scheldt Estuary is used to gain fundamental insights in the role of intertidal area characteristics on tidal hydrodynamics and tidal asymmetry in particular through several geomorphological scenarios in which intertidal area elevation and location along the estuary is varied. Model results indicate that the location of intertidal areas and their storage volume relative to the local tidal prism determine the intensity and reach along the estuary over which tidal hydrodynamics are affected. Our model results also suggest that intertidal storage areas that are located within the main estuarine channel system, and hence are part of the flow-carrying part of the estuary, may affect tidal hydrodynamics differently than intertidal areas that are side-basins of the main estuarine channel, and hence only contribute little to the flow-carrying cross-section of the estuary. If tidal flats contribute to the channel cross-section and exert frictional effects on the tidal propagation, the elevation of intertidal flats influences the magnitude and direction of tidal asymmetry along estuarine channels. Ebb-dominance is most strongly enhanced if tidal flats are around mean sea level or slightly above. Conversely, flood-dominance is enhanced if the tidal flats are situated low in the tidal frame. For intertidal storage areas at specific locations besides the main channel, flood-dominance in the estuary channel peaks in the vicinity of those areas and generally reduces upstream and downstream compared to a reference scenario. Finally, the model results indicate an along-estuary varying impact on the tidal prism as a result of adding intertidal storage at a specific location. In addition to known
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
McHugh, C. M.; Pekar, S. F.; Ryan, W. B.; Carbotte, S.; Bell, R.; Burckle, L.
2002-12-01
accumulating in coastal bays (Sandy Hook, New Jersey) and on the inner shelf, and sediment export to the Hudson Shelf Valley on the mid-shelf is nearly non-existent, with sediments dated at 14ka from 14-C on the outer shelf. Additionally, anthropogenic activities (construction of bridges and dredging) alter sedimentation patterns in the estuary leading to continued localized erosion and deposition. For example, sediment export onto the shelf is taking place, not by natural processes but by dredging. The variability documented for the HRE indicates that although estuarine and stratigraphic models provide a framework for continental margin studies, the models need to be interpreted, taking into consideration these factors.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lautenschlager, Agnes D.; Matthews, Ty G.; Quinn, Gerry P.
2014-08-01
In intermittently open estuaries, the sources of organic matter sustaining benthic invertebrates are likely to vary seasonally, particularly between periods of connection and disconnection with the ocean and higher and lower freshwater flows. This study investigated the contribution of allochthonous and autochthonous primary production to the diet of representative invertebrate species using stable isotope analysis (SIA) during the austral summer and winter (2008, 2009) in an intermittently open estuary on the south-eastern coast of Australia. As the study was conducted towards the end of a prolonged period of drought, a reduced influence of freshwater/terrestrial organic matter was expected. Sampling was conducted along an estuarine gradient, including upper, middle and lower reaches and showed that the majority of assimilated organic matter was derived from autochthonous estuarine food sources. Additionally, there was an input of allochthonous organic matter, which varied along the length of the estuary, indicated by distinct longitudinal trends in carbon and nitrogen stable isotope signatures along the estuarine gradient. Marine seaweed contributed to invertebrate diets in the lower reaches of the estuary, while freshwater/terrestrial organic matter had increased influence in the upper reaches. Suspension-feeding invertebrates derived large parts of their diet from freshwater/terrestrial material, despite flows being greatly reduced in comparison with non-drought years.
Liu, Feng; Hu, Shuai; Guo, Xiaojuan; Niu, Lixia; Cai, Huayang; Yang, Qingshu
2018-06-01
To examine the impacts of estuarine mixing on the dispersion of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), seasonal variations in the vertical distribution of dissolved PAHs in the Humen River mouth of the Pearl River Estuary, which is a tide-dominated estuary, were thoroughly examined. An analysis of the vertical distribution of the concentration, composition and sources of PAHs indicates enhanced mixing of PAHs in January relative to June, which is strongly related to seasonal variations in the magnitude of estuarine mixing. Furthermore, the vertical distribution of PAHs initially indicated an increase and then a decrease from the surface layer to the bottom layer. In general, estuarine mixing promotes the vertical dispersion of PAHs, causing a more even PAHs distribution, while salinity stratification can trap PAHs, resulting in higher PAHs concentrations. Our study indicates that salinity variability stimulates significant dynamic effects regarding the dispersion of PAHs within estuarine environments. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Residual estuarine circulation in the Mandovi, a monsoonal estuary: A three-dimensional model study
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Vijith, V.; Shetye, S. R.; Baetens, K.; Luyten, P.; Michael, G. S.
2016-05-01
Observations in the Mandovi estuary, located on the central west coast of India, have shown that the salinity field in this estuary is remarkably time-dependent and passes through all possible states of stratification (riverine, highly-stratified, partially-mixed and well-mixed) during a year as the runoff into the estuary varies from high values (∼1000 m3 s-1) in the wet season to negligible values (∼1 m3 s-1) at end of the dry season. The time-dependence is forced by the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) and hence the estuary is referred to as a monsoonal estuary. In this paper, we use a three-dimensional, open source, hydrodynamic, numerical model to reproduce the observed annual salinity field in the Mandovi. We then analyse the model results to define characteristics of residual estuarine circulation in the Mandovi. Our motivation to study this aspect of the Mandovi's dynamics is derived from the following three considerations. First, residual circulation is important to long-term evolution of an estuary; second, we need to understand how this circulation responds to strongly time-dependent runoff forcing experienced by a monsoonal estuary; and third, Mandovi is among the best studied estuaries that come under the influence of ISM, and has observations that can be used to validate the model. Our analysis shows that the residual estuarine circulation in the Mandovi shows four distinct phases during a year: a river like flow that is oriented downstream throughout the estuary; a salt-wedge type circulation, with flow into the estuary near the bottom and out of the estuary near the surface restricted close to the mouth of the estuary; circulation associated with a partially-mixed estuary; and, the circulation associated with a well-mixed estuary. Dimensional analysis of the field of residual circulation helped us to establish the link between strength of residual circulation at a location and magnitude of river runoff and rate of mixing at the location. We then
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lourenço, Pedro M.; Alves, José A.; Catry, Teresa; Granadeiro, José P.
2015-10-01
Outside the breeding season, most shorebirds use either estuarine or non-estuarine intertidal areas as foraging grounds. The sanderling Calidris alba is mostly associated with coastal sandy beaches, a habitat which is currently at risk worldwide due to increasing coastal erosion, but may also use estuarine sites as alternative foraging areas. We aimed to compare the trophic conditions for sanderlings wintering in estuarine and non-estuarine sites within and around the Tejo estuary, Portugal, where these two alternative wintering options are available within a relatively small spatial scale. To achieve this, we analysed sanderling diet, prey availability, foraging behaviour, and time and energy budgets in the different substrates available in estuarine and non-estuarine sites. In terms of biomass, the most important sanderling prey in the estuarine sites were siphons of the bivalve Scrobicularia plana, polychaetes, staphylinids and the gastropod Hydrobia ulvae. In non-estuarine sites the main prey were polychaetes, the bivalve Donax trunculus and chironomid larvae. Both food availability and energetic intake rates were higher on estuarine sites, and sanderlings spent a higher proportion of time foraging on non-estuarine sites. In the estuary, sanderlings foraged in muddy-sand substrate whenever it was available, achieving higher intake rates than in sandy substrates. In the non-estuarine sites they used both sandy and rocky substrates throughout the tidal cycle but had higher intakes rates in sandy substrate. Estuarine sites seem to offer better foraging conditions for wintering sanderlings than non-estuarine sites. However, sanderlings only use muddy-sand and sandy substrates, which represent a small proportion of the intertidal area of the estuary. The extent of these substrates and the current sanderling density in the estuary suggest it is unlikely that the estuary could provide alternative wintering habitat for sanderlings if they face habitat loss and
Influence of estuarine processes on spatiotemporal variation in bioavailable selenium
Stewart, Robin; Luoma, Samuel N.; Elrick, Kent A.; Carter, James L.; van der Wegen, Mick
2013-01-01
Dynamic processes (physical, chemical and biological) challenge our ability to quantify and manage the ecological risk of chemical contaminants in estuarine environments. Selenium (Se) bioavailability (defined by bioaccumulation), stable isotopes and molar carbon-tonitrogen ratios in the benthic clam Potamocorbula amurensis, an important food source for predators, were determined monthly for 17 yr in northern San Francisco Bay. Se concentrations in the clams ranged from a low of 2 to a high of 22 μg g-1 over space and time. Little of that variability was stochastic, however. Statistical analyses and preliminary hydrodynamic modeling showed that a constant mid-estuarine input of Se, which was dispersed up- and down-estuary by tidal currents, explained the general spatial patterns in accumulated Se among stations. Regression of Se bioavailability against river inflows suggested that processes driven by inflows were the primary driver of seasonal variability. River inflow also appeared to explain interannual variability but within the range of Se enrichment established at each station by source inputs. Evaluation of risks from Se contamination in estuaries requires the consideration of spatial and temporal variability on multiple scales and of the processes that drive that variability.
Embree, William N.; Wiltshire, Denise A.
1978-01-01
Abstracts of 177 selected publications on water movement in estuaries, particularly the Hudson River estuary, are compiled for reference in Hudson River studies. Subjects represented are the hydraulic, chemical, and physical characteristics of estuarine waters, estuarine modeling techniques, and methods of water-data collection and analysis. Summaries are presented in five categories: Hudson River estuary studies; hydrodynamic-model studies; water-quality-model studies; reports on data-collection equipment and methods; and bibliographies, literature reviews, conference proceedings, and textbooks. An author index is included. Omitted are most works published before 1965, environmental-impact statements, theses and dissertations, policy or planning reports, regional or economic reports, ocean studies, studies based on physical models, and foreign studies. (Woodard-USGS)
Geochemistry of the Amazon Estuary
Smoak, Joseph M.; Krest, James M.; Swarzenski, Peter W
2006-01-01
The Amazon River supplies more freshwater to the ocean than any other river in the world. This enormous volume of freshwater forces the estuarine mixing out of the river channel and onto the continental shelf. On the continental shelf, the estuarine mixing occurs in a very dynamic environment unlike that of a typical estuary. The tides, the wind, and the boundary current that sweeps the continental shelf have a pronounced influence on the chemical and biological processes occurring within the estuary. The dynamic environment, along with the enormous supply of water, solutes and particles makes the Amazon estuary unique. This chapter describes the unique features of the Amazon estuary and how these features influence the processes occurring within the estuary. Examined are the supply and cycling of major and minor elements, and the use of naturally occurring radionuclides to trace processes including water movement, scavenging, sediment-water interaction, and sediment accumulation rates. The biogeochemical cycling of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus, and the significances of the Amazon estuary in the global mass balance of these elements are examined.
Coevolution of hydraulic, soil and vegetation processes in estuarine wetlands
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Trivisonno, Franco; Rodriguez, Jose F.; Riccardi, Gerardo; Saco, Patricia; Stenta, Hernan
2014-05-01
Estuarine wetlands of south eastern Australia, typically display a vegetation zonation with a sequence mudflats - mangrove forest - saltmarsh plains from the seaward margin and up the topographic gradient. Estuarine wetlands are among the most productive ecosystems in the world, providing unique habitats for fish and many terrestrial species. They also have a carbon sequestration capacity that surpasess terrestrial forest. Estuarine wetlands respond to sea-level rise by vertical accretion and horizontal landward migration, in order to maintain their position in the tidal frame. In situations in which buffer areas for landward migration are not available, saltmarsh can be lost due to mangrove encroachment. As a result of mangrove invasion associated in part with raising estuary water levels and urbanisation, coastal saltmarsh in parts of south-eastern Australia has been declared an endangered ecological community. Predicting estuarine wetlands response to sea-level rise requires modelling the coevolving dynamics of water flow, soil and vegetation. This paper presents preliminary results of our recently developed numerical model for wetland dynamics in wetlands of the Hunter estuary of NSW. The model simulates continuous tidal inflow into the wetland, and accounts for the effect of varying vegetation types on flow resistance. Coevolution effects appear as vegetation types are updated based on their preference to prevailing hydrodynamic conditions. The model also considers that accretion values vary with vegetation type. Simulations are driven using local information collected over several years, which includes estuary water levels, accretion rates, soil carbon content, flow resistance and vegetation preference to hydraulic conditions. Model results predict further saltmarsh loss under current conditions of moderate increase of estuary water levels.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Miselis, J. L.; Ganju, N. K.; Navoy, A.; Nicholson, R.; Andrews, B.
2013-12-01
Despite the well-recognized ecological importance of back-barrier estuaries, the role of storms in their geomorphic evolution is poorly understood. Moreover, the focus of storm impact assessments is often the ocean shorelines of barrier islands rather than the exchange of sediment from barrier to estuary. In order to better understand and ultimately predict short-term morphologic and sedimentologic changes in coastal systems, a comprehensive research approach is required but is often difficult to achieve given the diversity of data required. An opportunity to use such an approach in assessing the storm-response of a barrier-estuary system occurred when Superstorm Sandy made landfall near Atlantic City, New Jersey on 29 October 2012. Since 2011, the US Geological Survey has been investigating water circulation and water-quality degradation in Barnegat Bay-Little Egg Harbor (BBLEH) Estuary, the southern end of which is approximately 25 kilometers north of the landfall location. This effort includes shallow-water geophysical surveys to map the bathymetry and sediment distribution within BBLEH, airborne topo-bathymetric lidar surveys for mapping the shallow shoals that border the estuary, and sediment sampling, all of which have provided a recent picture of the pre-storm estuarine geomorphology. We combined these pre-storm data with similar post-storm data from the estuary and pre- and post-storm topographic data from the ocean shoreline of the barrier island to begin to understand the response of the barrier-estuary system. Breaches in the barrier island resulted in water exchange between the estuary and the ocean, briefly reducing residence times in the northern part of the estuary until the breaches were closed. Few morphologic changes in water depths greater than 1.5 m were noted. However, morphologic changes observed in shallower depths along the eastern shoreline of the estuary are likely related to overwash processes. In general, surficial estuarine sediments
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lee, Serena B.; Birch, Gavin F.
2012-10-01
Estuarine health is affected by contamination from stormwater, particularly in highly-urbanised environments. For systems where catchment monitoring is insufficient, novel techniques must be employed to determine the impact of urban runoff on receiving water bodies. In the present work, estuarine monitoring and modelling were successfully employed to determine stormwater runoff volumes and establish an appropriate rainfall/runoff relationship capable of replicating fresh-water discharge due to the full range of precipitation conditions in the Sydney Estuary, Australia. Using estuary response to determine relationships between catchment rainfall and runoff is a widely applicable method and may be of assistance in the study of waterways where monitoring fluvial discharges is not practical or is beyond the capacity of management authorities. For the Sydney Estuary, the SCS-CN method replicated rainfall/runoff and was applied in numerical modelling experiments investigating the hydrodynamic characteristics affecting stratification and estuary recovery following high precipitation. Numerical modelling showed stratification in the Sydney Estuary was dominated by fresh-water discharge. Spring tides and up-estuary winds contributed to mixing and neap tides and down-estuary winds enhanced stratification.
Present-day palynomorph deposits in an estuarine context: The case of the Loire Estuary
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Ganne, A.; Leroyer, C.; Penaud, A.; Mojtahid, M.
2016-12-01
Estuaries are dynamic systems that collect terrestrial, aerial, fluvial, and marine inputs, including organic microfossils, which, when fossilized and observed on palynological slides, are also referred to as palynomorphs (pollen and non-pollen palynomorphs including dinoflagellate cysts or dinocysts). To understand these organic microfossil deposit arrangements across the Loire estuary, palynomorph counts were undertaken in 31 surface sediments collected across longitudinal and perpendicular transects of the Loire active riverbed, from the upper inner estuary to the river mouth. Main results suggest a large homogeneity of the pollen content throughout the entire upstream-downstream transect, with a dominance of arboreal taxa (Pinus, Quercus, Alnus) and Poaceae. Also, perpendicular transects across the channel show a great similarity between the muddy surface layers and the underlying consolidated clay layers. This is probably due to: i) homogeneity of the landscape at a regional scale (large catchment area of the Loire River), and ii) complex hydrodynamic processes involving strong mixing of the palynological signal. Furthermore, despite scarce woodlands in the regional landscape, arboreal pollen (especially Pinus and Quercus) represents > 60% of the total pollen percentages. This could be explained by several factors: i) generally higher arboreal pollen production and dispersion as compared to herbaceous taxa, ii) distant inputs from marine areas downstream and/or forested regions far upstream, and iii) differential selection or inheritance from underlying sediments. Differentiation between the outer and inner estuarine environments was furthermore possible using a ratio of terrestrial versus marine palynological indicators. Among the dinocyst assemblages (marine realm), the euryhaline species Lingulodinium machaerophorum predominates; this taxon being very sensitive to strong water column stratification. Also, total dinocyst concentration increased upstream
Liu, Lin; Wang, Dongqi; Deng, Huanguang; Li, Yangjie; Chang, Siqi; Wu, Zhanlei; Yu, Lin; Hu, Yujie; Yu, Zhongjie; Chen, Zhenlou
2014-09-01
Water in the Yangtze Estuary is fresh most of the year because of the large discharge of Yangtze River. The Qingcaosha Reservoir built on the Changxing Island in the Yangtze Estuary is an estuarine reservoir for drinking water. Denitrification rate in the top 10 cm sediment of the intertidal marshes and bare mudflat of Yangtze Estuarine islands was measured by the acetylene inhibition method. Annual denitrification rate in the top 10 cm of sediment was 23.1 μmol m(-2) h(-1) in marshes (ranged from 7.5 to 42.1 μmol m(-2) h(-1)) and 15.1 μmol m(-2) h(-1) at the mudflat (ranged from 6.6 to 26.5 μmol m(-2) h(-1)). Annual average denitrification rate is higher at mashes than at mudflat, but without a significant difference (p = 0.084, paired t test.). Taking into account the vegetation and water area of the reservoir, a total 1.42 × 10(8) g N could be converted into nitrogen gas (N2) annually by the sediment, which is 97.7 % of the dissolved inorganic nitrogen input through precipitation. Denitrification in reservoir sediment can control the bioavailable nitrogen level of the water body. At the Yangtze estuary, denitrification primarily took place in the top 4 cm of sediment, and there was no significant spatial or temporal variation of denitrification during the year at the marshes and mudflat, which led to no single factor determining the denitrification process but the combined effects of the environmental factors, hydrologic condition, and wetland vegetation.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Luan, Hua Long; Ding, Ping Xing; Wang, Zheng Bing; Ge, Jian Zhong
2017-08-01
Understanding the decadal morphodynamic evolution of estuaries and deltas and their controls is of vital importance regarding management for estuarine function and sustainable development. This work addresses this issue by applying a process-based model system (Delft3D) to hindcast and then forecast the morphodynamic evolution of the Yangtze Estuary at a decadal timescale. Forced by the river and tides, the model considers sand-mud mixture and the variations of river water discharge and sediment discharge. The morphodynamic model is validated against three periods, i.e., an accretion period (1958-1978), an erosion period (1986-1997) and a recent accretion period with human activities (2002 - 2010). Model results show good performance with respect to spatial erosion and deposition patterns, sediment volume changes, and hypsometry curves. The model reveals quite different behaviors for mud transport between the dry and wet seasons, which is subject to the prescription of river boundary conditions and bed composition. We define six scenarios to project evolution to the year 2030 under decreased river inputs and increased relative sea level. The simulations reveal that overwhelming amount of erosion will likely occur in the inner and mouth bar area of the estuary. Particularly, the mouth zone will shift from net deposition before 2010 to net erosion by 2030, mainly because of decreasing sediment supply. Changes in water discharge have minor effects on the projected trend. Net erosion will be considerable when the sediment supply is extremely low (100 Mt yr- 1) due to the abundance of erodible modern sediment in the Yangtze Estuary. Erosion within the mouth bar area may be unexpected, including the deepening of the tidal inlet at East Chongming mudflat and the formation of a flood channel on the seaward side of Jiuduansha Shoal. Overall, the model results provide valuable information for sustainable delta management under changing conditions for both the Yangtze system
Flitcroft, Rebecca; Burnett, Kelly; Christiansen, Kelly
2013-07-01
Diadromous aquatic species that cross a diverse range of habitats (including marine, estuarine, and freshwater) face different effects of climate change in each environment. One such group of species is the anadromous Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.). Studies of the potential effects of climate change on salmonids have focused on both marine and freshwater environments. Access to a variety of estuarine habitat has been shown to enhance juvenile life-history diversity, thereby contributing to the resilience of many salmonid species. Our study is focused on the effect of sea-level rise on the availability, complexity, and distribution of estuarine, and low-freshwater habitat for Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), steelhead (anadromous O. mykiss), and coho salmon (O. kisutch) along the Oregon Coast under future climate change scenarios. Using LiDAR, we modeled the geomorphologies of five Oregon estuaries and estimated a contour associated with the current mean high tide. Contour intervals at 1- and 2-m increments above the current mean high tide were generated, and changes in the estuary morphology were assessed. Because our analysis relied on digital data, we compared three types of digital data in one estuary to assess the utility of different data sets in predicting the changes in estuary shape. For each salmonid species, changes in the amount and complexity of estuarine edge habitats varied by estuary. The simple modeling approach we applied can also be used to identify areas that may be most amenable to pre-emptive restoration actions to mitigate or enhance salmonid habitat under future climatic conditions.
Yin, Su; Wu, Yuehan; Xu, Wei; Li, Yangyang; Shen, Zhenyao; Feng, Chenghong
2016-07-01
To determine whether the discharge control of heavy metals in the Yangtze River basin can significantly change the pollution level in the estuary, this study analyzed the sources (upper river, the estuarine region, and the adjacent sea) of ten heavy metals (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, Sb, and Zn) in dissolved and particulate phases in the surface water of the estuary during wet, normal, and dry seasons. Metal sources inferred from section fluxes agree with those in statistical analysis methods. Heavy metal pollution in the surface water of Yangtze Estuary primarily depends on the sediment suspension and the wastewater discharge from estuary cities. Upper river only constitutes the main source of dissolved heavy metals during the wet season, while the estuarine region and the adjacent sea (especially the former) dominate the dissolved metal pollution in the normal and dry seasons. Particulate metals are mainly derived from sediment suspension in the estuary and the adjacent sea, and the contribution of the upper river can be neglected. Compared with the hydrologic seasons, flood-ebb tides exert a more obvious effect on the water flow directions in the estuary. Sediment suspension, not the upper river, significantly affects the suspended particulate matter concentration in the estuary. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Salinity stress response in estuarine fishes from the Murray Estuary and Coorong, South Australia.
Hossain, Md Afzal; Aktar, Shefali; Qin, Jian G
2016-12-01
Estuaries are unstable ecosystems and can be changed by the environmental and anthropogenic impact. The Murray Estuary and Coorong were degraded by drought and low freshwater input in the last decade and therefore transformed into the largest hyper-saline lagoon in Australia. This study evaluates the physiological stress of two estuarine fish species (small-mouthed hardyhead Atherinosoma microstoma and Tamar goby Afurcagobius tamarensis) to the induced salinity change in captivity. The test fishes were collected from the Coorong and transported to the laboratory in the water from the Coorong. Each fish species was exposed to different levels of salinity, and a number of enzymes were assessed to measure the stress response of fish to salinity change. The activity of reactive oxygen species was significantly increased with the salinity change in both fish species compared with the fish in the control. Significant salinity effect on superoxide dismutase activity was observed on Tamar goby but not on small-mouthed hardyhead. Conversely, the impact of salinity on catalase activity was detected on small-mouthed hardyhead but not on Tamar goby. The study reveals that the induction of physical stress by salinity changes occurred in both Tamar goby and small-mouthed hardyhead despite the varying response of antioxidant enzymes between fish species. The study provides an insight into the understanding of physiological adaptation in estuarine fish to salinity change. The results could improve our knowledge on stress response and resilience of estuarine fish to hypo- and hyper-salinity stress.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Teodósio, Maria Alexandra; Paris, Claire B.; Wolanski, Eric; Morais, Pedro
2016-12-01
A series of complementary hypotheses have been proposed to explain the recruitment of marine and temperate pelagic fish larvae originated from pelagic eggs in coastal environments. In this review, we propose a new and complementary hypothesis describing the biophysical processes intervening in the recruitment of temperate fish larvae into estuaries. This new hypothesis, the Sense Acuity And Behavioral (SAAB) hypothesis, recognizes that recruitment is unlikely if the larvae drift passively with the water currents, and that successful recruitment requires the sense acuity of temperate fish larvae and their behavioral response to the estuarine cues present in coastal areas. We propose that temperate fish larvae use a hierarchy of sensory cues (odor, sound, visual and geomagnetic cues) to detect estuarine nursery areas and to aid during navigation towards these areas. The sensorial acuity increases along ontogeny, which coincides with increased swimming capabilities. The swimming strategies of post-flexion larvae differ from offshore areas to the tidal zone. In offshore areas, innate behavior might lead larvae towards the coast guided by a sun compass or by the earth's geomagnetic field. In areas under limited influence of estuarine plumes (either in energetic nearshore areas or offshore), post-flexion larvae display a searching swimming behavior for estuarine disconnected patches (infotaxis strategy). After finding an estuarine plume, larvae may swim along the increasing cue concentration to ingress into the estuary. Here, larvae exhibit a rheotaxis behavior and avoid displacement by longshore currents by keeping bearing during navigation. When larvae reach the vicinity of an estuary, merging diel rhythms with feeding and predator avoidance strategies with tidally induced movements is essential to increase their chances of estuarine ingress. A fish larva recruitment model developed for the Ria Formosa lagoon supports the general framework of the SAAB hypothesis. In
Estuaries and lakes are undergoing anthropogenic alterations as development and industry intensify in the modern world. Assessing the ecological health of such water bodies is difficult because accurate accounts of pre-anthropogenic estuarine/lacustrine conditions do not exist. ...
Estuaries and lakes are undergoing anthropogenic alterations as development and industry intensify in the modern world. Assessing the ecological health of such water bodies is difficult because accurate accounts of pre-anthropogenic estuarine/lacustrine conditions do not exist. S...
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Sheppard, Jill N.; James, Nicola C.; Whitfield, Alan K.; Cowley, Paul D.
2011-11-01
Habitat variability is one of the factors influencing species richness within estuarine systems, and a loss of habitat can result in a restructuring of the estuarine ichthyofaunal assemblage, particularly if these conditions persist over long time periods. The potential effects of the loss of extensive submerged macrophyte beds ( Ruppia cirrhosa and Potamogeton pectinatus) on an estuarine fish assemblage were investigated through an analysis of a long-term seine net catch dataset from the temporarily open/closed East Kleinemonde Estuary, South Africa. Catch data for a 12-year period, encompassing six years of macrophyte presence and six years of macrophyte senescence, indicated that the loss of this habitat did not influence species richness but changes in the relative abundance of certain species were evident. A shift in dominance from vegetation-associated species to those associated with sandy environments ( e.g. members of the family Mugilidae) was observed. However, species wholly dependent on macrophytes such as the critically endangered estuarine pipefish Syngnathus watermeyeri were only recorded during years when macrophyte beds were present, while vegetation-associated species such as the sparid Rhabdosargus holubi persisted at lower levels of relative abundance. The reduced abundance of all vegetation-associated fish species during years of macrophyte senescence was probably reflective of declining food resources resulting from the loss of macrophyte beds and/or increased vulnerability to predation. Submerged beds of aquatic plants are therefore important habitats within temporarily open/closed estuaries, South Africa's dominant estuary type.
Modelling the transport and decay processes of microbial tracers in a macro-tidal estuary.
Abu-Bakar, Amyrhul; Ahmadian, Reza; Falconer, Roger A
2017-10-15
The Loughor Estuary is a macro-tidal coastal basin, located along the Bristol Channel, in the South West of the U.K. The maximum spring tidal range in the estuary is up to 7.5 m, near Burry Port Harbour. This estuarine region can experience severe coastal flooding during high spring tides, including extreme flooding of the intertidal saltmarshes at Llanrhidian, as well as the lower industrial and residential areas at Llanelli and Gowerton. The water quality of this estuarine basin needs to comply with the designated standards for safe recreational bathing and shellfish harvesting industries. The waterbody however, potentially receives overloading of bacterial inputs that enter the estuarine system from both point and diffuse sources. Therefore, a microbial tracer study was carried out to get a better understanding of the faecal bacteria sources and to enable a hydro-environmental model to be refined and calibrated for both advection and dispersion transport. A two-dimensional hydro-environmental model has been refined and extended to predict the highest water level covering the intertidal floodplains of the Loughor Estuary. The validated hydrodynamic model for both water levels and currents, was included with the injected mass of microbial tracer, i.e. MS2 coliphage from upstream of the estuary, and modelled as a non-conservative tracer over several tidal cycles through the system. The calibration and validation of the transport and decay of microbial tracer was undertaken, by comparing the model results and the measured data at two different sampling locations. The refined model developed as a part of this study, was used to acquire a better understanding of the water quality processes and the potential sources of bacterial pollution in the estuary. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Columbia River Estuary ecosystem classification—Concept and application
Simenstad, Charles A.; Burke, Jennifer L.; O'Connor, Jim E.; Cannon, Charles; Heatwole, Danelle W.; Ramirez, Mary F.; Waite, Ian R.; Counihan, Timothy D.; Jones, Krista L.
2011-01-01
This document describes the concept, organization, and application of a hierarchical ecosystem classification that integrates saline and tidal freshwater reaches of estuaries in order to characterize the ecosystems of large flood plain rivers that are strongly influenced by riverine and estuarine hydrology. We illustrate the classification by applying it to the Columbia River estuary (Oregon-Washington, USA), a system that extends about 233 river kilometers (rkm) inland from the Pacific Ocean. More than three-quarters of this length is tidal freshwater. The Columbia River Estuary Ecosystem Classification ("Classification") is based on six hierarchical levels, progressing from the coarsest, regional scale to the finest, localized scale: (1) Ecosystem Province; (2) Ecoregion; (3) Hydrogeomorphic Reach; (4) Ecosystem Complex; (5) Geomorphic Catena; and (6) Primary Cover Class. We define and map Levels 1-3 for the entire Columbia River estuary with existing geospatial datasets, and provide examples of Levels 4-6 for one hydrogeomorphic reach. In particular, three levels of the Classification capture the scales and categories of ecosystem structure and processes that are most tractable to estuarine research, monitoring, and management. These three levels are the (1) eight hydrogeomorphic reaches that embody the formative geologic and tectonic processes that created the existing estuarine landscape and encompass the influence of the resulting physiography on interactions between fluvial and tidal hydrology and geomorphology across 230 kilometers (km) of estuary, (2) more than 15 ecosystem complexes composed of broad landforms created predominantly by geologic processes during the Holocene, and (3) more than 25 geomorphic catenae embedded within ecosystem complexes that represent distinct geomorphic landforms, structures, ecosystems, and habitats, and components of the estuarine landscape most likely to change over short time periods.
Using a Laboratory Simulator in the Teaching and Study of Chemical Processes in Estuarine Systems
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Garcia-Luque, E.; Ortega, T.; Forja, J. M.; Gomez-Parra, A.
2004-01-01
The teaching of Chemical Oceanography in the Faculty of Marine and Environmental Sciences of the University of Cadiz (Spain) has been improved since 1994 by the employment of a device for the laboratory simulation of estuarine mixing processes and the characterisation of the chemical behaviour of many substances that pass through an estuary. The…
Birch, G F; Lean, J; Gunns, T
2015-06-01
Sydney estuary (Australia), like many urbanised waterways, is degraded due to an extended history of anthropogenic activity. Two major sources of contamination to this estuary are discharge by former shoreline industries and historic and contemporary catchment stormwater. The objectives of the present study were to document changes in shoreline land use from European settlement to the present day and determine the influence of this trend on the metal content of adjacent estuarine sediments. Temporal analysis of land use for seven time horizons between 1788 and 2010 showed rapid expansion of industry along much of the Sydney estuary foreshore soon after European settlement due to the benefits of easy and inexpensive access and readily available water for cooling and power. Shoreline industry attained maximum development in 1978 (32-km length) and declined rapidly to the present-day (9-km length) through redevelopment of industrial sites into medium- to high-density, high-value residential housing. Cores taken adjacent to 11 long-term industrial sites showed that past industrial practices contributed significantly to contamination of estuarine sediment. Subsurface metal concentrations were up to 35 times that of present-day surface sediment and over 100 times greater than natural background concentrations. Sedimentation rates for areas adjacent to shoreline industry were between 0.6 and 2.5 cm/year, and relaxation times were estimated at 50 to 100 years. Natural relaxation and non-disturbance of sediments may be the best management practice in most locations.
Miselis, Jennifer L.; Andrews, Brian D.; Nicholson, Robert S.; Defne, Zafer; Ganju, Neil K.; Navoy, Anthony S.
2016-01-01
Assessments of coupled barrier island-estuary storm response are rare. Hurricane Sandy made landfall during an investigation in Barnegat Bay-Little Egg Harbor estuary that included water quality monitoring, geomorphologic characterization, and numerical modeling; this provided an opportunity to characterize the storm response of the barrier island-estuary system. Barrier island morphologic response was characterized by significant changes in shoreline position, dune elevation, and beach volume; morphologic changes within the estuary were less dramatic with a net gain of only 200,000 m3 of sediment. When observed, estuarine deposition was adjacent to the back-barrier shoreline or collocated with maximum estuary depths. Estuarine sedimentologic changes correlated well with bed shear stresses derived from numerically simulated storm conditions, suggesting that change is linked to winnowing from elevated storm-related wave-current interactions rather than deposition. Rapid storm-related changes in estuarine water level, turbidity, and salinity were coincident with minima in island and estuarine widths, which may have influenced the location of two barrier island breaches. Barrier-estuary connectivity, or the transport of sediment from barrier island to estuary, was influenced by barrier island land use and width. Coupled assessments like this one provide critical information about storm-related coastal and estuarine sediment transport that may not be evident from investigations that consider only one component of the coastal system.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Nnafie, A.; Van Oyen, T.; De Maerschalck, B.; van der Vegt, M.; Wegen, M. van der
2018-01-01
The fringes of estuaries are often characterized by the presence of side embayments (secondary basins), with dimensions in the order of hundreds of meters to tens of kilometers. The presence of secondary basins significantly alters the hydrodynamic and sediment characteristics in the main estuary, implying that loss of secondary basin area due to human interventions might affect the estuarine morphodynamics. Analysis of historical bathymetric data of the Western Scheldt Estuary (Netherlands) suggests that closure of its secondary basins has triggered the observed lateral displacement of the nearby channels. This analysis motivated investigation of the impact of secondary basins on decadal evolution of estuarine channels, using the numerical model Delft3D. Model results show that channels that form near a secondary basin are located farther away from the bank of the estuary with respect to their positions in the case without a basin. Overall, results in cases with two or three basins are similar to those in case with one single basin. The wider the basin, the farther away the nearby channel forms. Removing a secondary basin causes a lateral displacement of the nearby channel toward the bank, indicating that the observed lateral displacement of channels in the Western Scheldt is triggered by closure of its secondary basins. The physical explanation is that tidal currents in the main estuary are weaker and more rotary near secondary basins, favoring sediment deposition and shoal development at these locations. Model results are particularly relevant for estuaries with moderate to high friction and converging width.
Shock, Stress or Signal? Implications of Freshwater Flows for a Top-Level Estuarine Predator
Taylor, Matthew D.; van der Meulen, Dylan E.; Ives, Matthew C.; Walsh, Chris T.; Reinfelds, Ivars V.; Gray, Charles A.
2014-01-01
Physicochemical variability in estuarine systems plays an important role in estuarine processes and in the lifecycles of estuarine organisms. In particular, seasonality of freshwater inflow to estuaries may be important in various aspects of fish lifecycles. This study aimed to further understand these relationships by studying the movements of a top-level estuarine predator in response to physicochemical variability in a large, temperate south-east Australian estuary (Shoalhaven River). Mulloway (Argyrosomus japonicus, 47–89 cm total length) were surgically implanted with acoustic transmitters, and their movements and migrations monitored over two years via fixed-position VR2W acoustic receivers configured in a linear array along the length of the estuary. The study period included a high degree of abiotic variability, with multiple pulses (exponentially high flows over a short period of time) in fresh water to the estuary, as well as broader seasonal variation in flow, temperature and conductivity. The relative deviation of fish from their modal location in the estuary was affected primarily by changes in conductivity, and smaller fish (n = 4) tended to deviate much further downstream from their modal position in the estuary than larger fish (n = 8). High-flow events which coincided with warmer temperatures tended to drive mature fish down the estuary and potentially provided a spawning signal to stimulate aggregation of adults near the estuary mouth; however, this relationship requires further investigation. These findings indicate that pulse and press effects of freshwater inflow and associated physicochemical variability play a role in the movements of mulloway, and that seasonality of large freshwater flows may be important in spawning. The possible implications of river regulation and the extraction of freshwater for consumptive uses on estuarine fishes are discussed. PMID:24752585
Sources, Ages, and Alteration of Organic Matter in Estuaries.
Canuel, Elizabeth A; Hardison, Amber K
2016-01-01
Understanding the processes influencing the sources and fate of organic matter (OM) in estuaries is important for quantifying the contributions of carbon from land and rivers to the global carbon budget of the coastal ocean. Estuaries are sites of high OM production and processing, and understanding biogeochemical processes within these regions is key to quantifying organic carbon (Corg) budgets at the land-ocean margin. These regions provide vital ecological services, including nutrient filtration and protection from floods and storm surge, and provide habitat and nursery areas for numerous commercially important species. Human activities have modified estuarine systems over time, resulting in changes in the production, respiration, burial, and export of Corg. Corg in estuaries is derived from aquatic, terrigenous, and anthropogenic sources, with each source exhibiting a spectrum of ages and lability. The complex source and age characteristics of Corg in estuaries complicate our ability to trace OM along the river-estuary-coastal ocean continuum. This review focuses on the application of organic biomarkers and compound-specific isotope analyses to estuarine environments and on how these tools have enhanced our ability to discern natural sources of OM, trace their incorporation into food webs, and enhance understanding of the fate of Corg within estuaries and their adjacent waters.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Chang, Chih-Wei; Iizuka, Yoshiyuki
2012-06-01
By combining the spatio-temporal distribution of fish abundance and their size structure, and a detailed lifetime Sr/Ca ratio analysis in their otoliths, this study delineates the estuarine use and the movement patterns of seven sympatrical occurring adult mullets in the Tatu Creek estuary, central western Taiwan. In the estuary Mugil cephalus are the most dominant species, whereas Liza subviridis, Liza macrolepis and Liza haematocheilus are common, and Liza affinis, Liza dussumieri and Valamugil seheli are rare. They have adapted a size-related salinity preference. A mean Sr/Ca ratio of (7.5-10.2) × 10-3 in the otolith cores demonstrated that all seven mullet species spawned in the sea. After recruiting to the estuary (mean ratios of (3.6-6.4) × 10-3 at the estuarine check in the otoliths), the ratios fluctuate between (0.1-3.5) × 10-3 and (9.5-19.5) × 10-3 indicating that the mullet shared a common movement between marine and brackish waters and probably even freshwater habitats. However, the profiles fluctuated substantially among individuals. There was high intra-specific variation among M. cephalus and L. subviridis, intermediate intra-specific variation among L. macrolepis and L. affinis, and relatively little among L. haematocheilus, L. dussumieri and V. seheli. Persistent residency in high or low saline environments was found to vary among species, and the extent of their catadromy is discussed.
Improving the Representation of Estuarine Processes in Earth System Models
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Sun, Q.; Whitney, M. M.; Bryan, F.; Tseng, Y. H.
2016-12-01
The exchange of freshwater between the rivers and estuaries and the open ocean represents a unique form of scale-interaction in the climate system. The local variability in the terrestrial hydrologic cycle is integrated by rivers over potentially large drainage basins (up to semi-continental scales), and is then imposed on the coastal ocean at the scale of a river mouth. Appropriately treating riverine freshwater discharge into the oceans in Earth system models is a challenging problem. Commonly, the river runoff is discharged into the ocean models with zero salinity and arbitrarily distributed either horizontally or vertically over several grid cells. Those approaches entirely neglect estuarine physical processes that modify river inputs before they reach the open ocean. A physically based Estuary Box Model (EBM) is developed to parameterize the mixing processes in estuaries. The EBM has a two-layer structure representing the mixing processes driven by tides and shear flow within the estuaries. It predicts the magnitude of the mixing driven exchange flow, bringing saltier lower-layer shelf water into the estuary to mix with river water prior to discharge to the upper-layer open ocean. The EBM has been tested against observations and high-resolution three-dimensional simulations of the Columbia River estuary, showing excellent agreement in the predictions of the strength of the exchange flow and the salinity of the discharged water, including modulation with the spring-neap tidal cycle. The EBM is implemented globally at every river discharge point of the Community Earth System Model (CESM). In coupled ocean-sea ice experiments driven by CORE surface forcing, the sea surface salinity (SSS) in the coastal ocean is increased globally compared to the standard model, contributing to a decrease in coastal stratification. The SSS near the mouths of some of the largest rivers is decreased due to the reduction in the area over which riverine fresh water is discharged. The
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) is developing e-Estuary, a decision-support system for coastal management. E-Estuary has three elements: an estuarine geo-referenced relational database, watershed GIS coverages, and tools to support decision-making. To facilita...
Hoem Neher, Tammy D.; Rosenberger, Amanda E.; Zimmerman, Christian E.; Walker, Coowe M.; Baird, Steven J.
2013-01-01
For Pacific salmon, estuaries are typically considered transitional staging areas between freshwater and marine environments, but their potential as rearing habitat has only recently been recognized. The objectives of this study were two-fold: (1) to determine if Coho Salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch were rearing in estuarine habitats, and (2) to characterize and compare the body length, age, condition, and duration and timing of estuarine occupancy of juvenile Coho Salmon between the two contrasting estuaries. We examined use of estuary habitats with analysis of microchemistry and microstructure of sagittal otoliths in two watersheds of south-central Alaska. Juvenile Coho Salmon were classified as estuary residents or nonresidents (recent estuary immigrants) based on otolith Sr : Ca ratios and counts of daily growth increments on otoliths. The estuaries differed in water source (glacial versus snowmelt hydrographs) and in relative estuarine and watershed area. Juvenile Coho Salmon with evidence of estuary rearing were greater in body length and condition than individuals lacking evidence of estuarine rearing. Coho Salmon captured in the glacial estuary had greater variability in body length and condition, and younger age-classes predominated the catch compared with the nearby snowmelt-fed, smaller estuary. Estuary-rearing fish in the glacial estuary arrived later and remained longer (39 versus 24 d of summer growth) during the summer than did fish using the snowmelt estuary. Finally, we observed definitive patterns of overwintering in estuarine and near shore environments in both estuaries. Evidence of estuary rearing and overwintering with differences in fish traits among contrasting estuary types refute the notion that estuaries function as only staging or transitional habitats in the early life history of Coho Salmon.
1986-01-01
latter process occurs at the mouth of the Magothy strength of the flow rather than being specified a River, an estuary tributary to Chesapeake Bay...periods. It is also clear, Magothy in the immediate past. As the density though, that significant geographical variability front associated with the...Estuarine Coastal chemical hydrography of the Magothy River, ?tar. Sci., ’)(4), 485-496, 1977. Tech. Rep. XVIR, Ref. 59-2, Chesapeake bay Hachey, H. B
Al-Nasrawi, Ali K M; Hamylton, Sarah M; Jones, Brian G
2018-06-03
Monitoring estuarine ecological-geomorphological dynamics has become a crucial aspect of studying the impacts of climate change and worldwide infrastructure development in coastal zones. Together, these factors have changed the natural eco-geomorphic processes that affect estuarine regimes and comprehensive modelling of coastal resources can assist managers to make appropriate decisions about their sustainable use. This study has utilised Towamba estuary (southeastern NSW, Australia), to demonstrate the value and priority of modelling estuarine dynamism as a measure of the rates and consequences of eco-geomorphic changes. This research employs several geoinformatic modelling approaches over time to investigate and assess how climate change and human activities have altered this estuarine eco-geomorphic setting. Multitemporal trend/change analysis of sediment delivery, shoreline positions and land cover, determined from fieldwork and GIS analysis of remote sensing datasets, shows significant spatio-temporal changes to the elevation and areal extent of sedimentary facies in the Towamba estuary over the past 65 years. Geomorphic growth (~ 2600 m 2 annually) has stabilised the estuarine habitats, particularly within native vegetation, salt marsh and mangrove areas. Geomorphic changes have occurred because of a combination of sediment runoff from the mostly unmodified terrestrial catchment, nearshore processes (ocean dynamics) and human activities. The construction of GIS models, verified with water and sediment samples, can characterise physical processes and quantify changes within the estuarine ecosystem. Such robust models will allow resource managers to evaluate the potential effects of changes to the current coastal ecosystems.
Jasna, Vijayan; Pradeep Ram, Angia Sriram; Parvathi, Ammini; Sime-Ngando, Telesphore
2018-01-01
Our understanding on the importance of viral lysis in the functioning of tropical estuarine ecosystem is limited. This study examines viral infection of prokaryotes and subsequent lysis of cells belonging to different morphotypes across a salinity gradient in monsoon driven estuarine ecosystem (Cochin estuary, India). High standing stock of viruses and prokaryotes accompanied by lytic infection rates in the euryhaline/mesohaline region of the estuary suggests salinity to have an influential role in driving interactions between prokaryotes and viruses. High prokaryotic mortality rates, up to 42% of prokaryote population in the pre-monsoon season is further substantiated by a high virus to prokaryote ratio (VPR), suggesting that maintenance of a high number of viruses is dependent on the most active fraction of bacterioplankton. Although myoviruses were the dominant viral morphotype (mean = 43%) throughout the study period, there was significant variation among prokaryotic morphotypes susceptible to viral infection. Among them, the viral infected short rod prokaryote morphotype with lower burst estimates (mean = 18 viruses prokaryote-1) was dominant (35%) in the dry seasons whereas a substantial increase in cocci forms (30%) infected by viruses with high burst size (mean = 31 viruses prokaryote-1) was evident during the monsoon season. Such preferential infections of prokaryotic morphopopulations with respect to seasons can have a strong and variable impact on the carbon and energy flow in this tropical ecosystem.
Jasna, Vijayan; Pradeep Ram, Angia Sriram; Sime-Ngando, Telesphore
2018-01-01
Our understanding on the importance of viral lysis in the functioning of tropical estuarine ecosystem is limited. This study examines viral infection of prokaryotes and subsequent lysis of cells belonging to different morphotypes across a salinity gradient in monsoon driven estuarine ecosystem (Cochin estuary, India). High standing stock of viruses and prokaryotes accompanied by lytic infection rates in the euryhaline/mesohaline region of the estuary suggests salinity to have an influential role in driving interactions between prokaryotes and viruses. High prokaryotic mortality rates, up to 42% of prokaryote population in the pre-monsoon season is further substantiated by a high virus to prokaryote ratio (VPR), suggesting that maintenance of a high number of viruses is dependent on the most active fraction of bacterioplankton. Although myoviruses were the dominant viral morphotype (mean = 43%) throughout the study period, there was significant variation among prokaryotic morphotypes susceptible to viral infection. Among them, the viral infected short rod prokaryote morphotype with lower burst estimates (mean = 18 viruses prokaryote-1) was dominant (35%) in the dry seasons whereas a substantial increase in cocci forms (30%) infected by viruses with high burst size (mean = 31 viruses prokaryote-1) was evident during the monsoon season. Such preferential infections of prokaryotic morphopopulations with respect to seasons can have a strong and variable impact on the carbon and energy flow in this tropical ecosystem. PMID:29534102
The ecology of Tijuana Estuary, California: An estuarine profile
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Zedler, J.B.; Nordby, C.S.
1986-06-01
This is the first attempt to synthesize and interpret a rapidly growing data base on the estuary's diverse biota - its vegetation, algae, birds, fishes, and invertebrates. Because so many changes have occurred in response to recent catastrophic events, we describe how each aspect of the estuary appeared before 1980 and how it has responded to several perturbations. The experimental tests of these cause-effect relationships have not been completed, and there is little reason to expect that environmental conditions have stabilized or that new types of disturbances won't occur. Thus, this profile should be viewed as a stage in themore » process of understanding Tijuana Estuary. Like the estuary itself, our knowledge is continuously evolving.« less
Lonsdale, Jemma-Anne; Weston, Keith; Barnard, Steve; Boyes, Suzanne J; Elliott, Michael
2015-11-15
Estuaries are important because of their multiple uses and users which often makes them challenging to manage since management must strike a balance between the needs of users, the estuaries' ecological and economic value and the context of multiple legislative drivers. To facilitate management we have therefore developed an Estuarine Planning Support System (EPSS) framework using the Humber Estuary, Eastern England, as a case study which integrates the current legislation tools and concepts. This integrated EPSS framework is an improvement on previous approaches for assessing cumulative impacts as it takes into account legislative drivers, management tools and other mechanisms for controlling plans/projects specific to the estuary. It therefore enables managers and users to assess and address both the current state and the way in which a new industrial, port or urban development could impact an estuary in an accessible and understandable framework. Crown Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Bhavya, P. S.; Kumar, Sanjeev; Gupta, G. V. M.; Sudharma, K. V.; Sudheesh, V.
2018-02-01
Carbon isotopic composition of dissolved inorganic carbon (δ13CDIC) in the Cochin estuary, a tropical eutrophic estuary along the southwest coast of India, and the adjacent coastal Arabian Sea was measured to understand spatio-temporal variability in sources and processes controlling inorganic carbon (C) dynamics in this estuarine-coastal system. δ13CDIC in the Cochin estuary showed wide variation during three different seasons (premonsoon: - 12.2 to - 3.26‰; monsoon: - 13.6 to - 5.69‰; and postmonsoon: - 6.34 to + 0.79‰). Detailed mixing curve approximation modeling along with relationships of δ13CDIC with dissolved oxygen and nutrients suggest dominant role of freshwater mixing and degassing of CO2 on DIC dynamics during wet seasons (premonsoon and monsoon). Excess CO2 brought in by rivers and in situ production due to respiration in the Cochin estuary result into one of the highest pCO2 observed in estuarine systems, leading to its degassing. During postmonsoon, a relatively dry period with high salinity, calcite precipitation was a major process with calcite saturation index > 1 at few locations. Relatively lower average surface values of δ13CDIC in the coastal Arabian Sea (premonsoon: + 0.95‰; monsoon: + 0.88‰; and postmonsoon: + 0.66‰) compared to the predicted open ocean value along with mixing curve modeling suggest dominance of respiration/organic matter (OM) degradation over primary productivity. Estuarine influence on coastal DIC dynamics was observed in nearshore region ( 10 km), whereas evidence of upwelling was found at farther locations.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Gning, Ndombour; Le Loc'h, François; Thiaw, Omar T.; Aliaume, Catherine; Vidy, Guy
2010-03-01
The Flagfin mojarra, Eucinostomus melanopterus, is a marine spawner whose young individuals are common in the Sine Saloum inverse estuary (Senegal). The species offers the opportunity to study both the use of the estuarine nursery resources and the impact of the particular environment of the inverse estuary on these resources. This will lead to a better understanding of the functioning of the nursery. We investigated the resources used by juvenile Flagfin mojarra by coupling stomach contents and stable isotopes methods. Young Flagfin mojarra feed on a wide range of invertebrates. Diet changed from copepods in the smallest size class (10-40 mm), to a range of invertebrates including amphipods, insect larvae, polychaetes and mollusc in the medium size class (up to 60 mm) and mainly polychaetes for individuals >60 mm in size. In mangrove habitats with moderate salinity, the diet was dominated by polychaetes and decapod larvae (crabs) whereas in habitats with higher salinity, diet was dominated by amphipods. In very hypersaline areas with scarce mangroves, diet comprised benthic copepods, chironomid larvae and ostracods. This agreed with a clear change in δ13C measured in fish sampled at downstream or upstream sites. Comparison with signatures of primary producers suggested that the local food web exploited by young Flagfin mojarra is mainly based on phytoplankton in the downstream mangrove area, and mainly on benthic microalgae in the upstream hypersaline area. As in many studies considering the food webs in mangrove, mangrove was not identified as a major contributor to the food web exploited by E. melanopterus. This needs further investigation particularly because the exportation of estuarine materials to the sea is limited in an inverse estuary.
Instrumental research of lithodynamic processes in estuaries of the White Sea
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Rimsky-Korsakov, Nikolai; Korotaev, Vladislav; Ivanov, Vadim
2017-04-01
The report provides a comparative analysis of morphological lithodynamic processes in estuaries and river deltas on the basis of 2013-2015 field geophysical and hydrographic surveys held by IO RAS and MSU. Studies performed using side scan sonar (Imagenex YellowFin SSS), bathymetric (FortXXI Scat Echo sounder) and navigation (DGPS/GLONASS Sigma Ashtek receiver) equipment. North Dvina modern delta can be classified as multi-arm delta estuary lagoon performance. Areas of modern river waters occupy a large accumulation of deltaic arms. It formed a young island with elevations of about 1 m. The islands are composed of river alluvium and annually flooded during the flood period. Onega river mouth area is unique due to the specific geological conditions. Short, wellhead site is the cause of the anomalous attenuation of the tidal wave and the limited range of penetration of salt water seashore only to Kokorinskogo threshold. Morphological lithodynamic processes in high tide Mezen estuaries (syzygy - 8.5 m) are caused by tidal currents, river runoff, wind waves and sediment longshore drift. Due to the movement of huge masses of sediment in the Mezen estuary occur intense deformation silty-sand banks, reshaping of the bottom channel trenches and displacement of navigable waterways. Thus, the specificity of the morphological lithodynamic processes in high tidal estuaries is a lack of modern delta, the development of mobile local sediment structures inside the estuary and the formation of a broad mouth bar on the open wellhead coast. In multi-arm deltas an intense process of increasing marine edge of the delta is observed due to wellhead delta arms elongation and the formation of small estuarine bars at the mouths of the underwater channel trenches coming out into the open coast. Simultaneously, the process of filling the river sediments of residual waters within the subaerial delta and the formation of marine coastal bars on the outer perimeter edge of the sea ground delta.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Elliott, E. A.; Rodriguez, A. B.; McKee, B. A.
2017-12-01
Traditional models of estuarine systems show deposition occurs primarily within the central basin. There, accommodation space is high within the deep central valley, which is below regional wave base and where current energy is presumed to reach a relative minimum, promoting direct deposition of cohesive sediment and minimizing erosion. However, these models often reflect long-term (decadal-millennial) timescales, where accumulation rates are in relative equilibrium with the rate of relative sea-level rise, and lack the resolution to capture shorter term changes in sediment deposition and erosion within the central estuary. This work presents a conceptual model for estuarine sedimentation during non-equilibrium conditions, where high-energy inputs to the system reach a relative maximum in the central basin, resulting in temporary deposition and/or remobilization over sub-annual to annual timescales. As an example, we present a case study of Core Sound, NC, a lagoonal estuarine system where the regional base-level has been reached, and sediment deposition, resuspension and bypassing is largely a result of non-equilibrium, high-energy events. Utilizing a 465 cm-long sediment core from a mini-basin located between Core Sound and the continental shelf, a 40-year sub-annual chronology was developed for the system, with sediment accumulation rates (SAR) interpolated to a monthly basis over the 40-year record. This study links erosional processes in the estuary directly with sediment flux to the continental shelf, taking advantage of the highly efficient sediment trapping capability of the mini-basin. The SAR record indicates high variation in the estuarine sediment supply, with peaks in the SAR record at a recurrence interval of 1 year (+/- 0.25). This record has been compared to historical storm influence for the area. Through this multi-decadal record, sediment flushing events occur at a much more frequent interval than previously thought (i.e. annual rather than
Deschutes estuary feasibility study: hydrodynamics and sediment transport modeling
George, Douglas A.; Gelfenbaum, Guy; Lesser, Giles; Stevens, Andrew W.
2006-01-01
- Provide the completed study to the CLAMP Steering Committee so that a recommendation about a long-term aquatic environment of the basin can be made. The hydrodynamic and sediment transport modeling task developed a number of different model simulations using a process-based morphological model, Delft3D, to help address these goals. Modeling results provide a qualitative assessment of estuarine behavior both prior to dam construction and after various post-dam removal scenarios. Quantitative data from the model is used in the companion biological assessment and engineering design components of the overall study. Overall, the modeling study found that after dam removal, tidal and estuarine processes are immediately restored, with marine water from Budd Inlet carried into North and Middle Basin on each rising tide and mud flats being exposed with each falling tide. Within the first year after dam removal, tidal processes, along with the occasional river floods, act to modify the estuary bed by redistributing sediment through erosion and deposition. The morphological response of the bed is rapid during the first couple of years, then slows as a dynamic equilibrium is reached within three to five years. By ten years after dam removal, the overall hydrodynamic and morphologic behavior of the estuary is similar to the pre-dam estuary, with the exception of South Basin, which has been permanently modified by human activities. In addition to a qualitative assessment of estuarine behavior, process-based modeling provides the ability address specific questions to help to inform decision-making. Considering that predicting future conditions of a complex estuarine environment is wrought with uncertainties, quantitative results in this report are often expressed in terms of ranges of possible outcomes.
Estuaries provide habitat for abundant plants, animals and micro-organisms, ranging from microscopic plankton (bacteria, yeasts, algae, protozoa) to larger benthic and pelagic organisms (seagrass, clams, crabs, sea trout, pelicans and dolphins). Estuarine biota can be characteri...
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
M�ller-Solger, A. B.; M�ller-Navarra, D. B.
2002-12-01
Recent research in animal and human nutrition has shown the importance of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA) such as the n-3 LC-PUFA eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). These LC-PUFA are needed for healthy development and functioning of the nervous and vascular systems. De novo synthesis or elongation to LC-PUFA in animals is inefficient at best; thus sufficient amounts of these PUFA must be supplied by food sources. Algae, especially diatoms, dinoflagellates, and cryptophytes, are the quantitatively most important producers of EPA and DHA. These types of algae often dominate estuarine producer communities. The upper San Francisco Estuary is no exception, and we found its LC-PUFA-rich phytoplankton biomass, but not the quantitatively prevalent terrestrial plant detritus, to be highly predictive of zooplankton (Daphnia) growth. In contrast, in freshwater lakes dominated by relatively LC-PUFA-poor phytoplankton, EPA, not total phytoplankton biomass, best predicted Daphnia growth. The commonly high abundance of LC-PUFA-rich algae in estuaries may help explain the high trophic efficiencies in these systems and resulting high consumer production. Moreover, LC-PUFA-rich estuarine food resources may also provide essential nutrition and associated health and evolutionary benefits to land-dwelling consumers of such foods, including humans. Ensuring LC-PUFA-rich, uncontaminated estuarine production is thus an important goal for estuarine restoration and a convincing argument for estuarine conservation.
Mil-Homens, M; Vale, C; Raimundo, J; Pereira, P; Brito, P; Caetano, M
2014-07-15
Upper sediments (0-5 cm) were sampled in 94 sites of water bodies of the fifteen Portuguese estuaries characterized by distinct settings of climate, topography and lithology, and marked by diverse anthropogenic pressures. Confined areas recognized as highly anthropogenic impacted, as well as areas dominated by erosion or frequently dredged were not sampled. Grain size, organic carbon (Corg), Al and trace elements (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb and Zn) were determined. Normalisation of trace element concentrations to Al and Corg, correlations between elements and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) allowed identifying elemental associations and the relevance of grain-size, lithology and anthropogenic inputs on sediment chemical composition. Whereas grain-size is the dominant effect for the majority of the studied estuaries, the southern estuaries Mira, Arade and Guadiana are dominated by specific lithologies of their river basins, and anthropogenic effects are identified in Ave, Leça, Tagus and Sado. This study emphasizes how baseline values of trace elements in sediments may vary within and among estuarine systems. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Estuaries of the northeastern United States: Habitat and land use signatures
Roman, C.T.; Jaworski, N.; Short, F.T.; Findlay, S.; Warren, R.S.
2000-01-01
Geographic signatures are physical, chemical, biotic, and human-induced characteristics or processes that help define similar or unique features of estuaries along latitudinal or geographic gradients. Geomorphologically, estuaries of the northeastern U.S., from the Hudson River estuary and northward along the Gulf of Maine shoreline, are highly diverse because of a complex bedrock geology and glacial history. Back-barrier estuaries and lagoons occur within the northeast region, but the dominant type is the drowned-river valley, often with rocky shores. Tidal range and mean depth of northeast estuaries are generally greater when compared to estuaries of the more southern U.S. Atlantic coast and Gulf of Mexico. Because of small estuarine drainage basins, low riverine flows, a bedrock substrate, and dense forest cover, sediment loads in northeast estuaries are generally quite low and water clarity is high. Tidal marshes, seagrass meadows, intertidal mudflats, and rocky shores represent major habitat types that fringe northeast estuaries, supporting commercially-important fauna, forage nekton and benthos, and coastal bird communities, while also serving as links between deeper estuarine waters and habitats through detritus-based pathways. Regarding land use and water quality trends, portions of the northeast have a history of over a century of intense urbanization as reflected in increased total nitrogen and total phosphorus loadings to estuaries, with wastewater treatment facilities and atmospheric deposition being major sources. Agricultural inputs are relatively minor throughout the northeast, with relative importance increasing for coastal plain estuaries. Identifying geographic signatures provides an objective means for comparing the structure function, and processes of estuaries along latitudinal gradients.
Improving estuary models by reducing uncertainties associated with river flows
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Robins, Peter E.; Lewis, Matt J.; Freer, Jim; Cooper, David M.; Skinner, Christopher J.; Coulthard, Tom J.
2018-07-01
To mitigate against future changes to estuaries such as water quality, catchment and estuary models can be coupled to simulate the transport of harmful pathogenic viruses, pollutants and nutrients from their terrestrial sources, through the estuary and to the coast. To predict future changes to estuaries, daily mean river flow projections are typically used. We show that this approach cannot resolve higher frequency discharge events that have large impacts to estuarine dilution, contamination and recovery for two contrasting estuaries. We therefore characterise sub-daily scale flow variability and propagate this through an estuary model to provide robust estimates of impacts for the future. River flow data (35-year records at 15-min sampling) were used to characterise variabilities in storm hydrograph shapes and simulate the estuarine response. In particular, we modelled a fast-responding catchment-estuary system (Conwy, UK), where the natural variability in hydrograph shapes generated large variability in estuarine circulation that was not captured when using daily-averaged river forcing. In the extreme, the freshwater plume from a 'flash' flood (lasting <12 h) was underestimated by up to 100% - and the response to nutrient loading was underestimated further still. A model of a slower-responding system (Humber, UK), where hydrographs typically last 2-4 days, showed less variability in estuarine circulation and good approximation with daily-averaged flow forcing. Our result has implications for entire system impact modelling; when we determine future changes to estuaries, some systems will need higher resolution future river flow estimates.
Particulate organic matter predicts bacterial productivity in a river dominated estuary
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Crump, B. C.
2015-12-01
Estuaries act as coastal filters for organic and inorganic fluvial materials in which microbial, biogeochemical, and ecological processes combine to transform organic matter and nutrients prior to export to the coastal ocean. The function of this estuarine 'bioreactor' is linked to the residence times of those materials and to rates of microbial heterotrophic activity. Our ability to forecast the impact of global change on estuarine bioreactor function requires an understanding of the basic controls on microbial community activity and diversity. In the Columbia River estuary, the microbial community undergoes a dramatic seasonal shift in species composition during which a spring bacterioplankton community, dominated by Flavobacteriaceae and Oceanospirillales, is replaced by a summer community, dominated by Rhodobacteraceae and several common marine taxa. This annual shift occurs in July, following the spring freshet, when river flow and river chlorophyll concentration decrease and when estuarine water residence time increases. Analysis of a large dataset from 17 research cruises (1990-2014) showed that the composition of particulate organic matter in the estuary changes after the freshet with decreasing organic carbon and nitrogen content, and increasing contribution of marine and autochthonous estuarine organic matter (based on PO13C and pigment ratios). Bacterial production rates (measured as leucine or thymidine incorporation rates) in the estuary respond to this change, and correlate strongly with labile particulate nitrogen concentration and temperature during individual sampling campaigns, and with the concentration of chlorophyll in the Columbia River across all seasons. Regression models suggest that the concentration of labile particulate nitrogen and the rate of bacterial production can be predicted from sensor measurements of turbidity, salinity, and temperature in the estuary and chlorophyll in the river. These results suggest that the quality of
Diversity and distribution of Archaea in global estuarine ecosystems.
Liu, Xiaobo; Pan, Jie; Liu, Yang; Li, Meng; Gu, Ji-Dong
2018-05-09
Estuarine ecosystem is a unique geographical transitional zone between freshwater and seawater, harboring a wide range of microbial communities including Archaea. Although a large number of Archaea have been detected in such ecosystem, the global patterns in archaeal diversity and distribution are extremely scarce. To bridge this gap, we carried out a comprehensive survey of archaeal communities using ca. 4000 publicly available archaeal 16S rRNA gene sequences (>300 bp) collected from 24 estuaries in different latitude regions. These sequences were divided into 1450 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) at 97% identity, suggesting a high biodiversity that increased gradually from the high- to low-latitude estuaries. Phylogenetic analysis showed that estuarine ecosystem was a large biodiversity pool of Archaea that was mainly composed of 12 phyla. Among them, the predominant groups were Bathyarchaeota, Euryarchaeota and Thaumarchaeota. Interestingly, archaeal distribution demonstrated a geographical differentiation in that Thaumarchaeota was dominated in the low-latitude estuaries, Bathyarchaeota in the mid-latitude estuaries, and Euryarchaeota in the high-latitude estuaries, respectively. Furthermore, the majority of the most abundant 20 OTUs demonstrated an overrepresented or underrepresented distribution pattern in some specific estuaries or latitude regions while a few were evenly distributed throughout the estuaries. This pattern indicates a potential selectivity of geographical distribution. In addition, the analysis of environmental parameters suggested that latitude would be one of the major factors driving the distribution of archaeal communities in estuarine ecosystem. This study profiles a clear framework on the diversity and distribution of Archaea in the global estuarine ecosystem and explores the general environmental factors that influence these patterns. Our findings constitute an important part of the exploration of the global ecology of Archaea
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Kennish, M.J.
This book is a summary of information available on estuarine ecology, that reviews concepts and problems of estuaries and assesses the value of these coastal systems. It investigates such topics as water circulation and mixing, trace elements, nutrients, organic matter, and sedimentary processes, with reviews on more than two decades of intense study. Chapters reflect contributions from a variety of interdisciplinary sciences including botany, chemistry, ecology, geology, physics, and zoology.
Charry, Maria P; Keesing, Vaughan; Costello, Mark; Tremblay, Louis A
2018-01-01
Urban estuarine sediments are sinks to a range of contaminants of anthropogenic origin, and a key challenge is to characterize the risk of these compounds to receiving environments. In this study, the toxicity of urban estuarine sediments was tested using acute and chronic bioassays in the benthic harpacticoid Quinquelaophonte sp., and in the planktonic calanoid Gladioferens pectinatus , two New Zealand copepod species. The sediment samples from the estuary tributary sites significantly impacted reproduction in Quinquelaophonte sp. However, results from one of the estuary sites were not significantly different to those from the tributaries sites, suggesting that chemicals other than trace metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and ammonia may be the causative stressors. Sediment elutriate samples had significant effects on reproductive endpoints in G. pectinatus , and on the induction of DNA damage in cells, as shown by the comet assay. The results indicate that sediment contamination at the Ahuriri Estuary has the potential to impact biological processes of benthic and pelagic organisms. The approach used provides a standardized methodology to assess the toxicity of estuarine sediments.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lira, Alex; Angelini, Ronaldo; Le Loc'h, François; Ménard, Frédéric; Lacerda, Carlos; Frédou, Thierry; Lucena Frédou, Flávia
2018-06-01
We developed an Ecopath model for the Estuary of Sirinhaém River (SIR), a small-sized system surrounded by mangroves, subject to high impact, mainly by the sugar cane and other farming industries in order to describe the food web structure and trophic interactions. In addition, we compared our findings with those of 20 available Ecopath estuarine models for tropical, subtropical and temperate regions, aiming to synthesize the knowledge on trophic dynamics and provide a comprehensive analysis of the structures and functioning of estuaries. Our model consisted of 25 compartments and its indicators were within the expected range for estuarine areas around the world. The average trophic transfer efficiency for the entire system was 11.8%, similar to the theoretical value of 10%. The Keystone Index and MTI (Mixed Trophic Impact) analysis indicated that the snook (Centropomus undecimalis and Centropomus parallelus) and jack (Caranx latus and Caranx hippos) are considered as key resources in the system, revealing their high impact in the food web. Both groups have a high ecological and commercial relevance, despite the unregulated fisheries. As result of the comparison of ecosystem model indicators in estuaries, differences in the ecosystem structure from the low latitude zones (tropical estuaries) to the high latitude zones (temperate system) were noticed. The structure of temperate and sub-tropical estuaries is based on high flows of detritus and export, while tropical systems have high biomass, respiration and consumption rates. Higher values of System Omnivory Index (SOI) and Overhead (SO) were observed in the tropical and subtropical estuaries, denoting a more complex food chain. Globally, none of the estuarine models were classified as fully mature ecosystems, although the tropical ecosystems were considered more mature than the subtropical and temperate ecosystems. This study is an important contribution to the trophic modeling of estuaries, which may also help
Anthropogenic Carbon Pump in an Urbanized Estuary
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Park, J. H.; Yoon, T. K.; Jin, H.; Begum, M. S.
2015-12-01
The importance of estuaries as a carbon source has been increasingly recognized over the recent decades. However, constraining sources of CO2 evasion from urbanized estuaries remains incomplete, particularly in densely populated river systems receiving high loads of organic carbon from anthropogenic sources. To account for major factors regulating carbon fluxes the tidal reach of the Han River estuary along the metropolitan Seoul, characterization of organic carbon in the main stem and major urban tributaries were combined with continuous, submersible sensor measurements of pCO2 at a mid-channel location over a year and continuous underway measurements using a submersible sensor and two equilibrator sytems across the estuarine section receiving urban streams. Single-site continuous measurements exhibited large seasonal and diurnal variations in pCO2, ranging from sub-ambient air levels to exceptionally high values approaching 10,000 ppm. Diurnal variations of pCO2 were pronounced in summer and had an inverse relationship with dissolved oxygen, pointing to a potential role of day-time algal consumption of CO2. Cruise measurements displayed sharp pCO2 pulses along the confluences of urban streams as compared with relatively low values along the upper estuary receiving low-CO2 outflows from upstream dams. Large downstream increases in pCO2, concurrent with increases in DOC concentrations and fluorescence intensities indicative of microbially processed organic components, imply a translocation and subsequent dilution of CO2 carried by urban streams and/or fast transformations of labile C during transit along downstream reaches. The unique combination of spatial and temporal continuous measurements of pCO2 provide insights on estuarine CO2 pulses that might have resulted from the interplay between high loads of CO2 and organic C of anthropogenic origin and their priming effects on estuarine microbial processing of terrigenous and algal organic matter.
Nitrogen distribution in a tropical urbanized estuarine system in northeastern Brazil.
Dos Santos, Celimarcos Bezerra; Silva, Maria Aparecida Macêdo; de Souza, Marcelo F Landim; da Silva, Daniela Mariano Lopes
2018-01-08
Nitrogen enters estuaries mostly through fluvial discharge and tide, although anthropogenic sources are known to influence the amount of this element in these aquatic ecosystems. Thus, the objective of this work was to verify which river (Cachoeira, Fundão, and/or Santana) exerts greater influence on the distribution of dissolved N forms (Dissolved Organic Nitrogen and Dissolved Inorganic Nitrogen = NH 3 /NH 4 + , NO 2 - , and NO 3 - ) along a tropical urbanized estuarine system in northeastern Brazil. The studies estuarine system lies with in urban municipality, and the upper portion of the Cachoeira river estuary receives the treated effluent from this municipality through a sewage treatment station and untreated effluents from nearby villages. The selected sampling stations were located near the outfall of the rivers in the estuaries to the treatment plant and the villages. Of all the nitrogen forms, dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) prevailed in the estuarine system, followed by nitrate (NO 3 - ) as the main inorganic form. The highest concentrations were recorded in the fluvial portion and upper estuary of Cachoeira river in the dry season. Based on the N concentrations found in the estuarine system, Cachoeira river has the greatest anthropogenic influence due to the amount of untreated effluents from the villages and treated effluents from the sewage treatment plant (STP) in the upper portion of the estuary.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Selleslagh, Jonathan; Lobry, Jérémy; N'Zigou, Aimé Roger; Bachelet, Guy; Blanchet, Hugues; Chaalali, Aurélie; Sautour, Benoît; Boët, Philippe
2012-10-01
Characterization of the structure and seasonal variability of biotic communities is essential for a better understanding of estuarine ecosystem functioning and in order to manage these highly fluctuating and naturally stressed systems. Numerous studies have investigated the role of environmental factors in controlling temporal variations in biotic communities. However, most have concluded that the explanatory power of physico-chemical variables was significant but not sufficient to explain ecological dynamics. The present study aimed to propose the importance of trophic interactions as an additional structuring factor of species seasonal variability by examining simultaneous dynamics of all estuarine biotic communities, using the oligo-mesohaline area of the Gironde estuary (SW France) as a case study. Data on the main biological groups (fish, shrimps, macrozoobenthos and plankton) sampled during a five-year period (2004-2008) at monthly intervals using a well standardized protocol, as well as data on environmental variables, were compiled here for the first time. According to species composition, the Gironde estuary is used as a nursery, feeding, resident and migratory habitat. For almost all species, strong seasonal fluctuations occurred with a succession of species, indicating an optimization of the use of the available resources over a typical year by estuarine biological communities. Multivariate analyses discriminated four seasonal groups of species with two distinctive ecological seasons. A clear shift in July indicated a biomass transfer from a "planktonic phase" to a "bentho-demersal phase", corresponding to spring and summer-autumn periods, respectively. With regard to the temporal fluctuations of dominant species of all biological groups, this study highlighted the possible influence of trophic relationships, predation in particular, on seasonal variations in species abundance, in addition to the physico-chemical influence. This study enabled us to
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Garono, Ralph; Robinson, Rob
2003-10-01
Developing an understanding of the distribution and changes in estuarine and riparian habitats is critical to the management of biological resources in the lower Columbia River. In a recently completed comprehensive ecosystem protection and enhancement plan for the lower Columbia River Estuary (CRE), Jerrick (1999) identified habitat loss and modification as one of the key threats to the integrity of the CRE ecosystem. This management plan called for an inventory of habitats as key first step in the CRE long-term restoration effort. While previous studies have produced useful data sets depicting habitat cover types along portions of the lower CREmore » (Thomas, 1980; Thomas, 1983; Graves et al., 1995; NOAA, 1997; Allen, 1999), no single study has produced a description of the habitats for the entire CRE. Moreover, the previous studies differed in data sources and methodologies making it difficult to merge data or to make temporal comparisons. Therefore, the Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership (Estuary Partnership) initiated a habitat cover mapping project in 2000. The goal of this project was to produce a data set depicting the current habitat cover types along the lower Columbia River, from its mouth to the Bonneville Dam, a distance of {approx}230-km (Fig. 1) using both established and emerging remote sensing techniques. For this project, we acquired two types of imagery, Landsat 7 ETM+ and Compact Airborne Spectrographic Imager (CASI). Landsat and CASI imagery differ in spatial and spectral resolution: the Landsat 7 ETM+ sensor collects reflectance data in seven spectral bands with a spatial resolution of 30-m and the CASI sensor collects reflectance data in 19 bands (in our study) with a spatial resolution of 1.5-m. We classified both sets of imagery and produced a spatially linked, hierarchical habitat data set for the entire CRE and its floodplain. Landsat 7 ETM+ classification results are presented in a separate report (Garono et al., 2003). This
Lonsdale, Jemma; Nicholson, Rose; Weston, Keith; Elliott, Michael; Birchenough, Andrew; Sühring, Roxana
2018-02-01
Estuaries are amongst the most socio-economically and ecologically important environments however, due to competing and conflicting demands, management is often challenging with a complex legislative framework managed by multiple agencies. To facilitate the understanding of this legislative framework, we have developed a GISbased Estuarine Planning Support System tool. The tool integrates the requirements of the relevant legislation and provides a basis for assessing the current environmental state of an estuary as well as informing and assessing new plans to ensure a healthy estuarine state. The tool ensures that the information is easily accessible for regulators, managers, developers and the public. The tool is intended to be adaptable, but is assessed using the Humber Estuary, United Kingdom as a case study area. The successful application of the tool for complex socio-economic and environmental systems demonstrates that the tool can efficiently guide users through the complex requirements needed to support sustainable development. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Sedimentary environment and facies of St Lucia Estuary Mouth, Zululand, South Africa
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Wright, C. I.; Mason, T. R.
The St. Lucia Estuary is situated on the subtropical, predominantly microtidal Zululand coast. Modern sedimentary environments within the estuary fall into three categories: (1) barrier environments; (2) abandoned channel environments; and (3) estuarine/lagoonal environments. The barrier-associated environment includes tidal inlet channel, inlet beach face, flood-tidal delta, ebb-tidal delta, spit, backspit and aeolian dune facies. The abandoned channel environment comprises washover fan, tidal creek tidal creek delta and back-barrier lagoon facies. The estuarine/lagoonal environment includes subtidal estuarine channel, side-attached bar, channel margin, mangrove fringe and channel island facies. Each sedimentary facies is characterised by sedimentary and biogenic structures, grain-size and sedimentary processes. Vertical facies sequences produced by inlet channel migration and lagoonal infilling are sufficiently distinct to be recognized in the geological record and are typical of a prograding shoreline.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Wang, Aijun; Ye, Xiang; Cheng, Peng; Wang, Liang
2017-04-01
Estuaries are key nodes of land-ocean interaction, the associated suspended sediment processes being crucial for global and regional material fluxes and environmental health. Within estuaries, there is commonly a reach where the water turbidity is markedly higher than both landward and seaward. This elevated suspended sediment concentration (SSC) is termed the estuarine turbidity maximum (ETM). The ETM has important influences on harbor siltation, ecological conservation, and biogeochemical dynamics. Jiulongjiang estuary is a small macro-tidal estuary in southeast China coastal area, which is a typical example for estuarine ecosystem conservation and its response to catchment management. Observed results show that the tidal current is the main factor which control the variations of SSC in ETM under the normal condition. However, under the influence of typhoon event, the hydrodynamic action was strengthened and the salt water intrusion was also enhanced, and the fresh water and sediment discharged from river system increased, which led to the complicated variations of the ETM. Under the normal conditions, the maximum width of ETM was about 10 km in spring tide. However, before typhoon landed, the maximum width of the ETM was about 14 km; after the typhoon landed, the maximum width of the ETM was more than 20 km, and during the low tide stage, the width of the ETM was still 19 km which was induced by high turbidity water input from river system. The particulate organic carbon (POC) concentration reached 19.26 mg/L within the ETM at the next day after typhoon landed, which was much higher than that under normal weather condition (the maximum value was only 3.15 mg/L). During the low tide level, the POC concentration increased remarkably from upstream to the core of ETM and then decreased toward downstream, while the POC concentration decreased toward downstream during high tide level. Compared with normal weather condition, the POC concentration varied not obviously
Assessing estuarine biota in southern California
Kevin D. Lafferty
2005-01-01
In southern California, most estuarine wetlands are gone, and what little habitat remains is degraded. For this reason, it is often of interest to assess the condition of estuaries over time, such as when determining the success of a restoration project. To identify impacts or opportunities for restoration, we also may want to know how a particular estuary, or area...
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Vidal-Durà, Andrea; Burke, Ian T.; Stewart, Douglas I.; Mortimer, Robert J. G.
2018-07-01
Estuarine environments are considered to be nutrient buffer systems as they regulate the delivery of nutrients from rivers to the ocean. In the Humber Estuary (UK) seawater and freshwater mixing during tidal cycles leads to the mobilisation of oxic surface sediments (0-1 cm). However, less frequent seasonal events can also mobilise anoxic subsurface (5-10 cm) sediments, which may have further implications for the estuarine geochemistry. A series of batch experiments were carried out on surface and subsurface sediments taken from along the salinity gradient of the Humber Estuary. The aim was to investigate the geochemical processes driving major element (N, Fe, S, and Mn) redox cycling and trace metal behaviour during simulated resuspension events. The magnitude of major nutrient and metal release was significantly greater during the resuspension of outer estuarine sediments rather than from inner estuarine sediments. When comparing resuspension of surface versus subsurface sediment, only the outer estuary experiments showed significant differences in major nutrient behaviour with sediment depth. In general, any ammonium, manganese and trace metals (Cu and Zn) released during the resuspension experiments were rapidly removed from solution as new sorption sites (i.e. Fe/Mn oxyhydroxides) formed. Therefore Humber estuary sediments showed a scavenging capacity for these dissolved species and hence may act as an ultimate sink for these elements. Due to the larger aerial extent of the outer estuary intertidal mudflats in comparison with the inner estuary area, the mobilisation of the outer estuary sediments (more reducing and richer in sulphides and iron) may have a greater impact on the transport and cycling of nutrients and trace metals. Climate change-associated sea level rise combined with an increasing frequency of major storm events in temperate zones, which are more likely to mobilise deeper sediment regions, will impact the nutrient and metal inputs to the
Morphology and modern sedimentary deposits of the macrotidal Marapanim Estuary (Amazon, Brazil)
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Araújo da Silva, Cléa; Souza-Filho, Pedro Walfir M.; Rodrigues, Suzan W. P.
2009-03-01
The northern Brazilian coast, east of the Amazon River is characterized by several macrotidal estuarine systems that harbor large mangrove areas with approximately 7600 km 2. The Marapanim Estuary is influenced by macrotidal regime with moderate waves influence. Morphologic units were investigated by using remote sensing images (i.e., Landsat-7 ETM+, RADARSAT- 1 Wide and SRTM) integrated with bathymetric data. The modern sedimentary deposits were analyzed from 67 cores collected by Vibracore and Rammkersonde systems. Analysis of morphology and surface sedimentary deposits of the Marapanim River reveal they are strongly influenced by the interaction of tidal, wave and fluvial currents. Based on these processes it was possible to recognize three distinct longitudinal facies zonation that revels the geological filling of a macrotidal estuary. The estuary mouth contain fine to medium marine sands strongly influenced by waves and tides, responsible for macrotidal sandy beaches and estuarine channel development, which are characterized by wave-ripple bedding and longitudinal cross-bedding sands. The estuary funnel is mainly influenced by tides that form wide tidal mudflats, colonized by mangroves, along the estuarine margin, with parallel laminations, lenticular bedding, root fragments and organic matter lenses. The upstream estuary contains coarse sand to gravel of fluvial origin. Massive mud with organic matter lenses, marks and roots fragments occur in the floodplain accumulates during seasonal flooding providing a slowly aggrading in the alluvial plain. This morphologic and depositional pattern show easily a tripartite zonation of a macrotidal estuary, that are in the final stage of filling.
Using stable isotopes and models to explore estuarine linkages at multiple scales
Estuarine managers need tools to respond to dynamic stressors that occur in three linked environments – coastal ocean, estuaries and watersheds. Models have been the tool of choice for examining these dynamic systems because they simplify processes and integrate over multiple sc...
Freshwater scarcity effects on the aquatic macrofauna of a European Mediterranean-climate estuary.
González-Ortegón, Enrique; Baldó, Francisco; Arias, Alberto; Cuesta, Jose A; Fernández-Delgado, Carlos; Vilas, César; Drake, Pilar
2015-01-15
In the Mediterranean-climate zone, recurrent drought events and increasing water demand generally lead to a decrease in freshwater input to estuaries. This water scarcity may alter the proper function of estuaries as nursery areas for marine species and as permanent habitat for estuarine species. A 12-year data set of the aquatic macrofauna (fish, decapod and mysid crustaceans) in a Mediterranean estuary (Guadalquivir estuary, South Spain) was analysed to test if water scarcity favours the nursery function of regional estuaries to the detriment of permanent estuarine inhabitants. Target species typically displayed a salinity-related distribution and estuarine salinisation in dry years resulted in a general upstream community displacement. However, annual densities of marine species were neither consistently higher in dry years nor estuarine species during wet years. Exceptions included the estuarine mysid Neomysis integer and the marine shrimp Crangon crangon, which were more abundant in wet and dry years, respectively. High and persistent turbidity, a collateral effect of water scarcity, altered both the structural (salinity-related pattern) and functional (key prey species and predator density) community characteristics, chiefly after the second drought period of the analysis. The observed high inter-year environmental variability, as well as species-specific effects of water scarcity, suggests that exhaustive and long-term sampling programmes will be required for rigorously monitoring the estuarine communities of the Mediterranean-climate region. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Bordalo, Adriano A; Chalermwat, Kashane; Teixeira, Catarina
2016-07-01
Estuarine ecosystems in SE Asia have been poorly studied when compared to other tropical environments. Important gaps exist particularly in the understanding of their biogeochemical function and contribution to global change. In this work we looked into N-turnover in the water column and sediments of the Bangpakong estuary (13°N). A seasonal sampling program was performed along the salinity gradient covering different stretches of the estuary (68km). Key physical and chemical characteristics were also monitored in order to unravel possible environmental controls. Results showed the occurrence of active denitrification in sediments (5.7-50.9nmol N-N2/(cm(3)·hr)), and water column (3.5-1044pmol N-N2/(cm(3)·hr)). No seasonal or spatial variability was detected for denitrification potential in sediment samples. However, in the water column, the denitrification activity peaked during the transition season in the downstream sites coinciding with high turbidity levels. Therefore, in that period of the year, the water column compartment may be an important contributor to nitrate reduction within the estuary. The rather low nitrification rates detected were not always measurable, probably due to the reduced oxygen content and high siltation. This study is one of the few dealing simultaneously with sediments and water column processes in a highly turbid tropical estuary. Therefore, it emerges as a valuable contribution for the understanding of the dynamics of the nitrogen cycle in tropical environments by exploring the role of estuarine N microbial activity in reducing the effects of increased nitrogen loads. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.
The role of watershed characteristics in estuarine condition: an empirical approach
James Latimer; Melissa Hughes; Michael Charpentier; Christine Tilburg
2016-01-01
Estuarine condition is a function of the nature of the estuary, ocean, and atmospheric systems, and the upstream watershed. To fully understand and predict how an estuary will respond to drivers and pressures,...
Field observations of hypersaline runoff through a shallow estuary
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hosseini, Seyed Taleb; Siadatmousavi, Seyed Mostafa
2018-03-01
This study investigates a rare situation at the Mond River Estuary in the Persian Gulf, in which the classical estuarine density gradient coincides with hypersaline runoff entering from saline soils upstream of the estuary after severe precipitation. This builds a unique estuarine setting, where two salt water masses, one originating from the coastal ocean and the other being discharged from upstream confine a range of almost freshwater in the middle of estuary. This "freshwater lens estuary" (FLE) situation includes two saltwater sources with opposing senses of estuarine circulation. Therefore, the tidal damping by the strong river flood can occur, especially during neap tide when high Unsteadiness number (∼0.04) signified ebb oriented condition which was induced by straining residual lateral circulation near the FLE mouth. Transition from well-mixed to weak strain induced periodic stratification regimes indicated the importance of the spring-neap tidal variations. Close to the mouth, a 13.66-day periodic tidal asymmetry from the triad K1-O1-M2 (ebb-dominance during spring tide and flood-dominance in neap tide) was overcome by higher harmonics.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Bruce, L. C.; Adiyanti, S.; Ruibal, A. L.; Hipsey, M. R.
2013-12-01
Estuaries provide an important role in the filtering and transformation of carbon and nutrients from coastal catchments into the marine environment. Global trends including climate change, increased population, industrialization and agriculture have led to the rapid deterioration of estuarine ecosystems across the world. Within the Australian context, a particular concern is how changes to hydrological regimes, due to both water diversions and climate variability, are contributing to increased stress and consequent decline in estuarine health. In this study we report the modeling output of five Australian estuaries, each with different hydrological regimes and alternative management issues relating to altered hydrology: 1) The Yarra River estuary is a highly urbanized system, also receiving agriculturally derived nutrients, where the concern is the role of periodic hypoxia in reducing the assimilation capacity of nitrogen and thus increased risk of algal blooms forming in the coastal environment; 2) The upper Swan River estuary in Western Australia, which experiences persistent anoxia and hypoxia brought about by reduced flows has led to the commissioning of several oxygenation plants to alleviate stress on biodiversity and overall estuarine health; 3) The health of the Caboolture estuary in Queensland has deteriorated in the past decade with the aim of model development to quantify the various sources of surface and groundwater derived nutrients; 4) The construction of an additional channel to increase flushing in the Peel Harvey estuary in Western Australia was designed to control persistent harmful algal blooms; and 5) The Lower River Murray estuary experienced a prolonged drought that led to the development of acid sulfate soils and acid drainage deteriorating water quality. For these applications we applied 3-D hydrodynamic-biogeochemical models to determine underlying relationships between altered flow regimes, increased temperatures and the response of
Environmental drivers of dissolved organic matter molecular composition in the Delaware Estuary
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Osterholz, Helena; Kirchman, David L.; Niggemann, Jutta; Dittmar, Thorsten
2016-11-01
Estuaries as connectors of freshwater and marine aquatic systems are hotspots of biogeochemical element cycling. In one of the best studied temperate estuaries, the Delaware Estuary (USA), we investigated the variability of dissolved organic matter (DOM) over five sampling cruises along the salinity gradient in August and November of 3 consecutive years. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations were more variable in the upper reaches of the estuary (245±49 µmol L-1) than at the mouth of the estuary (129±14 µmol L-1). Bulk DOC decreased conservatively along the transect in November but was non-conservative with increased DOC concentrations mid-estuary in August. Detailed analysis of the solid-phase extractable DOM pool via ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry (Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry, FT-ICR-MS) revealed compositional differences at the molecular level that were not reflected in changes in concentration. Besides the mixing of terrestrial and marine endmember signatures, river discharge levels and biological activity were found to impact DOM molecular composition. DOM composition changed less between August and November than along the salinity gradient. Relative contributions of presumed photolabile DOM compounds did not reveal non-conservative behavior indicative of photochemical processing; suggesting that on the timescales of estuarine mixing photochemical removal of molecules plays a minor role in the turbid Delaware Bay. Overall, a large portion of molecular formulae overlapped between sampling campaigns and persisted during estuarine passage. Extending the analysis to the structural level via the fragmentation of molecular masses in the FT-ICR-MS cell, we found that the relative abundance of isomers along the salinity gradient did not change, indicating a high structural similarity of aquatic DOM independent of the origin. These results point towards a recalcitrant character of the DOM supplied by the Delaware
Back-barrier and seabed sediment dynamics in the Albemarle-Pamlico estuarine system, North Carolina
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Walsh, J. P.; Corbett, D. R.
2016-02-01
Estuaries are critical habitats as well as places where people live, recreate, and make their livelihood. Additionally, they are sites where land and sea interact, and sediments, and associated pollutants and carbon, are deposited, remobilized and accumulated. Many processes, such as river discharge, waves, tides, and sea-level rise, are operating in estuaries to cause sediment dynamics, impacting humans and organisms as a result. Recent research we have been engaged in across the Albemarle-Pamlico Estuarine System (APES) has investigated the sediments dynamics of this important estuary. The APES is the second largest estuary in the continental United States, consisting of the Albemarle and Pamlico sounds and the Pamlico River and Neuse River sub-estuaries. Although expansive in size, the system is shallow with minimal tidal range. Water and sediment discharge into the APES is modest, and the existence of few inlets along the Outer Banks limits mixing with the Atlantic Ocean. Human impact on the drainage basin and estuarine system is moderate and increasing over time. Over the last five years, a considerable volume of sedimentary process data has been collected over various timescales and locations in the APES. More specifically, work has included: deployments of instrumented tripods to examine seabed dynamics; collection and analysis of shallow cores and GIS investigation of aerial photographs and other data. This wealth of data highlights several insights: 1) shorelines are generally eroding ( 0.25 m/y and rapidly >3 m/y in places), but rates are temporally and spatially variable; 2) seabed resuspension is frequent, yet net accumulation of 2-4 mm/y is widespread in deeper locations; and 3) storms cause episodic, localized impacts (e.g., barrier breaches) on this large, shallow estuarine system.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ruffing, Jenny
The objective of this document is to provide information about estuaries, the impact of uses on the environmental health of an estuary, and what communities and concerned individuals can do to manage and protect their local estuarine resources successfully. Much of the information presented here pertains to other embayments along the Maine coast…
The status of fish conservation in South African estuaries.
Whitfield, A K; Cowley, P D
2010-06-01
Estuary-dependent fish species are defined as those taxa whose populations would be adversely affected by the loss of estuarine habitats. Of the 155 species regularly recorded in South African estuaries, only 32 (21%) are completely dependent on these systems, but this figure increases to 103 species (66%) if partially dependent taxa are included in the analysis. The conservation of fishes in estuaries on the subcontinent is threatened by a number of factors, including habitat degradation, disruption of essential ecological processes, hydrological manipulations, environmental pollution, overexploitation due to fishing activities and, more recently, climate change and the effects of introduced aquatic animals. Although major threats to fishes are usually linked to environmental degradation, there is increasing evidence that the stocks of certain fish species are overexploited or collapsed. Fish conservation and fisheries management does not depend on the implementation of a single action, but rather the co-ordination of a detailed plan, often in a multidisciplinary context. Some examples of innovative means of contributing to estuarine fish conservation in a South African context include the determination and implementation of the ecological freshwater requirements for estuaries, the zoning of estuaries for different uses and the recognition that the maintenance of ecological processes are vital to aquatic ecosystem health. Apart from the designation of protected areas, the main direct means of conserving fish species and stocks include habitat conservation, controls over fishing methods, effort, efficiency and seasonality, pollution control and the prevention of artificial manipulation of estuary mouths. Since becoming a democracy in 1994, environmental legislation, policy and institutional arrangements in South Africa have undergone some major changes, which, if fully implemented, will be very positive for fish conservation in estuaries on the subcontinent.
Savage, Candida; Thrush, Simon F.; Lohrer, Andrew M.; Hewitt, Judi E.
2012-01-01
Background Estuaries are highly productive ecosystems that can export organic matter to coastal seas (the ‘outwelling hypothesis’). However the role of this food resource subsidy on coastal ecosystem functioning has not been examined. Methodology/Principal Findings We investigated the influence of estuarine primary production as a resource subsidy and the influence of estuaries on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in coastal mollusk-dominated sediment communities. Stable isotope values (δ13C, δ15N) demonstrated that estuarine primary production was exported to the adjacent coast and contributed to secondary production up to 4 km from the estuary mouth. Further, isotope signatures of suspension feeding bivalves on the adjacent coast (Dosinia subrosea) closely mirrored the isotope values of the dominant bivalves inside the estuaries (Austrovenus stutchburyi), indicating utilization of similar organic matter sources. However, the food subsidies varied between estuaries; with estuarine suspended particulate organic matter (SPOM) dominant at Tairua estuary, while seagrass and fringing vegetation detritus was proportionately more important at Whangapoua estuary, with lesser contributions of estuarine SPOM. Distance from the estuary mouth and the size and density of large bivalves (Dosinia spp.) had a significant influence on the composition of biological traits in the coastal macrobenthic communities, signaling the potential influence of these spatial subsidies on ecosystem functioning. Conclusions/Significance Our study demonstrated that the locations where ecosystem services like productivity are generated are not necessarily where the services are utilized. Further, we identified indirect positive effects of the nutrient subsidies on biodiversity (the estuarine subsidies influenced the bivalves, which in turn affected the diversity and functional trait composition of the coastal sediment macrofaunal communities). These findings highlight the importance of
Cloern, James E.; Jassby, Alan D.; Schraga, Tara; Kress, Erica S.; Martin, Charles A.
2017-01-01
The salinity gradient of estuaries plays a unique and fundamental role in structuring spatial patterns of physical properties, biota, and biogeochemical processes. We use variability along the salinity gradient of San Francisco Bay to illustrate some lessons about the diversity of spatial structures in estuaries and their variability over time. Spatial patterns of dissolved constituents (e.g., silicate) can be linear or nonlinear, depending on the relative importance of river-ocean mixing and internal sinks (diatom uptake). Particles have different spatial patterns because they accumulate in estuarine turbidity maxima formed by the combination of sinking and estuarine circulation. Some constituents have weak or no mean spatial structure along the salinity gradient, reflecting spatially distributed sources along the estuary (nitrate) or atmospheric exchanges that buffer spatial variability of ecosystem metabolism (dissolved oxygen). The density difference between freshwater and seawater establishes stratification in estuaries stronger than the thermal stratification of lakes and oceans. Stratification is strongest around the center of the salinity gradient and when river discharge is high. Spatial distributions of motile organisms are shaped by species-specific adaptations to different salinity ranges (shrimp) and by behavioral responses to environmental variability (northern anchovy). Estuarine spatial patterns change over time scales of events (intrusions of upwelled ocean water), seasons (river inflow), years (annual weather anomalies), and between eras separated by ecosystem disturbances (a species introduction). Each of these lessons is a piece in the puzzle of how estuarine ecosystems are structured and how they differ from the river and ocean ecosystems they bridge.
A classification of U.S. estuaries based on physical and hydrologic attributes
Engle, V.D.; Kurtz, J.C.; Smith, L.M.; Chancy, C.; Bourgeois, P.
2007-01-01
A classification of U.S. estuaries is presented based on estuarine characteristics that have been identified as important for quantifying stressor-response relationships in coastal systems. Estuaries within a class have similar physical and hydrologic characteristics and would be expected to demonstrate similar biological responses to stressor loads from the adjacent watersheds. Nine classes of estuaries were identified by applying cluster analysis to a database for 138 U.S. estuarine drainage areas. The database included physical measures of estuarine areas, depth and volume, as well as hydrologic parameters (i.e., tide height, tidal prism volume, freshwater inflow rates, salinity, and temperature). The ability of an estuary to dilute or flush pollutants can be estimated using physical and hydrologic properties such as volume, bathymetry, freshwater inflow and tidal exchange rates which influence residence time and affect pollutant loading rates. Thus, physical and hydrologic characteristics can be used to estimate the susceptibility of estuaries to pollutant effects. This classification of estuaries can be used by natural resource managers to describe and inventory coastal systems, understand stressor impacts, predict which systems are most sensitive to stressors, and manage and protect coastal resources. ?? Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2007.
Ecoengineering with Ecohydrology: Successes and failures in estuarine restoration
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Elliott, Michael; Mander, Lucas; Mazik, Krysia; Simenstad, Charles; Valesini, Fiona; Whitfield, Alan; Wolanski, Eric
2016-07-01
Ecological Engineering (or Ecoengineering) is increasingly used in estuaries to re-create and restore ecosystems degraded by human activities, including reduced water flow or land poldered for agricultural use. Here we focus on ecosystem recolonization by the biota and their functioning and we separate Type A Ecoengineering where the physico-chemical structure is modified on the basis that ecological structure and functioning will then follow, and Type B Ecoengineering where the biota are engineered directly such as through restocking or replanting. Modifying the physical system to create and restore natural processes and habitats relies on successfully applying Ecohydrology, where suitable physical conditions, especially hydrography and sedimentology, are created to recover estuarine ecology by natural or human-mediated colonisation of primary producers and consumers, or habitat creation. This successional process then allows wading birds and fish to reoccupy the rehabilitated areas, thus restoring the natural food web and recreating nursery areas for aquatic biota. We describe Ecohydrology principles applied during Ecoengineering restoration projects in Europe, Australia, Asia, South Africa and North America. These show some successful and sustainable approaches but also others that were less than successful and not sustainable despite the best of intentions (and which may even have harmed the ecology). Some schemes may be 'good for the ecologists', as conservationists consider it successful that at least some habitat was created, albeit in the short-term, but arguably did little for the overall ecology of the area in space or time. We indicate the trade-offs between the short- and long-term value of restored and created ecosystems, the success at developing natural structure and functioning in disturbed estuaries, the role of this in estuarine and wetland management, and the costs and benefits of Ecoengineering to the socio-ecological system. These global case
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Keefer, Matthew L.; Peery, Christopher A.; Wright, Nancy; Daigle, William R.; Caudill, Christopher C.; Clabough, Tami S.; Griffith, David W.; Zacharias, Mark A.
2008-06-01
A common first step in conservation planning and resource management is to identify and classify habitat types, and this has led to a proliferation of habitat classification systems. Ideally, classifications should be scientifically and conceptually rigorous, with broad applicability across spatial and temporal scales. Successful systems will also be flexible and adaptable, with a framework and supporting lexicon accessible to users from a variety of disciplines and locations. A new, continental-scale classification system for coastal and marine habitats—the Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard (CMECS)—is currently being developed for North America by NatureServe and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). CMECS is a nested, hierarchical framework that applies a uniform set of rules and terminology across multiple habitat scales using a combination of oceanographic (e.g. salinity, temperature), physiographic (e.g. depth, substratum), and biological (e.g. community type) criteria. Estuaries are arguably the most difficult marine environments to classify due to large spatio-temporal variability resulting in rapidly shifting benthic and water column conditions. We simultaneously collected data at eleven subtidal sites in the Columbia River Estuary (CRE) in fall 2004 to evaluate whether the estuarine component of CMECS could adequately classify habitats across several scales for representative sites within the estuary spanning a range of conditions. Using outputs from an acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP), CTD (conductivity, temperature, depth) sensor, and PONAR (benthic dredge) we concluded that the CMECS hierarchy provided a spatially explicit framework in which to integrate multiple parameters to define macro-habitats at the 100 m 2 to >1000 m 2 scales, or across several tiers of the CMECS system. The classification's strengths lie in its nested, hierarchical structure and in the development of a standardized, yet
Impact of estuarine pollution on birds
Blus, L.J.; Wiemeyer, Stanley N.; Kerwin, J.A.; Stendell, R.C.; Ohlendorf, H.M.; Stickel, L.F.
1977-01-01
Pollution of estuaries affects bird populations indirectly through changes in habitat and food supply. The multi-factor pollution of Chesapeake Bay has resulted in diminution of submerged aquatic plants and consequent change in food habits of the canvasback duck. Although dredge-spoil operations can improve wildlife habitat, they often result in its demise. Pollution of estuaries also affects birds directly, through chemical toxication, which may result in outright mortality or in reproductive impairment. Lead from industrial sources and roadways enters the estuaries and is accumulated in tissues of birds. Lead pellets deposited in estuaries as a result of hunting are consumed by ducks with sufficient frequency .to result m large annual die-offs from lead poisoning. Fish in certain areas, usually near industrial sources, may contain levels of mercury high enough to be hazardous to birds that consume them. Other heavy metals are present in estuarine birds, but their significance is poorly known. Oil exerts lethal or sublethal effects on birds by oiling their feathers, oiling eggs and young by contaminated parents, and by ingestion of oil-contaminated food. Organochlorine chemicals, of both agricultural and industrial origin, travel through the food chains and reach harmful levels in susceptible species of birds in certain estuarine ecosystems. Both outright mortality and reproductive impairment have occurred.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
McLachlan, R. L.; Ogston, A. S.; Allison, M. A.
2017-09-01
River gauging stations are often located upriver of tidal propagation where sediment transport processes and storage are impacted by widely varying ratios of marine to freshwater influence. These impacts are not yet thoroughly understood. Therefore, sediment fluxes measured at these stations may not be suitable for predicting changes to coastal morphology. To characterize sediment transport dynamics in this understudied zone, flow velocity, salinity, and suspended-sediment properties (concentration, size, and settling velocity) were measured within the tidal Sông Hậu distributary of the lower Mekong River, Vietnam. Fine-sediment aggregation, settling, and trapping rates were promoted by seasonal and tidal fluctuations in near-bed shear stress as well as the intermittent presence of a salt wedge and estuary turbidity maximum. Beginning in the tidal river, fine-grained particles were aggregated in freshwater. Then, in the interface zone between the tidal river and estuary, impeded near-bed shear stress and particle flux convergence promoted settling and trapping. Finally, in the estuary, sediment retention was further encouraged by stratification and estuarine circulation which protected the bed against particle resuspension and enhanced particle aggregation. These patterns promote mud export ( 1.7 t s-1) from the entire study area in the high-discharge season when fluvial processes dominate and mud import ( 0.25 t s-1) into the estuary and interface zone in the low-discharge season when estuarine processes dominate. Within the lower region of the distributaries, morphological change in the form of channel abandonment was found to be promoted within minor distributaries by feedbacks between channel depth, vertical mixing, and aggregate trapping. In effect, this field study sheds light on the sediment trapping capabilities of the tidal river - estuary interface zone, a relatively understudied region upstream of where traditional concepts place sites of deposition
Sediment balance of intertidal mudflats in a macrotidal estuary
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
lafite, R.; Deloffre, J.; Lemoine, M.
2012-12-01
Intertidal area contributes widely to fine-grained sediment balance in estuarine environments. Their sedimentary dynamics is controlled by several forcing parameters including tidal range, river flow and swell, affected by human activities such as dredging, construction or vessels traffic leading to modify sediment transport pattern. Although the estuarine hydrodynamics is well documented, the link between forcing parameters and these sedimentary processes is weakly understood. One of the main reasons is the difficulty to integrate spatial (from the fluvial to the estuary mouth) and temporal (from swell in seconds to pluriannual river flow variability) patterns. This study achieved on intertidal mudflats distributed along the macrotidal Seine estuary (France) aims (i) to quantify the impact of forcing parameters on each intertidal area respect to its longitudinal position in the estuarine system and (ii) to assess the fine-grained sediment budget at estuarine scale. The Seine estuary is a macrotidal estuary developed over 160 km up the upstream limit of tidal wave penetration. With an average river flow of 450m3.s-1, 80% of the Suspended Particles Matter (SPM) annual flux is discharged during the flood period. In the downstream part, the Seine estuary Turbidity Maximum (TM) is the SPM stock located near the mouth. During their transfer toward the sea, the fine particles can be trapped in (i) the intertidal mudflats; preferential areas characterized by low hydrodynamics and generally sheltered of the tidal dominant flow, the main tidal current the Seine River and (ii) the TM. The Seine estuary is an anthropic estuary in order to secure navigation: one consequence of these developments is the tidal bore disappearance. Along the macrotidal Seine estuary hydrodynamics features and sedimentary fluxes were followed during at least 1 year using respectively Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter, Optical BackScatter and altimeter. Results in the fluvial estuary enhance the role of
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Rovira, L.; Trobajo, R.; Leira, M.; Ibáñez, C.
2012-04-01
This study of the distribution of benthic diatom assemblages and their relationship with environmental factors in a highly stratified Mediterranean estuary, i.e. the Ebro Estuary, shows the importance of hydrological dynamics to explain the features of the diatom community in such an estuary, where river flow magnitude and fluctuations imply strong physicochemical variability especially in sites close to the sea. Eight sites along the estuary were sampled during 2007-2008 both at superficial and deep water layers, in order to gather both horizontal and vertical estuarine physicochemical and hydrological gradients. Canonical Variates Analysis and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis segregated diatom community in two assemblages depending on the dynamics of the salt-wedge. The diatom assemblages of riverine conditions (i.e. without salt-wedge influence) where characterised by high abundances of Cocconeis placentula var. euglypta and Amphora pediculus, meanwhile high abundances of Nizschia frustulum and Nitzschia inconspicua were characteristic of estuarine conditions (i.e. under salt-wedge influence). Redundancy Analysis showed that both diatom assemblages responded seasonally to Ebro River flows, especially in estuarine conditions, where fluctuating conditions affected diatom assemblages both at spatial and temporal scale.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Ye, L.; Parsons, D. R.; Manning, A. J.
2016-12-01
Cohesive sediment, or mud, is ubiquitously found in most aqueous environments, such as coasts and estuaries. The study of cohesive sediment behaviors requires the synchronous description of mutual interactions of grains (e.g., winnowing and flocculation), their physical properties (e.g., grain size) and also the ambient water. Herein, a series of flume experiments (14 runs) with different substrate mixtures of sand-clay-EPS (Extracellular Polymeric Substrates: secreted by aquatic microorganisms) are combined with an estuarine field survey (Dee estuary, NW England) to investigate the behavior of suspensions over bio-physical cohesive substrates. The experimental results indicate that winnowing and flocculation occur pervasively in bio-physical cohesive flow systems. Importantly however, the evolution of the bed and bedform dynamics and hence turbulence production can be lower when cohesivity is high. The estuarine survey also revealed that the bio-physical cohesion provided by both the clay and microorganism fractions in the bed, that pervasively exists in many natural estuarine systems, plays a significant role in controlling the interactions between bed substrate and sediment suspension and deposition, including controlling processes such as sediment winnowing, flocculation and re-deposition. Full understanding of these processes are essential in advancing sediment transport modelling and prediction studies across natural estuarine systems and the work will report on an improved conceptual model for sediment sorting deposition in bio-physical cohesive substrates.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
McLachlan, R. L.; Ogston, A. S.; Allison, M. A.; Hilmo, R. S.
2016-12-01
Widely varying ratios of marine to freshwater influence within near-mouth distributaries have impacts on sedimentary processes within the lower river that have yet to be thoroughly characterized. These impacts are of particular interest because river gauging stations are often above the river-estuary interface and, therefore, may not accurately characterize sediment flux through the lower river. Flow velocity, salinity, and suspended sediment properties (concentration, particle size, and settling velocity) were measured within the tidal Sông Hu distributary of the lower Mekong River, Vietnam during both high and low river discharge seasons. Seasonal variations in river discharge and estuarine regime resulted in export of fine sediment when discharge was high ( 1.7 t s-1) and import when discharge was low ( 0.25 t s-1). Generally, the estuary moved in and out of 40 km of the lower distributary with discharge and tidal phase, and the estuary exhibited salt wedge to partially-mixed conditions. High river discharge and neap tides increased stratification of salinity and suspended sediment. Suspended sediment was influenced by seasonal and tidal fluctuations in near-bed shear stress and the intermittent presence of a protective salt wedge and associated estuary turbidity maximum. This fluctuating flow and salinity regime induced variations in flocculation, settling, and trapping of sediment within the river channel. Above the estuary, particles were pre-flocculated, and within and near the estuary, increased flocculation promoted particle settling. The degree of aggregation and settling velocity of suspended particles were largest during ebb tides of high river discharge and during flood tides of low river discharge. Sediment deposited on the river bed was protected from resuspension by lowered bed stress within and near the salt wedge. These patterns promote retention of mud in the lower river when estuarine processes exist and mud export when fluvial processes
Large wood in the Snowy River estuary, Australia
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hinwood, Jon B.; McLean, Errol J.
2017-02-01
In this paper we report on 8 years of data collection and interpretation of large wood in the Snowy River estuary in southeastern Australia, providing quantitative data on the amount, sources, transport, decay, and geomorphic actions. No prior census data for an estuary is known to the authors despite their environmental and economic importance and the significant differences between a fluvial channel and an estuarine channel. Southeastern Australian estuaries contain a significant quantity of large wood that is derived from many sources, including river flood flows, local bank erosion, and anthropogenic sources. Wind and tide are shown to be as important as river flow in transporting and stranding large wood. Tidal action facilitates trapping of large wood on intertidal bars and shoals; but channels are wider and generally deeper, so log jams are less likely than in rivers. Estuarine large wood contributes to localised scour and accretion and hence to the modification of estuarine habitat, but in the study area it did not have large-scale impacts on the hydraulic gradients nor the geomorphology.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lill, Adrian Wilfred Thomas; Schallenberg, Marc; Lal, Aparna; Savage, Candida; Closs, Gerard Patrick
2013-08-01
Morphometric and physicochemical variables are key determinants of biotic community structure in estuaries and are influenced by changes to estuary mouth state (open/closed). This study examined and compared the consequences of intermittent connection to the ocean on environmental gradients among estuaries; specifically, how estuary morphology and hydrology relate to physical connection to the sea, and the influence of this relationship on the physicochemical environment. By sampling 20 estuaries across New Zealand and using historical aerial photographs, a continuous index of estuarine connection to the ocean was developed and independently validated using berm elevation derived from Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) data. Using published literature, this index was compared to equivalent indices in South Africa and Australia. A clear relationship between connections to the ocean, freshwater flow and productivity indices underlie the environmental differences between permanently open and intermittently closed estuaries. Consistent patterns across the Southern Hemisphere, albeit with regional variations in estuarine characteristics, suggest that remote sensing is useful for predicting the physicochemical environment of small estuaries across regions. Principal components analysis for Otago estuaries showed that 40% of measured variation in the environment could be attributed to the gradient of relative connectivity (EOI), or isolation (berm elevation) to the ocean. Evaluating these relationships is central to understanding how global and local environmental changes may affect estuarine connectivity regimes and, ultimately, the functioning of estuarine ecosystems.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Amorim, Eva; Ramos, Sandra; Elliott, Michael; Bordalo, Adriano A.
2016-01-01
Connectivity between coastal spawning grounds and estuarine nurseries is a critical step in the life cycle of many fish species. Larval immigration and transport-associated physical-biological processes are determinants of recruitment success to nursery areas. The recruitment of the European flounder, Platichthys flesus, to estuarine nurseries located at the southern edge of the species distribution range, has been usually investigated during its juvenile stages, while estuarine recruitment during the earlier planktonic life stage remains largely unstudied. The present study investigated the patterns of flounder larval recruitment and the influence of environmental factors on the immigration of the early life stages to the Lima estuary (NW Portugal), integrating data on fish larvae and post-settlement individuals (< 50 mm length), collected over 7 years. Late-stage larvae arrived at the estuary between February and July and peak abundances were observed in April. Post-settlement individuals (< 50 mm) occurred later between April and October, whereas newly-settled ones (< 20 mm) were found only in May and June. Variables associated with the spawning, survival and growth of larvae in the ocean (sea surface temperature, chlorophyll a and inland hydrological variables) were the major drivers of flounder occurrence in the estuarine nursery. Although the adjacent coastal area is characterized by a current system with strong seasonality and mesoscale variability, we did not identify any influence of variables related with physical processes (currents and upwelling) on the occurrence of early life stages in the estuary. A wider knowledge on the influence of the coastal circulation variability and its associated effects upon ocean-estuarine connectivity is required to improve our understanding of the population dynamics of marine spawning fish that use estuarine nurseries.
Gross Nitrogen Mineralization in Surface Sediments of the Yangtze Estuary
Liu, Min; Li, Xiaofei; Yin, Guoyu; Zheng, Yanling; Deng, Fengyu
2016-01-01
Nitrogen mineralization is a key biogeochemical process transforming organic nitrogen to inorganic nitrogen in estuarine and coastal sediments. Although sedimentary nitrogen mineralization is an important internal driver for aquatic eutrophication, few studies have investigated sedimentary nitrogen mineralization in these environments. Sediment-slurry incubation experiments combined with 15N isotope dilution technique were conducted to quantify the potential rates of nitrogen mineralization in surface sediments of the Yangtze Estuary. The gross nitrogen mineralization (GNM) rates ranged from 0.02 to 5.13 mg N kg-1 d-1 in surface sediments of the study area. The GNM rates were generally higher in summer than in winter, and the relative high rates were detected mainly at sites near the north branch and frontal edge of this estuary. The spatial and temporal distributions of GNM rates were observed to depend largely on temperature, salinity, sedimentary organic carbon and nitrogen contents, and extracellular enzyme (urease and L-glutaminase) activities. The total mineralized nitrogen in the sediments of the Yangtze Estuary was estimated to be about 6.17 × 105 t N yr-1, and approximately 37% of it was retained in the estuary. Assuming the retained mineralized nitrogen is totally released from the sediments into the water column, which contributed 12–15% of total dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) sources in this study area. This result indicated that the mineralization process is a significant internal nitrogen source for the overlying water of the Yangtze Estuary, and thus may contribute to the estuarine and coastal eutrophication. PMID:26991904
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Baird, M. E.; Walker, S. J.; Wallace, B. B.; Webster, I. T.; Parslow, J. S.
2003-03-01
A simple model of estuarine eutrophication is built on biomechanical (or mechanistic) descriptions of a number of the key ecological processes in estuaries. Mechanistically described processes include the nutrient uptake and light capture of planktonic and benthic autotrophs, and the encounter rates of planktonic predators and prey. Other more complex processes, such as sediment biogeochemistry, detrital processes and phosphate dynamics, are modelled using empirical descriptions from the Port Phillip Bay Environmental Study (PPBES) ecological model. A comparison is made between the mechanistically determined rates of ecological processes and the analogous empirically determined rates in the PPBES ecological model. The rates generally agree, with a few significant exceptions. Model simulations were run at a range of estuarine depths and nutrient loads, with outputs presented as the annually averaged biomass of autotrophs. The simulations followed a simple conceptual model of eutrophication, suggesting a simple biomechanical understanding of estuarine processes can provide a predictive tool for ecological processes in a wide range of estuarine ecosystems.
The Role of Watershed Characteristics in Estuarine Condition: An Empirical Approach
Estuarine condition is a function of the nature of the estuary, ocean, and atmospheric systems, and the upstream watershed. To fully understand and predict how an estuary will respond to drivers and pressures, each compartment must be characterized. For example, eutrophication ef...
Tropical Estuarine Macrobenthic Communities Are Structured by Turnover Rather than Nestedness
Medeiros, Carlinda Raílly; Hepp, Luiz Ubiratan; Patrício, Joana; Molozzi, Joseline
2016-01-01
Turnover (i.e., species substitution) and nestedness (i.e., subsets of species from more diverse locations), the two main mechanisms used to explain the beta diversity of biological communities, have different implications for biodiversity conservation. To better understand how these mechanisms contribute to beta diversity, we tested the following hypotheses: (i) greater dissimilarity in community composition occurs between estuarine zones than other hierarchical level studied; (ii) beta diversity in these communities develops by turnover in estuaries with a lower degree of anthropogenic impact, but by nestedness in estuaries with a greater degree of anthropogenic impact; and (iii) the structuring mechanism is independent of season. We studied two tropical estuaries (dry and wet seasons) that vary in terms of land-use of the drainage basins. Subtidal benthic macroinvertebrates were sampled along the estuarine gradient in each of the two estuaries. The additive partitioning approach to species diversity was used to determine the hierarchical scale with the greatest dissimilarity in community composition. General beta diversity was measured using the Sorensen dissimilarity index, partitioning the turnover and nestedness components. The greatest dissimilarity in the composition of the communities occurred between the zones along the estuarine gradient in both seasons (dry = 58.6%; wet = 46.3%). In the estuary with a lower degree of anthropogenic influence, benthic macroinvertebrate diversity was generated by turnover regardless of the season. In the estuary with a greater degree of anthropogenic impact, beta diversity was structured by turnover during the dry season and a combination of both mechanisms during the wet season. We conclude that turnover is the principal mechanism responsible for beta diversity in benthic macroinvertebrate communities in tropical estuaries. PMID:27584726
Tropical Estuarine Macrobenthic Communities Are Structured by Turnover Rather than Nestedness.
Medeiros, Carlinda Raílly; Hepp, Luiz Ubiratan; Patrício, Joana; Molozzi, Joseline
2016-01-01
Turnover (i.e., species substitution) and nestedness (i.e., subsets of species from more diverse locations), the two main mechanisms used to explain the beta diversity of biological communities, have different implications for biodiversity conservation. To better understand how these mechanisms contribute to beta diversity, we tested the following hypotheses: (i) greater dissimilarity in community composition occurs between estuarine zones than other hierarchical level studied; (ii) beta diversity in these communities develops by turnover in estuaries with a lower degree of anthropogenic impact, but by nestedness in estuaries with a greater degree of anthropogenic impact; and (iii) the structuring mechanism is independent of season. We studied two tropical estuaries (dry and wet seasons) that vary in terms of land-use of the drainage basins. Subtidal benthic macroinvertebrates were sampled along the estuarine gradient in each of the two estuaries. The additive partitioning approach to species diversity was used to determine the hierarchical scale with the greatest dissimilarity in community composition. General beta diversity was measured using the Sorensen dissimilarity index, partitioning the turnover and nestedness components. The greatest dissimilarity in the composition of the communities occurred between the zones along the estuarine gradient in both seasons (dry = 58.6%; wet = 46.3%). In the estuary with a lower degree of anthropogenic influence, benthic macroinvertebrate diversity was generated by turnover regardless of the season. In the estuary with a greater degree of anthropogenic impact, beta diversity was structured by turnover during the dry season and a combination of both mechanisms during the wet season. We conclude that turnover is the principal mechanism responsible for beta diversity in benthic macroinvertebrate communities in tropical estuaries.
Impact of boat generated waves over an estuarine intertidal zone of the Seine estuary (France)
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Deloffre, Julien; Lafite, Robert
2015-04-01
Water movements in macrotidal estuaries are controlled by the tidal regime modulated seasonally by the fluvial discharge. Wind effect on hydrodynamics and sediment transport is also reported at the mouth. Besides estuaries are frequently man altered our knowledge on the human impact on hydrodynamics and sediment transport is less extended. As an example on the Seine estuary (France) port authorities have put emphasis on facilitating economic exchanges by means of embankment building and increased dredging activity over the last century. These developments led to secure sea vessel traffic in the Seine estuary but they also resulted in a change of estuarine hydrodynamics and sediment transport features. Consequences of boat generated waves are varied: increased water turbidity and sediment transfer, release of nutrient and contaminants in the water column, harmful to users, ecosystems and infrastructures generating important maintenance spending. The aim of this study is to analyse the impact of boat generated waves on sediment transport over an intertidal area. The studied site is located on the left bank in the fluvial part of the Seine estuary. On this site the maximum tidal range ranges between 1.25 and 3.5m respectively during neap and spring tide. The sampling strategy is based on continuous ADV acquisition at 4Hz coupled with turbidimeter and altimeter measurements (1 measurement every minute) in order to decipher sediment dynamics during one year. Our results indicate that sediment dynamics are controlled by river flow while medium term scale evolution is dependent on tidal range and short term dynamics on sea-vessels waves. 64% of boat passages generated significant sediment reworking (from few mm.min-1 to 3cm.min-1). This reworking rate is mainly controlled by two parameters: (i) water height on the site and (ii) vessels characteristics; in particular the distance between seabed and keel that generate a Bernoulli wave (with maximum amplitude of 0.6m
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Zhao, Jie; Guo, Leicheng; He, Qing; Wang, Zheng Bing; van Maren, D. S.; Wang, Xianye
2018-05-01
Examination of large scale, alluvial estuarine morphology and associated time evolution is of particular importance regarding management of channel navigability, ecosystem, etc. In this work, we analyze morphological evolution and changes of the channel-shoal system in the Changjiang Estuary, a river- and tide-controlled coastal plain estuary, based on bathymetric data between 1958 and 2016. We see that its channel-shoal pattern is featured by meandering and bifurcated channels persisting over decades. In the vertical direction, hypsometry curves show that the sand bars and shoals are continuously accreted while the deep channels are eroded, leading to narrower and deeper estuarine channels. Intensive human activities in terms of reclamation, embankment, and dredging play a profound role in controlling the decadal morphological evolution by stabilizing coastlines and narrowing channels. Even though, the present Changjiang Estuary is still a pretty wide and shallow system with channel width-to-depth ratios >1000, much larger than usual fluvial rivers and small estuaries. In-depth analysis suggests that the Changjiang Estuary as a whole exhibited an overall deposition trend over 59 years, i.e., a net deposition volume of 8.3 × 108 m3. Spatially, the pan-South Branch was net eroded by 9.7 × 108 m3 whereas the mouth bar zone was net deposited by 18 × 108 m3, suggesting that the mouth bar zone is a major sediment sink. Over time there is no directional deposition or erosion trend in the interval though riverine sediment supply has decreased by 2/3 since the mid-1980s. We infer that the pan-South Branch is more fluvial-controlled therefore its morphology responds to riverine sediment load reduction fast while the mouth bar zone is more controlled by both river and tides that its morphological response lags to riverine sediment supply changes at a time scale >10 years, which is an issue largely ignored in previous studies. We argue that the time lag effect needs
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Leslie, Timothy; James, Nicola C.; Potts, Warren M.; Rajkaran, Anusha
2017-11-01
Estuarine-dependent marine fish species rely on shallow, sheltered and food rich habitats for protection from predators, growth and ultimately recruitment to adult populations. Hence, habitats within estuaries function as critical nursery areas for an abundance of fish species. However, these habitats vary in the degree of nursery function they provide and few studies have quantitatively assessed the relative nursery value of different habitat types within estuaries, particularly in the context of habitat complexity. This study aimed to assess the nursery value of the dominant vegetated habitats, namely the submergent Zostera capensis (Setch.) (seagrass) beds and emergent Spartina maritima (Curtis) Fernald (salt marsh) beds in the Bushmans Estuary, South Africa. Biomass and stem density were sampled seasonally in order to gain insight into the vegetation dynamics of seagrass and salt marsh beds. Aerial cover, canopy height and underwater camera imagery were used to develop multiple complexity indices for prioritizing habitat complexity. The relatively consistent results of the dimensionless indices (interstitial space indices and fractal geometry) suggest that Z. capensis exhibits an overall greater degree of complexity than S. maritima, and hence it can be expected that fish abundance is likely to be higher in Z. capensis beds than in S. maritima habitats. Underwater video cameras were deployed in seagrass, salt marsh and sand flat habitats to assess the relative abundance and behaviour of the estuarine-dependent sparid Rhabosargus holubi (Steindachner 1881) in different habitats. The relative abundance of R. holubi was significantly higher in Z. capensis seagrass than S. maritima salt marsh and sand flats, whilst the behaviour of R. holubi indicated a high degree of habitat use in structured habitats (both Z. capensis and S. martima) and a low degree of habitat use in unstructured sand flat habitats.
Human effects on estuarine shoreline decadal evolution
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Rilo, A.; Freire, P.; Ceia, R.; Mendes, R. N.; Catalão, J.; Taborda, R.
2012-04-01
Due to their sheltered conditions and natural resources, estuaries were always attractive to human activities (industrial, agriculture, residential and recreation). Consequently, the complex interactions between anthropogenic and natural drivers increase estuarine shoreline vulnerability to climate changes impacts. The environmental sustainability of these systems depends on a fragile balance between societal development and natural values that can be further disturbed by climate change effects. This challenging task for scientific community, managers and stakeholders can only be accomplished with interdisplinary approaches. In this context, it seems clear that estuarine management plans should incorporate the concept of change into the planning of policy decisions since these natural dynamic areas are often under human pressure and are recognized as sensitive to climate change effects. Therefore, the knowledge about historical evolution of estuarine shoreline is important to provide new insights on the spatial and temporal dimensions of estuarine change. This paper aims to present and discuss shoreline changes due to human intervention in Tagus estuary, located on the west coast of Portugal. Detailed margins cartography, in a 550m fringe (drawn inland from the highest astronomical tide line), was performed based on 2007 orthophotos (spatial resolution of 0.5 m) analysis. Several classification categories were considered, as urbanized areas, industrial, port and airport facilities, agriculture spaces, green areas and natural zones. The estuarine bed (area bellow the highest astronomical tide line) was also mapped (including human occupation, natural habitats, morpho-sedimentary units) based on the geographic information above and LANSAT 7 TM+ images using image processing techniques. Aerial photographs dated from 1944, 1946, 1948, 1955 and 1958 were analyzed for a set of pilot zones in order to fully understand the decadal shoreline change. Estuarine bed presents
Estuarine Salinity Mapping From Airborne Radiometry
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Walker, J. P.; Gao, Y.; Cook, P. L. M.; Ye, N.
2016-12-01
Estuaries are critical ecosystems providing both ecological habitat and human amenity including boating and recreational fishing. Salinity gradients, caused by the mixing of fresh and salt water, exert an overwhelming control on estuarine ecology and biogeochemistry as well as being a key tracer for model calibration. At present, salinity monitoring within estuaries typically uses point measurements or underway boat-based methods, which makes sensing of localised phenomena such as upwelling of saline bottom water difficult. This study has pioneered the use of airborne radiometry (passive microwave) sensing as a new method to remotely quantify estuarine salinity, allowing rapid production of high resolution surface salinity maps. The airborne radiometry mapping was conducted for the Gippsland Lakes, the largest estuary in Australia, in February, July, October and November of 2015, using the Polarimetric L-band Microwave Radiometer (PLMR). Salinity was retrieved from the brightness temperature collected by PLMR with results validated against boat sampling conducted concurrently with each flight. Results showed that the retrieval accuracy of the radiative transfer model was better than 5 ppt for most flights. The spatial, temporal and seasonal variations of salinity observed in this study are also analysed and discussed.
An overview of physical and ecological processes in the Rio de la Plata Estuary
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Marcelo Acha, E.; Mianzan, Hermes; Guerrero, Raúl; Carreto, José; Giberto, Diego; Montoya, Norma; Carignan, Mario
2008-07-01
The Rio de la Plata is a large-scale estuary located at 35°S on the Atlantic coast of South America. This system is one of the most important estuarine environments in the continent, being a highly productive area that sustains valuable artisanal and coastal fisheries in Uruguay and Argentina. The main goals of this paper are to summarize recent knowledge on this estuary, integrating physical, chemical and biological studies, and to explore the sources and ecological meaning of estuarine variability associated to the stratification/mixing alternateness in the estuary. We summarized unpublished data and information from several bibliographic sources. From study cases representing different stratification conditions, we draw a holistic view of physical patterns and ecological processes of the stratification/mixing alternateness. This estuary is characterized by strong vertical salinity stratification most of the time (the salt-wedge condition). The head of the estuary is characterized by a well-developed turbidity front. High turbidity constrains their photosynthesis. Immediately offshore the turbidity front, water becomes less turbid and phytoplankton peaks. As a consequence, trophic web in the estuary could be based on two sources of organic matter: phytoplankton and plant detritus. Dense plankton aggregations occur below the halocline and at the tip of the salt wedge. The mysid Neomysis americana, a key prey for juvenile fishes, occurs all along the turbidity front. A similar spatial pattern is shown by one of the most abundant benthic species, the clam Mactra isabelleana. These species could be taken advantage of the particulate organic matter and/or phytoplankton concentrated near the front. Nekton is represented by a rich fish community, with several fishes breeding inside the estuary. The most important species in terms of biomass is Micropogonias furnieri, the main target for the coastal fisheries of Argentina and Uruguay. Two processes have been identified
Environmental forcing on jellyfish communities in a small temperate estuary.
Primo, Ana Lígia; Marques, Sónia C; Falcão, Joana; Crespo, Daniel; Pardal, Miguel A; Azeiteiro, Ulisses M
2012-08-01
The impact of biological, hydrodynamic and large scale climatic variables on the jellyfish community of Mondego estuary was evaluated from 2003 to 2010. Plankton samples were collected at the downstream part of the estuary. Siphonophora Muggiaea atlantica and Diphyes spp. were the main jellyfish species. Jellyfish density was generally higher in summer and since 2005 densities had increased. Summer community analysis pointed out Acartia clausi, estuarine temperature and salinity as the main driven forces for the assemblage's structure. Also, Chl a, estuarine salinity, runoff and SST were identified as the major environmental factors influencing the siphonophores summer interannual variability. Temperature influenced directly and indirectly the community and fluctuation of jellyfish blooms in the Mondego estuary. This study represents a contribution to a better knowledge of the gelatinous plankton communities in small temperate estuaries. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Comparative Ecological Approach to Assess the Role of Watersheds in Estuarine Condition
Estuarine condition is a function of the nature of the estuary, ocean, and atmospheric systems, and the upstream watershed. To fully understand and predict how an estuary will respond to drivers and pressures, each compartment must be characterized. For example, eutrophication ef...
Tillamook Estuary Case Study: Local Drivers Influencing Coastal Acidification
US EPA initiated a study in the Tillamook estuary and watershed focused on the impact of changes in watershed land use, ocean conditions, and weather on estuarine water quality and ecosystem goods and services production within the estuary. This project is a collaboration betwee...
Environmental characteristics of the Mandovi-Zuari estuarine system in Goa
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Qasim, S. Z.; Sen Gupta, R.
1981-11-01
Two rivers, the Mandovi and the Zuari, with their interconnecting canal, form an estuarine system in Goa on the west coast of India. Physical, chemical and biological features of this estuary are adapted to a seasonal rhythm induced by the annual cycle of the monsoon. Heavy precipitation and land runoff from June to September bring about large changes in temperature, salinity, flow pattern, dissolved oxygen and nutrients when the estuary becomes freshwater dominated. The monsoon season (July-September) is followed by a recovery period during the post-monsoon season (October-January) and thereafter a stable period of the pre-monsoon season (February-May) when the estuary becomes marine dominated. During the pre-monsoon (dry) season, the water in the estuarine system remains well mixed and the intrusion of salt water is felt as far as 65 km upstream in both the rivers; but during the monsoon season the rivers become stratified and a salt wedge is formed in each river which extends up to about 10 km upstream in the Mandovi and 12 km in the Zuari. The flow of the estuarine system is regulated by the entry of seawater with the incoming tide through Zuari which reaches Mandovi through the canal. The flow is reversed during the outgoing tide when the estuarine system is flushed. Dilution factors in both the estuaries are similar and vary from 1·2 to 8; highest values occur during the pre-monsoon season. Two shoals/sand bars occur permanently in Mandovi (Aguada Bay) close to a ramp-like inlet to the sea. This inlet poses no navigational problems for about 9 months during the dry season; but for a 3-month period during the monsoon, the waterway becomes hazardous and is closed to boat traffic. Heavy swell and intense wave activity lead to the transfer of sediments into the navigational inlet and the calm season brings the materials back to their original position with practically no overall change in the bathymetry of the bay. The oxygen cycle in the estuarine system is
The optical properties and geochemical cycling of chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) are altered by its sorption to freshwater and estuarine sediments. Measured partition coefficients (Kp) of Satilla River (Georgia) and Cape Fear River estuary (North Carolina) CDOM ran...
Fish track wastewater pollution to estuaries.
Schlacher, Thomas A; Liddell, Ben; Gaston, Troy F; Schlacher-Hoenlinger, Monika
2005-08-01
Excess nitrogen is a forceful agent of ecological change in coastal waters, and wastewater is a prominent source of nitrogen. In catchments where multiple sources of nitrogen pollution co-exist, biological indicators are needed to gauge the degree to which wastewater-N can propagate through the receiving food webs. The purpose of this study was to test whether estuarine fish are suitable as indicators of sewage-N pollution. Fish were analysed from three estuaries within a 100-km strip on the Australian East Coast. The estuaries differ substantially in wastewater loading: (1) the Maroochy Estuary receives a large fraction of the local shire's treated sewage, (2) the Mooloolah Estuary has no licensed treated wastewater outfalls but marinas/harbours and storm-water may contribute nitrogen, and (3) the Noosa Estuary which neither receives licensed discharges nor has suspected wastewater loads. Sampling for fish included both high rainfall ('wet' season) and low rainfall ('dry' season) periods. Muscle-delta15N was the variable predicted to respond to treated wastewater loading, reflecting the relative enrichment in 15N resulting from the treatment process and distinguishing it from alternative N sources such as fertiliser and natural nitrogen inputs (both 15N-depleted). Of the 19 fish species occurring in all three estuaries, those from the Maroochy Estuary had significantly elevated delta15N values (up to 9.9 per thousand), and inter-estuarine differences in fish-delta15N were consistent across seasons. Furthermore, not only did all fish from the estuary receiving treated wastewater carry a very distinctive sewage-N tissue signal, but enriched muscle-delta15N was also evident in all species sampled from the one estuary in which sewage contamination was previously only suspected (i.e. the Mooloolah Estuary: 0.2-4.8 per thousand enrichment over fish from reference system). Thus, fish-delta15N is a suitable indicator of wastewater-N not only in systems that receive large
Plastic pollution in five urban estuaries of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
Naidoo, Trishan; Glassom, David; Smit, Albertus J
2015-12-15
Monitoring plastic concentrations in estuaries is vital in assessing the magnitude of terrestrial inputs to oceanic environments. Data on plastics ≤ 5 mm in estuaries are scant. This study determined microplastic levels within five estuaries along the Durban coastline and on intervening beaches. Plastics were isolated from estuarine sediment, beach sediment and the surface water of each estuary and characterised. Sediment at the Bayhead area of Durban harbour had the highest average plastic concentrations (745.4 ± 129.7 particles per 500 ml) and an attenuating concentration trend away from the city centre was found. Prevailing south to north longshore drift was hypothesised to result in plastic accumulation on the northern shores of beaches with estuarine effluents, however, this was not found. Fragments composed the largest percent of plastics (59%) found in Bayhead, whereas fibres dominated other estuaries with proportions ranging from 38% of total plastics in the uMgeni estuary to 66% in the Mdloti. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Insights on the Optical Properties of Estuarine DOM - Hydrological and Biological Influences.
Santos, Luísa; Pinto, António; Filipe, Olga; Cunha, Ângela; Santos, Eduarda B H; Almeida, Adelaide
2016-01-01
Dissolved organic matter (DOM) in estuaries derives from a diverse array of both allochthonous and autochthonous sources. In the estuarine system Ria de Aveiro (Portugal), the seasonality and the sources of the fraction of DOM that absorbs light (CDOM) were inferred using its optical and fluorescence properties. CDOM parameters known to be affected by aromaticity and molecular weight were correlated with physical, chemical and meteorological parameters. Two sites, representative of the marine and brackish water zones of the estuary, and with different hydrological characteristics, were regularly surveyed along two years, in order to determine the major influences on CDOM properties. Terrestrial-derived compounds are the predominant source of CDOM in the estuary during almost all the year and the two estuarine zones presented distinct amounts, as well as absorbance and fluorescence characteristics. Freshwater inputs have major influence on the dynamics of CDOM in the estuary, in particular at the brackish water zone, where accounted for approximately 60% of CDOM variability. With a lower magnitude, the biological productivity also impacted the optical properties of CDOM, explaining about 15% of its variability. Therefore, climate changes related to seasonal and inter-annual variations of the precipitation amounts might impact the dynamics of CDOM significantly, influencing its photochemistry and the microbiological activities in estuarine systems.
On the use of the nephelometer in estuarine waters
Eaton, A.; Grant, V.; Bricker, O.; Wells, D.
1981-01-01
A study of the problems encountered in nephelometric determinations of suspended sediment loads in the Chesapeake Bay estuary has led to development of a technique which uses nephelometer readings as a guide for sampling at vertical profiles in an estuary. This permits optimum sampling for concentration profiles and allows one to use nephelometer/load ratios to characterize particles. ?? 1981 Estuarine Research Federation.
Tidal fluctuations influence E. coli concentrations in urban estuaries.
Jovanovic, Dusan; Coleman, Rhys; Deletic, Ana; McCarthy, David T
2017-06-15
This study investigated the influence of water level and velocity on Escherichia coli levels over multiple tidal cycles in an urban microtidal estuary in Melbourne, Australia. Over 3,500 E. coli samples and high resolution water level and velocity measurements from two locations within the estuary were used for the analysis. E. coli negatively correlated with water level in the upper estuary which was proposed to be linked to increased resuspension of estuarine sediments during low tide. No relationship was found in the lower estuary, likely due to wet weather inputs dwarfing subtler tidal-related processes. Removal of wet weather data enabled significant relationships to emerge in the lower estuary: 1) positive with water level (when a 9-h shift applied corresponding to the phase shift between water levels and velocities) and; 2) positive with velocity (no shift applied). This supports a link between increased E. coli levels and tidal-related resuspension. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Demonstration and Hands-on Exercises with the Estuary Data Mapper
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) is developing e-Estuary, a decision-support system for applications of the Clean Water Act in coastal management. E-Estuary has three elements: an estuarine geo-referenced relational database, watershed GIS coverages, and tools t...
Grande, José Antonio; Borrego, José; de la Torre, Maria Luisa; Sáinz, A
2003-06-01
The combination of acid water from mines, industrial effluents and sea water plays a determining role in the evolutionary process of the chemical makeup of the water in the estuary of the Tinto and Odiel rivers. This estuary is in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula and is one of the estuarine systems on the northwest coast of the Gulf of Cádiz. From the statistical treatment of data obtained by analyzing samples of water from this system, which is affected by industrial and mining pollution processes, we can see how the sampling points studied form two large groups depending on whether they receive tidal or fluvial influences. Fluvial input contributes acid water with high concentrations of heavy metal, whereas industrial effluents are responsible for the presence of phosphates, silica and other nutrients. The estuarine system of the Tinto and Odiel Rivers can be divided into three areas--the Tinto estuary, the Odiel estuary and the area of confluence--based on the physical--chemical characteristics of the water.
MEASURING THE ACUTE TOXICITY OF ESTUARINE SEDIMENTS
Estuarine sediments frequently are repositories and sources of anthropogenic contaminants. Toxicity is one method of assessing the environmental quality of sediments, yet because of the extreme range of salinities that characterize estuaries few infaunal organisms have both the p...
Estuarine retention of larvae of the crab Rhithropanopeus harrisii
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Cronin, Thomas W.
1982-08-01
Larvae of estuarine organisms continually face possible export from the parent estuary. Retention of larvae of the estuarine crab Rhithropanopeus harrisii was investigated in the upper Newport River estuary, North Carolina. All of the developmental stages occurred in the same area of the estuary with similar horizontal distributions, and the concentrations of intermediate and late stages were not greatly reduced from those of the first larval stage. This was strong evidence for the continuous retention of larvae in the upper estuary. To determine mechanisms by which retention might be effected, field studies of the vertical distributions and migrations of these larvae were made. The four zoeal stages had similar but complex vertical migration patterns, which varied from study to study. These migrations centered on the depth of no net flow, reducing longitudinal transport during development. Cross-spectral analysis of the larval migrations and the environmental cycles of light, salinity and current speed revealed that each of these external cycles affected larval depth. Megalopae of R. harrisii also migrated vertically, but they were present in much lower concentrations than the zoeal stages, an indication of a change to benthic existence in this final larval form.
Characterizing seston in the Penobscot River Estuary.
Meseck, Shannon L; Li, Yaqin; Sunila, Inke; Dixon, Mark; Clark, Paul; Lipsky, Christine; Stevens, Justin R; Music, Paul; Wikfors, Gary H
2017-10-01
The Penobscot River Estuary is an important system for diadromous fish in the Northeast United States of American (USA), in part because it is home to the largest remnant population of Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar, in the country. Little is known about the chemical and biological characteristics of seston in the Penobscot River Estuary. This study used estuarine transects to characterize the seston during the spring when river discharge is high and diadromous fish migration peaks in the Penobscot River Estuary. To characterize the seston, samples were taken in spring 2015 for phytoplankton identification, total suspended matter (TSM), percent organic TSM, chlorophyll a, particle size (2 μm-180 μm), particulate carbon and nitrogen concentrations, and stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes. The estuarine profiles indicate that TSM behaved non-conservatively with a net gain in the estuary. As phytoplankton constituted only 1/1000 of the particles, the non-conservative behavior of TSM observed in the estuary was most likely not attributable to phytoplankton. Particulate carbon and nitrogen ratios and stable isotope signals indicate a strong terrestrial, allochthonous signal. The seston in the Penobscot River Estuary was dominated by non-detrital particles. During a short, two-week time period, Heterosigma akashiwo, a phytoplankton species toxic to finfish, also was detected in the estuary. A limited number of fish samples, taken after the 2015 Penobscot River Estuary bloom of H. akashiwo, indicated frequent pathological gill damage. The composition of seston, along with ichthyotoxic algae, suggest the need for further research into possible effects upon resident and migratory fish in the Penobscot River Estuary. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
A Comparative Ecological Approach to Assess the Role of Watersheds in Estuarine Condition
Estuarine condition is a function of the geophysical nature of the estuary, the ocean (and atmospheric) system, and the upstream watershed. To fully understand and predict how an estuary will respond to a mixture of natural and anthropogenic drivers and pressures each compartment...
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Wang, Guizhi; Wang, Zhangyong; Zhai, Weidong; Moore, Willard S.; Li, Qing; Yan, Xiuli; Qi, Di; Jiang, Yuwu
2015-01-01
To evaluate geochemical impacts of the subterranean estuary (STE) on the Jiulong River estuary, China, we estimated seasonal fluxes of subterranean water discharge into the estuary based on the mass balance of radium isotopes and net subterranean export fluxes of dissolved inorganic C (DIC), N (DIN), Si (DSi), soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP), and total alkalinity (TA). Based on 226Ra data, the subterranean discharge (in 107 m3 d-1) was estimated to be 0.29-0.60 in the spring, 0.69-1.44 in the summer, 0.45-0.93 in the fall, and 0.26-0.54 in the winter. This was equivalent to 8-19% of the concomitant river discharge. The net spatially integrated material fluxes from the STE into the estuary were equivalent up to 45-110% of the concomitant riverine fluxes for DIC and TA, around 14-32% for DSi and 7-19% for DIN, and negligible for SRP. Paradoxically, the mixing lines along the salinity gradient revealed no apparent additions of these species. These additions are not revealed because the STE is a relatively small spatially-averaged source (at most 11% of the total input at steady state) that spreads throughout the estuary as a non-point source in contrast to the major point sources of the river and the ocean for the estuary and a true open ocean endmember is likely lacking. Greater water flushing in the summer might dilute the STE effect on the mixing lines even more. The great spatial variation in salinity in the estuary introduced the major uncertainty in our estimates of the flushing time, which further affected the estimate of the subterranean discharge and associated material fluxes. Additionally, the great spatial variation in the STE endmember caused the relatively large ranges in these flux estimates. Despite apparent conservative mixing of DIC, DIN, and DSi in estuaries, net subterranean exports must be taken into account in evaluating geochemical impacts of estuarine exports on shelf waters.
Historical Relationships Between Research and Resource Management in the Apalachicola River Estuary.
Livingston, Robert J
1991-11-01
further complicate the biological relationships of the Apalachicola system. The management of a river-dominated estuary should be based on protection and control of freshwater sources, nutrients, and organic matter with a minimization of physical alterations that often lead to increased salinity stratification and the associated loss of the nursery function of the estuary. There is growing evidence that changes in upland characteristics and within-system habitat alterations are associated with changes in nutrient distributions and salinity relationships and that such changes can have serious impacts on estuarine systems. Issues involving basic changes in estuarine productivity and associated food webs are far more important than those involving species diversity in the management of such resources. Processes such as nutrient flow and salinity alteration underlie the very basis of estuarine productivity and usefulness. Over the past decade, there has been a gradual reduction in the importance of research as an integral part of the planning and management process in the Apalachicola system. This regional trend follows a national pattern. Dredging effects on the river and bay have gone on without effective challenge even though such activities are damaging productive habitats of the system. The once influential Apalachicola oyster fishery remains in disarray following a series of natural disasters and poor management practices. There is a growing problem with the deliberate obstruction of the generation and use of scientific data to determine management policies by various state and federal agencies. The substitution of public relations activities for the development of needed scientific information concerning factors such as the importance of sustained freshwater input to estuaries is further evidence that even the most elaborate and well-conceived management plans can be reversed by political manipulations and short-sighted bureaucratic policies. © 1991 by the Ecological
A CLASSIFICATION OF U.S. ESTUARIES BASED ON PHYSICAL, HYDROLOGIC ATTRIBUTES
A classification of U.S. estuaries is presented based on estuarine characteristics that have been identified as important for quantifying stressor-response
relationships in coastal systems. Estuaries within a class have similar physical/hydrologic and land use characteris...
Insights on the Optical Properties of Estuarine DOM – Hydrological and Biological Influences
Santos, Luísa; Pinto, António; Filipe, Olga; Cunha, Ângela; Santos, Eduarda B. H.
2016-01-01
Dissolved organic matter (DOM) in estuaries derives from a diverse array of both allochthonous and autochthonous sources. In the estuarine system Ria de Aveiro (Portugal), the seasonality and the sources of the fraction of DOM that absorbs light (CDOM) were inferred using its optical and fluorescence properties. CDOM parameters known to be affected by aromaticity and molecular weight were correlated with physical, chemical and meteorological parameters. Two sites, representative of the marine and brackish water zones of the estuary, and with different hydrological characteristics, were regularly surveyed along two years, in order to determine the major influences on CDOM properties. Terrestrial-derived compounds are the predominant source of CDOM in the estuary during almost all the year and the two estuarine zones presented distinct amounts, as well as absorbance and fluorescence characteristics. Freshwater inputs have major influence on the dynamics of CDOM in the estuary, in particular at the brackish water zone, where accounted for approximately 60% of CDOM variability. With a lower magnitude, the biological productivity also impacted the optical properties of CDOM, explaining about 15% of its variability. Therefore, climate changes related to seasonal and inter-annual variations of the precipitation amounts might impact the dynamics of CDOM significantly, influencing its photochemistry and the microbiological activities in estuarine systems. PMID:27195702
Long-Term Changes in Nitrogen Budgets and Retention in the Elbe Estuary
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Eisele, Annika; van Beusekom, Justus E. E.; Wirtz, Kai
2016-04-01
Eutrophication remains one of the major factors influencing the ecological state of coastal ecosystems. Coastal eutrophication is in turn intimately linked to riverine nutrient loads. At the freshwater side of the estuary, nutrient loads can easily be quantified but estuarine processes including organic matter import from the sea and loss factors like denitrification can modify the actual nutrient loads reaching the coastal seas. We quantified and localized nutrient retention processes by analyzing changes of nutrient concentrations along the estuary and constructing nutrient budgets. Two methods -the Officer method based on conservative mixing and a new method based on changes in nitrogen concentrations along the freshwater part of the estuary- were compared using long term records for the Elbe River, a major European waterway. Nutrient budgets and dynamics reveal that nutrient retention processes in the water column play a substantial role in the Elbe River. Overall, ~25 mio mol/day N are imported into the Elbe estuary and ~20 mio mol/day DIN is exported, with obvious variations depending on river discharge and season. A nitrogen loss of about 20% falls within the range found in other studies. Whereas in the 1980s a significant part of the nitrogen input was retained by the estuary, in the 1990s and 2000s most of the imported total nitrogen was exported as DIN. At present, the retention of nitrogen -presumably due to increased denitrification- increases again. As these long-term changes in the retention capacity of the Elbe were supported by both methods, the calibrated station-based approach can now be used to calculate nutrient budgets in estuaries where no or only few transect data are available, such as the Weser and Ems estuary. Our presentation will finally discuss the possible impact of increased phytoplankton import from the Elbe River and increased import of suspended matter from the North Sea ecosystem on estuarine nitrogen dynamics.
Seasonal variability of the inorganic carbon system in a large coastal plain estuary
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Joesoef, Andrew; Kirchman, David L.; Sommerfield, Christopher K.; Cai, Wei-Jun
2017-11-01
Carbonate geochemistry research in large estuarine systems is limited. More work is needed to understand how changes in land-use activity influence watershed export of organic and inorganic carbon, acids, and nutrients to the coastal ocean. To investigate the seasonal variation of the inorganic carbon system in the Delaware Estuary, one of the largest estuaries along the US east coast, dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), total alkalinity (TA), and pH were measured along the estuary from June 2013 to April 2015. In addition, DIC, TA, and pH were periodically measured from March to October 2015 in the nontidal freshwater Delaware, Schuylkill, and Christina rivers over a range of discharge conditions. There were strong negative relationships between river TA and discharge, suggesting that changes in HCO3- concentrations reflect dilution of weathering products in the drainage basin. The ratio of DIC to TA, an understudied but important property, was high (1.11) during high discharge and low (0.94) during low discharge, reflecting additional DIC input in the form of carbon dioxide (CO2), most likely from terrestrial organic matter decomposition, rather than bicarbonate (HCO3-) inputs due to drainage basin weathering processes. This is also a result of CO2 loss to the atmosphere due to rapid water transit during the wet season. Our data further show that elevated DIC in the Schuylkill River is substantially different than that in the Delaware River. Thus, tributary contributions must be considered when attributing estuarine DIC sources to the internal carbon cycle versus external processes such as drainage basin mineralogy, weathering intensity, and discharge patterns. Long-term records in the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers indicate shifts toward higher alkalinity in estuarine waters over time, as has been found in other estuaries worldwide. Annual DIC input flux to the estuary and export flux to the coastal ocean are estimated to be 15.7 ± 8.2 × 109 mol C yr-1 and 16
The Mid-Atlantic Integrated Assessment (MAIA-Estuaries) evaluated ecological conditions in US Mid-Atlantic estuaries during the summers of 1997 and 1998. Over 800 probability-based stations were monitored in four main estuarine systems?Chesapeake Bay, the Delaware Estuary, Maryla...
Challenging paradigms in estuarine ecology and management
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Elliott, M.; Whitfield, A. K.
2011-10-01
For many years, estuarine science has been the 'poor relation' in aquatic research - freshwater scientists ignored estuaries as they tended to get confused by salt and tides, and marine scientists were more preoccupied by large open systems. Estuaries were merely regarded by each group as either river mouths or sea inlets respectively. For the past four decades, however, estuaries (and other transitional waters) have been regarded as being ecosystems in their own right. Although often not termed as such, this has led to paradigms being generated to summarise estuarine structure and functioning and which relate to both the natural science and management of these systems. This paper defines, details and affirms these paradigms that can be grouped into those covering firstly the science (definitions, scales, linkages, productivity, tolerances and variability) and secondly the management (pressures, valuation, health and services) of estuaries. The more 'science' orientated paradigms incorporate the development and types of ecotones, the nature of stressed and variable systems (with specific reference to resilience and redundancy), the relationship between generalists and specialists produced by environmental tolerance, the relevance of scale in relation to functioning and connectivity, the sources of production and degree of productivity, the biodiversity-ecosystem functioning and the stress-subsidy debates. The more 'management' targeted paradigms include the development and effects of exogenic unmanaged pressures and endogenic managed pressures, the perception of health and the ability to manage estuaries (related to internal and external influences), and the influence of all of these on the production of ecosystem services and societal benefits.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Delmas, Daniel; Labry, Claire; Youenou, Agnes; Quere, Julien; Auguet, Jean Christophe; Montanie, Helene
2014-05-01
The non-conservative behavior of phosphate within the estuarine salinity gradient is essentially assigned to physico-chemical processes, such as desorption at low salinity and to benthic exchanges. Microbial phosphatase activity (APA), generally related to phosphate deficiency, is seldom studied in phosphate rich estuarine waters. In order to address the impact of microbial activity (bacterial abundance, production BSP, APA) on phosphate behavior, we studied these activities on a seasonal basis within the salinity gradient of two macrotidal estuaries presenting different levels of suspended solids. Whatever the season the Charente estuary is characterized by high levels of Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM > 1g.L-1), particularly in the Maximum Turbidity Zone (MTZ) located at the 5-10 psu. In this area characterized by high BSP and APA there is a significant increase of PO4 levels especially during summer. In the Aulne estuary the particle load is significantly lower (1/10) but high BSP and APA are equally recorded. In the highly turbid waters of the Charente estuary, active phytoplankton is virtually absent as pheopigments constitute up to 80% of the total pigments, particularly in the MTZ, therefore APA may essentially have a bacterial origin. In the Aulne estuary attached bacteria are dominant, both in numbers and production, and their distribution along the haline gradient perfectly follows those of APA and phosphate levels. These observations, associated with the very close relationships observed between APA, SPM and BSP, suggest that APA derive mainly from bacterial (attached) origin and operate at the expense of particulate phosphorus and hence contribute to PO4 regeneration, especially in spring and summer. Finally, as APA increased as PO4, whereas the reverse is observed in both fresh and marine waters, an original scheme for APA regulation, related to the large dominance of attached bacteria can be described for the estuarine waters.
Modelling Watershed and Estuarine Controls on Salt Marsh Distributions
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Yousefi Lalimi, F.; Marani, M.; Murray, A. B.; D'Alpaos, A.
2017-12-01
The formation and evolution of tidal platforms have been extensively studied through observations and models, describing landform dynamics as a result of the local interactions and feedbacks among hydrodynamics, vegetation, and sediment transport. However, existing work mainly focuses on individual marsh platforms and, possibly, their immediate surrounding, such that the influence and controls on marsh dynamics of inland areas (through fluvial inputs) and of exchanges with the ocean have not been comprehensively and simultaneously accounted for. Here, we develop and use a process-based model to evaluate the relative role of watershed, estuarine, and ocean controls on salt marsh accretionary and depositional/erosional dynamics and define how these factors interact to determine salt marsh resilience to environmental change at the whole-estuary scale. Our results, in line with previous work, show that no stable equilibrium exists for the erosional dynamics of the marsh/tidal flat boundary. In addition, we find that under some circumstances, vertical accretion/erosion dynamics can lead to transitions between salt marsh and tidal flat equilibrium states that occur much more rapidly than marsh/tidal flat boundary erosion or accretion could. We further define, in the multidimensional space of estuarine-scale morphodynamic forcings, the basins of attractions leading to marsh-dominated and tidal-flat-dominated estuaries. The relatively slow dynamics asymptotically leading to marsh- or tidal-flat- dominance in many cases suggest that estuaries are likely to be found, at any given time, in a transition state dictated by temporal variations in environmental forcings.
Fish-based indicators of estuarine condition that do not require reference data
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Tweedley, James R.; Warwick, Richard M.; Hallett, Chris S.; Potter, Ian C.
2017-05-01
The species composition of fish communities in 15 microtidal estuaries in south-western Australia, ranging from permanently-open to normally-closed, is shown to be related to the geomorphological and hydrological regimes and not to environmental condition. This study then explored the effectiveness of using qualitative taxonomic distinctness and ABC curves for fish data as indicators of the environmental condition in nearshore, shallow waters of these estuaries and, in the case of taxonomic distinctness, also of their offshore, deeper waters. Neither of these indices require spatial or temporal reference data, which may be either prohibitively expensive and time-consuming to collect or unavailable. Taxonomic distinctness, in both nearshore and offshore waters, varied consistently among estuaries in relation to their recorded environmental status, and is thus a good indicator of overall estuarine condition. ABC analyses, however, did not prove a good measure of the environmental condition of the estuaries, because their results largely reflect differences in accessibility of the estuary to marine estuarine-opportunist species and especially those that grow to a larger size. It is concluded that taxonomic distinctness indices provide a rapid and cost-effective method for assessing the environmental condition of estuaries, particularly those with limited spatial or temporal reference data.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Tovar-Sánchez, Antonio; Sañudo-Wilhelmy, Sergio A.; Flegal, A. Russell
2004-08-01
Despite the fact that Co is an essential trace element for the growth of marine phytoplankton, there is very limited information on the cycling of this trace metal in the marine environment. We report here the distribution of dissolved (<0.4 μm) and particulate (>0.4 μm) Co in surface waters of the Hudson River Estuary (HRE) and San Francisco Bay (SFB). Samples were collected during several cruises (from 1990 to 1995 in SFB and from 1995 to 1997 in the HRE) along the whole salinity gradient. Dissolved Co concentrations (mean±1 standard deviation) were nearly identical in magnitude in both estuaries despite differences in climate, hydrography, riverine-flow conditions and land-usage (HRE=0.91±0.61 nM; SFB=1.12±0.69 nM). Dissolved Co levels in each system showed non-conservative distributions when plotted as a function of salinity, with increasing concentrations downstream from the riverine end-members. Desorption from suspended particulates and sewage inputs, therefore, seems to be the major processes responsible for the non-conservative behavior of Co observed. Mass balance estimates also indicated that most of the estuarine Co is exported out of both estuaries, indicating that they and other estuarine systems are principal sources of this essential trace element to the open ocean.
Hydrology of major estuaries and sounds of North Carolina
Giese, G.L.; Wilder, Hugh B.; Parker, Garald G.
1985-01-01
Hydrology-related problems associated with North Carolina 's major estuaries and sounds include contamination of some estuaries with municipal and industrial wastes and drainage from adjacent, intensively farmed areas, and nuisance-level algal blooms. In addition, there is excessive shoaling in some navigation channels, salt-water intrusion into usually fresh estuarine reaches, too high or too-low salinities in nursery areas for various estuarine species, and flood damage due to hurricanes. The Cape Fear River is the only major North Carolina estuary having a direct connection to the sea. Short-term flow throughout most of its length is dominated by ocean tides. Freshwater entering the major estuaries is, where not contaminated, of acceptable quality for drinking with minimum treatment. However, iron concentrations in excess of 0.3 milligrams per liter sometimes occur and water draining from swampy areas along the Coastal Plain is often highly colored, but these problems may be remedied with proper treatment. Nuisance-level algal blooms have been a recurring problem on the lower estuarine reaches of the Neuse, Tar-Pamlico, and Chowan Rivers where nutrients (compounds of phosphorous and nitrogen) are abundant. The most destructive blooms tend to occur in the summer months during periods of low freshwater discharge and relatively high water temperatures. Saltwater intrusion occurs from time to time in all major estuaries except the Roanoke River, where releases from Roanoke Rapids Lake and other reservoirs during otherwise low-flow periods effectively block saline water from the estuary. New shoaling materials found in the lower channelized reaches of the Cape Fear and Northeast Cape Fear Rivers are primarily derived, not from upstream sources, but from nearby shore erosion, from slumping of material adjacent to the dredged channels, from old spoil areas, or from ocean-derived sediments carried upstream by near-bottom density currents.
Linking Data Access to Data Models to Applications: The Estuary Data Mapper
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) is developing e-Estuary, a decision-support system for coastal management. E-Estuary has three elements: an estuarine geo-referenced relational database, watershed GIS coverages, and tools to support decision-making. To facilita...
Arruda-Santos, Roxanny Helen de; Schettini, Carlos Augusto França; Yogui, Gilvan Takeshi; Maciel, Daniele Claudino; Zanardi-Lamardo, Eliete
2018-05-15
Goiana estuary is a well preserved marine protected area (MPA) located on the northeastern coast of Brazil. Despite its current state, human activities in the watershed represent a potential threat to long term local preservation. Dissolved/dispersed aromatic hydrocarbons and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were investigated in water and sediments across the estuarine salt gradient. Concentration of aromatic hydrocarbons was low in all samples. According to results, aromatic hydrocarbons are associated to suspended particulate matter (SPM) carried to the estuary by river waters. An estuarine turbidity maximum (ETM) was identified in the upper estuary, indicating that both sediments and contaminants are trapped prior to an occasional export to the adjacent sea. PAHs distribution in sediments were associated with organic matter and mud content. Diagnostic ratios indicated pyrolytic processes as the main local source of PAHs that are probably associated with sugarcane burning and combustion engines. Low PAH concentrations probably do not cause adverse biological effects to the local biota although their presence indicate anthropogenic contamination and pressure on the Goiana estuary MPA. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Process-based, forecast modeling of decadal morphological evolution of the Yangtze Estuary
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Luan, Hualong; Ding, Pingxing; Wang, Zhengbing; Ge, Jianzhong
2017-04-01
Understanding the decadal morphodynamic evolution of estuaries and deltas and their controls is of vital importance regarding management for estuarine function and sustainable development. This work addresses this issue by applying a process-based model system (Delft3D) to hindcast and then forecast the morphodynamic evolution of the Yangtze Estuary at a decadal time scale. Forced by the river and tides, the model considers sand-mud mixture and the seasonal variations of river water discharge and sediment discharge. The morphodynamic model is validated against three periods, i.e., an accretion period (1958-1978), an erosion period (1986-1997) and a recent accretion period with human activities (2002-2010). Model results show good performance with respect to spatial erosion and deposition patterns, sediment volume changes, and hypsometry curves. The model reveals quite different behaviors for mud transport between the dry and wet seasons, which is subject to prescription of river boundary conditions and bed composition. We then define four scenarios to project evolution to 2030 under decreased river inputs and increased relative sea-level. The simulations reveal that overwhelming amount of erosion will likely occur in the inner and mouth bar area of the estuary. Particularly, the mouth zone will shift from net deposition before 2010 to net erosion by 2030, mainly because of decreasing sediment supply. Changes in water discharge have minor effects on the projected trend. Net erosion will be considerable when the sediment supply is extremely low (100 Mt yr-1) due to the abundance of erodible modern sediment in the Yangtze Estuary. Erosion within the mouth bar area may be unexpected, including the deepening of the tidal inlet at East Chongming Mudflat and the formation of a flood channel on the seaward side of Jiuduan Shoal. Overall, the model results provide valuable information for sustainable delta management under changing conditions for both the Yangtze system and
Contaminants of emerging concern in a large temperate estuary.
Meador, James P; Yeh, Andrew; Young, Graham; Gallagher, Evan P
2016-06-01
This study was designed to assess the occurrence and concentrations of a broad range of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) from three local estuaries within a large estuarine ecosystem. In addition to effluent from two wastewater treatment plants (WWTP), we sampled water and whole-body juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and Pacific staghorn sculpin (Leptocottus armatus) in estuaries receiving effluent. We analyzed these matrices for 150 compounds, which included pharmaceuticals, personal care products (PPCPs), and several industrial compounds. Collectively, we detected 81 analytes in effluent, 25 analytes in estuary water, and 42 analytes in fish tissue. A number of compounds, including sertraline, triclosan, estrone, fluoxetine, metformin, and nonylphenol were detected in water and tissue at concentrations that may cause adverse effects in fish. Interestingly, 29 CEC analytes were detected in effluent and fish tissue, but not in estuarine waters, indicating a high potential for bioaccumulation for these compounds. Although concentrations of most detected analytes were present at relatively low concentrations, our analysis revealed that overall CEC inputs to each estuary amount to several kilograms of these compounds per day. This study is unique because we report on CEC concentrations in estuarine waters and whole-body fish, which are both uncommon in the literature. A noteworthy finding was the preferential bioaccumulation of CECs in free-ranging juvenile Chinook salmon relative to staghorn sculpin, a benthic species with relatively high site fidelity. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Worldwide patterns of fish biodiversity in estuaries: Effect of global vs. local factors
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Pasquaud, Stéphanie; Vasconcelos, Rita P.; França, Susana; Henriques, Sofia; Costa, Maria José; Cabral, Henrique
2015-03-01
The main ecological patterns and the functioning of estuarine ecosystems are difficult to evaluate due to natural and human induced complexity and variability. Broad geographical approaches appear particularly useful. This study tested, at a worldwide scale, the influence of global and local variables in fish species richness in estuaries, aiming to determine the latitudinal pattern of species richness, and patterns which could be driven by local features such as estuary area, estuary mouth width, river flow and intertidal area. Seventy one estuarine systems were considered with data obtained from the literature and geographical information system. Correlation tests and generalized linear models (GLM) were used in data analyses. Species richness varied from 23 to 153 fish species. GLM results showed that estuary area was the most important factor explaining species richness, followed by latitude and mouth width. Species richness increased towards the equator, and higher values were found in larger estuaries and with a wide mouth. All these trends showed a high variability. A larger estuary area probably reflects a higher diversity of habitats and/or productivity, which are key features for estuarine ecosystem functioning and biota. The mouth width effect is particularly notorious for marine and diadromous fish species, enhancing connectivity between marine and freshwater realms. The effects of river flow and intertidal area on the fish species richness appear to be less evident. These two factors may have a marked influence in the trophic structure of fish assemblages.
Estuarine Human Activities Modulate the Fate of Changjiang-derived Materials in Adjacent Seas
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
WU, H.
2017-12-01
Mega constructions have been built in many river estuaries, but their environmental consequences in the adjacent coastal oceans were often overlooked. This issue was addressed with an example of the Changjiang River Estuary, which was recently built with massive navigation and reclamation constructions in recent years. Based on the model validations against cruises data and the numerical scenario experiments, it is shown that the estuarine constructions profoundly affected the fates of riverine materials in an indeed large offshore area. This is because estuarine dynamics are highly sensitive to their bathymetries. Previously, the Three Gorges Dam (TGD) was thought to be responsible for some offshore environmental changes through modulating the river plume extension, but here we show that its influences are secondary. Since the TGD and the mega estuarine constructions were built during the similar period, their influences might be confused.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Zhao, Yifei; Zou, Xinqing; Gao, Jianhua; Wang, Chenglong; Li, Yali; Yao, Yulong; Zhao, Wancang; Xu, Min
2018-02-01
We examined the source-to-sink sediment transport processes from the Changjiang River to the estuarine coastal shelf area by analyzing the clay mineral assemblages in suspended sediment samples from the Changjiang River catchment and surface samples from the estuarine coastal shelf area following the impoundment of the Three Gorges Dam (TGD) in 2003. The results indicate that the clay mineral compositions throughout the study area are dominated by illite, with less abundant kaolinite and chlorite and scarce smectite. The clay minerals display distinct differences in the tributaries and exhibit obvious changes in the trunk stream compared with the periods before 2003, and the source of sediment has largely shifted to the mid- to lower reaches of the river after 2003. Spatially, the clay mineral assemblages in the estuarine area define two compositionally distinct provinces. Province I covers the mud area of the Changjiang River estuary and the Zhe-Min coastal region, where sediment is primarily supplied by the Changjiang River. Province II includes part of the Changjiang River estuary and the southeastern portion of the study area, where the sediment is composed of terrestrial material from the Changjiang River and re-suspended material from the Huanghe River carried by the Jiangsu coastal current. Moreover, the other smaller rivers in China (including the Oujiang and Minjiang rivers of mainland China and the rivers of West Taiwan) also contribut sediments to the estuarine and inner shelf areas. In general, the clay mineral assemblages in the Changjiang River estuarine area are have mainly been controlled by sediment supplied from upstream of the Changjiang River tributaries. However, since the completion of the TGD in 2003, the mid- to downstream tributaries have become the main source of sediments from the Changjiang catchment into the East China Sea. These analyses further demonstrate that the coastal currents and the decrease in the sediment load of the river
Estuarine biodiversity as an indicator of groundwater discharge
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Silva, A. C. F.; Tavares, P.; Shapouri, M.; Stigter, T. Y.; Monteiro, J. P.; Machado, M.; Cancela da Fonseca, L.; Ribeiro, L.
2012-01-01
Communities located in the interface between marine/brackish and freshwater habitats are likely to be early responders to climatic changes as they are exposed to both saline and freshwater conditions, and thus are expected to be sensitive to any change in their environmental conditions. Climatic effects are predicted to reduce the availability of groundwater, altering the hydrological balance on estuarine-aquifer interfaces. Here, we aimed to characterise the estuarine faunal community along a gradient dependent on groundwater input, under a predicted climatic scenario of reduction in groundwater discharge into the estuary. Sediment macrofauna was sampled along a salinity gradient following both the wet and dry seasons in 2009. Results indicated that species abundance varied significantly with the salinity gradient created by the groundwater discharge into the estuarine habitat and with sampling time. The isopode Cyathura carinata (Krøyer, 1847) and the polychaetes Heteromastus filiformis (Claparède, 1864) and Hediste diversicolor O.F. Muller, 1776 were associated with the more saline locations, while oligochaeta and Spionidae were more abundant in areas of lower salinity. The polychaete Alkmaria romijni Horst, 1919 was the dominant species and ubiquitous throughout sampling stations. This study provides evidence for estuarine fauna to be considered as a potentially valuable indicator of variation in the input of groundwater into marine-freshwater interface habitats, expected from climatic pressures on aquifer levels, condition and recharge rates. For instance, a reduction in the abundance of some polychaete species, found here to be more abundant in freshwater conditions, and increasing Oligochaeta found here on higher salinities, can potentially be early warnings of a reduction in the input of groundwater into estuaries. Estuarine benthic species are often the main prey for commercially important fish predators such as in our case study, making it important to
Three-dimensional circulation dynamics of along-channel flow in stratified estuaries
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Musiak, Jeffery Daniel
Estuaries are vital because they are the major interface between humans and the oceans and provide valuable habitat for a wide range of organisms. Therefore it is important to model estuarine circulation to gain a better comprehension of the mechanics involved and how people effect estuaries. To this end, this dissertation combines analysis of data collected in the Columbia River estuary (CRE) with novel data processing and modeling techniques to further the understanding of estuaries that are strongly forced by riverflow and tides. The primary hypothesis tested in this work is that the three- dimensional (3-D) variability in along-channel currents in a strongly forced estuary can be largely accounted for by including the lateral variations in density and bathymetry but neglecting the secondary, or lateral, flow. Of course, the forcing must also include riverflow and oceanic tides. Incorporating this simplification and the modeling ideas put forth by others with new modeling techniques and new ideas on estuarine circulation will allow me to create a semi-analytical quasi 3-D profile model. This approach was chosen because it is of intermediate complexity to purely analytical models, that, if tractable, are too simple to be useful, and 3-D numerical models which can have excellent resolution but require large amounts of time, computer memory and computing power. Validation of the model will be accomplished using velocity and density data collected in the Columbia River Estuary and by comparison to analytical solutions. Components of the modeling developed here include: (1) development of a 1-D barotropic model for tidal wave propagation in frictionally dominated systems with strong topography. This model can have multiple tidal constituents and multiply connected channels. (2) Development and verification of a new quasi 3-D semi-analytical velocity profile model applicable to estuarine systems which are strongly forced by both oceanic tides and riverflow. This model
Bar dimensions and bar shapes in estuaries
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Leuven, Jasper; Kleinhans, Maarten; Weisscher, Steven; van der Vegt, Maarten
2016-04-01
Estuaries cause fascinating patterns of dynamic channels and shoals. Intertidal sandbars are valuable habitats, whilst channels provide access to harbors. We still lack a full explanation and classification scheme for the shapes and dimensions of bar patterns in natural estuaries, in contrast with bars in rivers. Analytical physics-based models suggest that bar length in estuaries increases with flow velocity, tidal excursion length or estuary width, depending on which model. However, these hypotheses were never validated for lack of data and experiments. We present a large dataset and determine the controls on bar shape and dimensions in estuaries, spanning bar lengths from centimeters (experiments) to 10s of kilometers length. First, we visually identified and classified 190 bars, measured their dimensions (width, length, height) and local braiding index. Data on estuarine geometry and tidal characteristics were obtained from governmental databases and literature on case studies. We found that many complex bars can be seen as simple elongated bars partly cut by mutually evasive ebb- and flood-dominated channels. Data analysis shows that bar dimensions scale with estuary dimensions, in particular estuary width. Breaking up the complex bars in simple bars greatly reduced scatter. Analytical bar theory overpredicts bar dimensions by an order of magnitude in case of small estuarine systems. Likewise, braiding index depends on local width-to-depth ratio, as was previously found for river systems. Our results suggest that estuary dimensions determine the order of magnitude of bar dimensions, while tidal characteristics modify this. We will continue to model bars numerically and experimentally. Our dataset on tidal bars enables future studies on the sedimentary architecture of geologically complex tidal deposits and enables studying effects of man-induced perturbations such as dredging and dumping on bar and channel patterns and habitats.
Responses of estuarine circulation and salinity to the loss of intertidal flats – A modeling study
Yang, Zhaoqing; Wang, Taiping
2015-08-25
Intertidal flats in estuaries are coastal wetlands that provide critical marine habitats to support wide ranges of marine species. Over the last century many estuarine systems have experienced significant loss of intertidal flats due to anthropogenic impacts. This paper presents a modeling study conducted to investigate the responses of estuarine hydrodynamics to the loss of intertidal flats caused by anthropogenic actions in Whidbey Basin of Puget Sound on the northwest coast of North America. Changes in salinity intrusion limits in the estuaries, salinity stratification, and circulation in intertidal flats and estuaries were evaluated by comparing model results under the existingmore » baseline condition and the no-flat condition. Model results showed that loss of intertidal flats results in an increase in salinity intrusion, stronger mixing, and a phase shift in salinity and velocity fields in the bay front areas. Model results also indicated that loss of intertidal flats enhances two-layer circulation, especially the bottom water intrusion. Loss of intertidal flats increases the mean salinity but reduces the salinity range in the subtidal flats over a tidal cycle because of increased mixing. Salinity intrusion limits extend upstream in all three major rivers discharging into Whidbey Basin when no intertidal flats are present. Changes in salinity intrusion and estuarine circulation patterns due to loss of intertidal flats affect the nearshore habitat and water quality in estuaries and potentially increase risk of coastal hazards, such as storm surge and coastal flooding. Furthermore, model results suggested the importance of including intertidal flats and the wetting-and-drying process in hydrodynamic simulations when intertidal flats are present in the model domain.« less
Díaz-Jaramillo, M; Socowsky, R; Pardo, L M; Monserrat, J M; Barra, R
2013-02-01
Estuarine environmental assessment by sub-individual responses is important in order to understand contaminant effects and to find suitable estuarine biomonitor species. Our study aimed to analyze oxidative stress responses, including glutathione-S-transferase (GST) activity, total antioxidant capacity (ACAP) and lipid peroxidation levels (TBARS) in estuarine crabs Hemigrapsus crenulatus from a high anthropogenically-impacted estuary (Lenga) compared to low and non-polluted estuaries (Tubul and Raqui), in a seasonal scale (winter-summer), tissue specific (hepatopancreas and gills) and sex related responses. Results showed that hepatopancreas in male crabs better reflected inter-estuary differences. Morpho-condition traits as Cephalothorax hepatopancreas index (CHI) could be used as an indicator of physiological status of estuarine crabs. Discriminant analysis also showed that GST and TBARS levels in summer are more suitable endpoints for establishing differences between polluted and non-polluted sites. These results suggest the importance of seasonality, target tissue, sex and physiological status of brachyuran crabs for estuarine biomonitoring assessment. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
How tides and river flows determine estuarine bathymetries [review article
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Prandle, D.
2004-04-01
For strongly tidal, funnel-shaped estuaries, we examine how tides and river flows determine size and shape. We also consider how long it takes for bathymetric adjustment, both to determine whether present-day bathymetry reflects prevailing forcing and how rapidly changes might occur under future forcing scenarios. Starting with the assumption of a 'synchronous' estuary (i.e., where the sea surface slope resulting from the axial gradient in phase of tidal elevation significantly exceeds the gradient in tidal amplitude ζ̂), an expression is derived for the slope of the sea bed. Thence, by integration we derive expressions for the axial depth profile and estuarine length, L, as a function of ζ̂ and D, the prescribed depth at the mouth. Calculated values of L are broadly consistent with observations. The synchronous estuary approach enables a number of dynamical parameters to be directly calculated and conveniently illustrated as functions of ζ̂ and D, namely: current amplitude Û, ratio of friction to inertia terms, estuarine length, stratification, saline intrusion length, flushing time, mean suspended sediment concentration and sediment in-fill times. Four separate derivations for the length of saline intrusion, LI, all indicate a dependency on D 2/f ÛU o ( Uo is the residual river flow velocity and f is the bed friction coefficient). Likely bathymetries for `mixed' estuaries can be delineated by mapping, against ζ̂ and D, the conditions LI/ L<1, EX/ L<1 ( EX is the tidal excursion) alongside the Simpson-Hunter criteria D/ U3<50 m -2 s 3. This zone encompasses 24 out of 25 `randomly' selected UK estuaries. However, the length of saline intrusion in a funnel-shaped estuary is also sensitive to axial location. Observations suggest that this location corresponds to a minimum in landward intrusion of salt. By combining the derived expressions for L and LI with this latter criterion, an expression is derived relating Di, the depth at the centre of the intrusion
Identifying Local Factors that May Exacerbate Coastal Acidification in Pacific Northwest Estuaries
US EPA initiated a study in the Tillamook estuary and watershed focused on the impact of changes in watershed land use, ocean conditions, and weather on estuarine water quality and ecosystem goods and services production within the estuary. This project is a collaboration betwee...
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hestir, E. L.; Schoellhamer, D. H.; Santos, M. J.; Greenberg, J. A.; Morgan-King, T.; Khanna, S.; Ustin, S.
2016-02-01
Estuarine ecosystems and their biogeochemical processes are extremely vulnerable to climate and environmental changes, and are threatened by sea level rise and upstream activities such as land use/land cover and hydrological changes. Despite the recognized threat to estuaries, most aspects of how change will affect estuaries are not well understood due to the poorly resolved understanding of the complex physical, chemical and biological processes and their interactions in estuarine systems. Remote sensing technologies such as high spectral resolution optical systems enable measurements of key environmental parameters needed to establish baseline conditions and improve modeling efforts. The San Francisco Bay-Delta is a highly modified estuary system in a state of ecological crisis due to the numerous threats to its sustainability. In this study, we used a combination of hyperspectral remote sensing and long-term in situ monitoring records to investigate how water clarity has been responding to extreme climatic events, anthropogenic watershed disturbances, and submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) invasions. From the long-term turbidity monitoring record, we found that water clarity underwent significant increasing step changes associated with sediment depletion and El Nino-extreme run-off events. Hyperspectral remote sensing data revealed that invasive submerged aquatic pant species have facultative C3 and C4-like photosynthetic pathways that give them a competitive advantage under the changing water clarity conditions of the Bay-Delta system. We postulate that this adaptation facilitated the rapid expansion of SAV following the significant step changes in increasing water clarity caused by watershed disturbances and the 1982-1983 El Nino events. Using SAV maps from hyperspectral remote sensing, we estimate that SAV-water clarity feedbacks were responsible for 20-70% of the increasing water clarity trend in the Bay-Delta. Ongoing and future developments in airborne and
INDICATORS OF ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY FOR ESTUARIES
Jordan, Stephen J. and Lisa M. Smith. In press. Indicators of Ecosystem Integrity for Estuaries. In: Proceedings of the Estuarine Indicators Workshop, 29-31 October 2003, Sanibel Island, FL. Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, Sanibel, FL. 23 p. (ERL,GB 1194).
Ideal ...
Heavy metals and acid-volatile sulfides in sediments of the Tijuana Estuary
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Meyer, S.F.; Gersberg, R.M.
1997-12-31
The Tijuana Estuary in San Diego County, CA is a wetland-dominated estuary, which has been designated a National Estuarine Sanctuary for protection of a number of endangered species and their habitat. For decades, raw sewage from the city of Tijuana, Mexico has flowed into the Tijuana River and across the international border into the Tijuana Estuary. This problem has worsened in recent years with the substantial growth of Tijuana`s population along with intensive industrial development. Unfortunately, due to many factors, an industrial pretreatment program similar to one implemented in the United States, has not been initiated in Mexico, and themore » threat of chemical contamination of the Tijuana Estuary exists. To date, however, the degree and spatial nature of such contamination has not been well assessed. We report here on the levels of selected toxic metals in the sediments of the estuary. Additionally, we measured both acid-volatile sulfides (AVS) and simultaneously extracted metals (SEM) in order to estimate the potential toxicity of these estuarine sediments.« less
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Chowdhury, Mintu; Hardikar, Revati; Chanjaplackal Kesavan, Haridevi; Thomas, Jubin; Mitra, Aditi; Rokade, M. A.; Naidu, V. S.; Sukumaran, Soniya
2017-11-01
The present study aimed to understand the role of freshwater flow and physico-chemical parameters in influencing the phytoplankton community shift and thereby helping in balancing the ecosystem. The Kundalika estuary (KE) is a semi-diurnal tropical monsoonal estuary. Strong upstream currents during monsoon as assessed through a 2D numerical model influenced the succession of marine, estuarine and freshwater phytoplankton species depending on the extent of freshwater influx and its distribution in the estuary. Nitrogen and phosphorus played a pivotal role in regulating the phytoplankton growth and their proliferation. Distribution of different phytoplankton species in accordance to salinity and nutrient content was clearly observed. Among the four major classes (Diatoms, Dinoflagellates, Chlorophytes and Phytoflagellates) occurring in the KE, diatoms occupied a wide salinity range. Large-scale shifts in phytoplankton biomass and composition were associated with river run-off during monsoon. Phytoflagellates and Chlorophytes restricted their abundance to relatively high nitrogen level zones. Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) between environmental variables and dominant taxa of phytoplankton indicated the influence of salinity on phytoplankton distribution in the estuarine precinct. Thus the freshwater influx in the KE played a major role on phytoplankton species diversity and its bloom potential.
Identifying candidate water quality criteria in estuarine waters is confounded by differences among estuaries and biogeographic regions. Addressing these differences is paramount to assess estuarine water quality impairment successfully. We outline an approach to investigate rela...
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Ribeiro, Jose Pedro N.; Saggio, Ângelo; Lima, Maria Inês Salgueiro
2013-04-01
Artificial sandbar opening of intermittently open estuaries is a practice utilised worldwide to improve water quality, fishing, and recreational amenities and to prevent the flooding of adjacent properties. Breaching causes the water level to drop drastically, exposing plants to two water level extremes. With some exceptions, estuarine communities are adversely affected by this practice. Although breaching can happen naturally, artificial breaching is on the rise, and the impact of manipulating water levels on estuarine communities needs to be investigated. In this work, we described the breaching cycles of the Massaguaçu River Estuary and proposed flooding scenarios for the estuary's macrophyte banks based on our data. We calculated the relationship between plant distribution and flooding conditions and used our calculations to predict the estuary community's composition depending on the water level at breaching time. We discovered a strong relationship between plant distribution and flooding conditions, and we predicted that the estuarine community would be markedly different between flooding scenarios. Low frequency flooding scenarios would be related to submerged macrophytes and, as the flooding frequency increases, macrophytes would be replaced by amphibious plants, and eventually by the arboreal stratus. Therefore, we concluded that an increase in artificial breaching cycles would have a detrimental impact on the estuary community.
Towards Sustainable Water Quality In Estuarine Impoundments: The Current State.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Wright, J.; Worrall, F.
Several estuarine impoundment schemes have been built or are proposed in the UK and worldwide. The impounding of estuaries is currently a popular approach to urban regeneration in the UK. By creation of an aesthetically pleasing amenity impound- ment, including the drowning of "unsightly" tidal mud flats, it is hoped that prestige development will be encouraged in the estuarine area. Impounding fundamentally alters the dynamics of estuaries, with consequences in terms of sedimentation patterns and rates, and water quality. The SIMBA Project at- tempts to understand the controls on water quality in impoundments, with a view to- wards long term and sustainable high water quality through good barrage design and management practice. Detailed water quality surveys have been carried out on a total of 79 dates on the Tees, Tawe, Wansbeck and Blyth estuaries. Water quality parameters which have been determined are pH, Eh, dissolved oxygen (DO), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), conductivity, transparency, suspended solids, alkalinity, temperature, nutri- ents (nitrate+nitrite, ammonium and orthophosphate), and a large range of dissolved metals. Statistical analyses are used to demonstrate the major controls on water qual- ity in impoundments. A distinction is made between total tidal exclusion (freshwater) systems, in which water quality is primarily influenced by external/catchment factors, and partial tidal exclusion systems, in which water quality is processed internally. This internal processing is due to density stratification creating compartments of saline wa- ter in contact with oxygen demanding sediments and isolated from the atmosphere, which leads to conditions of low DO and changes in redox conditions which may lead to release of metals and phosphate from the sediment.
Ordination of the estuarine environment: What the organism experiences
Investigators customarily schedule estuary sampling trips with regard to a variety of criteria, especially tide stage and the day-night cycle. However, estuarine organisms experience a wide suite of continuously changing tide and light conditions. Such organisms may undertake i...
Reis-Filho, J A; Giarrizzo, T
2016-07-01
The relationships between changes in habitat quality (disturbed and undisturbed sites) and the population parameters (density, size distribution, reproductive activity and diet) of a goby Microgobius meeki were investigated in a tropical estuary to assess its value as an indicator of anthropogenic changes, predominantly the effects of sedimentation and mangrove removal in shallow estuarine areas. Fish sampling surveys were conducted bimonthly between June 2009 and May 2010 over the entire estuarine gradient of the Paraguaçu River estuary, located on the central Brazilian coast. A predictive model was developed to assess the population changes of this species in 10 other tropical estuaries with different dimensions, basin features and distinct levels of anthropogenic disturbance. General linear models were used to relate the population structure of M. meeki to sediment type, habitat type resulting from mangrove conservation status, anthropogenic pressure and environmental characteristics such as salinity, dissolved oxygen concentrations and temperature. Sediment type and the presence of mangrove forests were the most effective predictors of local variability in the population structure of M. meeki. Individuals with mature gonads and high rates of feeding activity were associated predominantly with undisturbed habitats. Estuaries and estuarine sectors with high levels of sedimentation in shallow marginal areas, anthropogenic pressure from domestic and industrial effluents, and evidence of mangrove deforestation yielded the lowest capture rates of both juvenile and adult M. meeki. Based on these findings, M. meeki is identified as a potential indicator of the consequences of anthropogenic disturbance in transitional waters. A simple, but efficient collection protocol, in which overt signs of distress can be promptly observed is proposed. Testing the generality of this approach across different systems might prove useful in a broader conservation biology context.
Remote Sensing Technologies for Estuary Research and Management (Invited)
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hestir, E. L.; Ustin, S.; Khanna, S.; Botha, E.; Santos, M. J.; Anstee, J.; Greenberg, J. A.
2013-12-01
Estuarine ecosystems and their biogeochemical processes are extremely vulnerable to climate and environmental changes, and are threatened by sea level rise and upstream activities such as land use/land cover and hydrological changes. Despite the recognized threat to estuaries, most aspects of how change will affect estuaries are not well understood due to the poorly resolved understanding of the complex physical, chemical and biological processes and their interactions in estuarine systems. New and innovative remote sensing technologies such as high spectral resolution optical and thermal imagers and lidar, microwave radiometers and radar imagers enable measurements of key environmental parameters needed to establish baseline conditions and improve modeling efforts. Radar's sensitivity to water provides information about water height and velocity, channel geometry and wetland inundation. Water surface temperature and salinity and can be measured from microwave radiometry, and when combined with radar-derived information can provide information about estuarine hydrodynamics. Optical and thermal hyperspectral imagers provide information about sediment, plant and water chemistry including chlorophyll, dissolved organic matter and mineralogical composition. Lidar can measure bathymetry, microtopography and emergent plant structure. Plant functional types, wetland community distributions, turbidity, suspended and deposited sediments, dissolved organic matter, water column chlorophyll and phytoplankton functional types may be estimated from these measurements. Innovative deployment of advanced remote sensing technologies on airborne and submersible un-piloted platforms provides temporally and spatially continuous measurement in temporally dynamic and spatially complex tidal systems. Through biophysically-based retrievals, these technologies provide direct measurement of physical, biological and biogeochemical conditions that can be used as models to understand estuarine
Elevational dependence of projected hydrologic changes in the San Francisco Estuary and watershed
Knowles, N.; Cayan, D.R.
2004-01-01
California's primary hydrologic system, the San Francisco Estuary and its upstream watershed, is vulnerable to the regional hydrologic consequences of projected global climate change. Previous work has shown that a projected warming would result in a reduction of snowpack storage leading to higher winter and lower spring-summer streamflows and increased spring-summer salinities in the estuary. The present work shows that these hydrologic changes exhibit a strong dependence on elevation, with the greatest loss of snowpack volume in the 1300-2700 m elevation range. Exploiting hydrologic and estuarine modeling capabilities to trace water as it moves through the system reveals that the shift of water in mid-elevations of the Sacramento river basin from snowmelt to rainfall runoff is the dominant cause of projected changes in estuarine inflows and salinity. Additionally, although spring-summer losses of estuarine inflows are balanced by winter gains, the losses have a stronger influence on salinity since longer spring-summer residence times allow the inflow changes to accumulate in the estuary. The changes in inflows sourced in the Sacramento River basin in approximately the 1300-2200 m elevation range thereby lead to a net increase in estuarine salinity under the projected warming. Such changes would impact ecosystems throughout the watershed and threaten to contaminate much of California's freshwater supply.
Quantification of storm-induced bathymetric change in a back-barrier estuary
Ganju, Neil K.; Suttles, Steven E.; Beudin, Alexis; Nowacki, Daniel J.; Miselis, Jennifer L.; Andrews, Brian D.
2017-01-01
Geomorphology is a fundamental control on ecological and economic function of estuaries. However, relative to open coasts, there has been little quantification of storm-induced bathymetric change in back-barrier estuaries. Vessel-based and airborne bathymetric mapping can cover large areas quickly, but change detection is difficult because measurement errors can be larger than the actual changes over the storm timescale. We quantified storm-induced bathymetric changes at several locations in Chincoteague Bay, Maryland/Virginia, over the August 2014 to July 2015 period using fixed, downward-looking altimeters and numerical modeling. At sand-dominated shoal sites, measurements showed storm-induced changes on the order of 5 cm, with variability related to stress magnitude and wind direction. Numerical modeling indicates that the predominantly northeasterly wind direction in the fall and winter promotes southwest-directed sediment transport, causing erosion of the northern face of sandy shoals; southwesterly winds in the spring and summer lead to the opposite trend. Our results suggest that storm-induced estuarine bathymetric change magnitudes are often smaller than those detectable with methods such as LiDAR. More precise fixed-sensor methods have the ability to elucidate the geomorphic processes responsible for modulating estuarine bathymetry on the event and seasonal timescale, but are limited spatially. Numerical modeling enables interpretation of broad-scale geomorphic processes and can be used to infer the long-term trajectory of estuarine bathymetric change due to episodic events, when informed by fixed-sensor methods.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Chuang, Mo-Hsiung; Hung, Chi-Tung; -Yen Lin, Wen; Ma, Kuo-chen
2017-04-01
In recent years, cities and industries in the vicinity of the estuarine region have developed rapidly, resulting in a sharp increase in the population concerned. The increasing demand for human activities, agriculture irrigation, and aquaculture relies on massive pumping of water in estuarine area. Since the 1950s, numerous studies have focused on the effects of tidal fluctuations on groundwater flow in the estuarine area. Tide-induced head fluctuation in a two-dimensional estuarine aquifer system is complicated and rather important in dealing with many groundwater management or remediation problems. The conceptual model of the aquifer system considered is multi-layered with estuarine bank and the leaky aquifer extend finite distance under the estuary. The solution of the model describing the groundwater head distribution in such an estuarine aquifer system and subject to the tidal fluctuation effects from estuarine river is developed based on the method of separation of variables along with river boundary. The solutions by Sun (Sun H. A two-dimensional analytical solution of groundwater response to tidal loading in an estuary, Water Resour. Res. 1997; 33:1429-35) as well as Tang and Jiao (Tang Z. and J. J. Jiao, A two-dimensional analytical solution for groundwater flow in a leaky confined aquifer system near open tidal water, Hydrological Processes, 2001; 15: 573-585) can be shown to be special cases of the present solution. On the basis of the analytical solution, the groundwater head distribution in response to estuarine boundary is examined and the influences of leakage, hydraulic parameters, and loading effect on the groundwater head fluctuation due to tide are investigated and discussed. KEYWORDS: analytical model, estuarine river, groundwater fluctuation, leaky aquifer.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Pardo, Luis Miguel; Cardyn, Carlos Simón; Garcés-Vargas, José
2012-09-01
Settlement of benthic marine invertebrates is determined by the interaction between physical factors and biological processes, in which the tide, wind, and predation can play key roles, especially for species that recruit within estuaries. This complexity promotes high variability in recruitment and limited predictability of the size of annual cohorts. This study describes the settlement patterns of megalopae of the commercially important crab Cancer edwardsii at three locations (one in the center and two at the mouth of the estuary) within the Valdivia River estuary (~39.9°S), over three consecutive years (2006-2008). At each location, 12 passive benthic collectors with a natural substratum were deployed for 48 h at 7-day intervals, over a lunar cycle. Half of the collectors were covered with mesh to exclude predators. The main findings were as follows: (1) circulation changes due to upwelling relaxation or onshore winds controlled crab settlement at sites within the mouth of the estuary, (2) at the internal estuarine site, settlement was dominated by tidal effects, and (3) the effect of predation on settlement was negligible at all scales. The results show that the predominant physical factor controlling the return of competent crab larvae to estuarine environments varies spatially within the estuary. The lack of tidal influence on settlement at the mouth of the estuary can be explained by the overwhelming influence of the intense upwelling fronts and the micro-tidal regime in the study area.
Environmental response of an Irish estuary to changing land management practices.
Ní Longphuirt, Sorcha; O'Boyle, Shane; Stengel, Dagmar Brigitte
2015-07-15
Anthropogenic pressures have led to problems of nutrient over-enrichment and eutrophication in estuarine and coastal systems on a global scale. Recent improvements in farming practices, specifically a decrease in fertiliser application rates, have reduced nutrient loadings in Ireland. In line with national and European Directives, monitoring of Irish estuarine systems has been conducted for the last 30years, allowing a comparison of the effectiveness of measures undertaken to improve water quality and chemical and biological trends. The Blackwater Estuary, which drains a large agricultural catchment on the south coast of Ireland, has experienced a decrease in calculated nitrogen (N) (17%) and phosphorus (P) (20%) loads in the last decade. Monitored long-term river inputs reflect the reductions while estuarine P concentrations, chlorophyll and dissolved oxygen saturation show concurrent improvement. Consistently high N concentrations suggest a decoupling between N loads and estuarine responses. This highlights the complex interaction between N and P load reductions, and biochemical processes relating to remineralisation and primary production which can alter the effectiveness of the estuarine filter in reducing nutrient transport to the coastal zone. Effective management and reduction of both diffuse and point nutrient sources to surface waters require a consideration of the processes which may alter the effectiveness of measures in estuarine and coastal waters. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.
Estuarine fish communities respond to climate variability over both river and ocean basins
Feyrer, Frederick V.; Cloern, James E.; Brown, Larry R.; Fish, Maxfield; Hieb, Kathryn; Baxter, Randall
2015-01-01
Estuaries are dynamic environments at the land–sea interface that are strongly affected by interannual climate variability. Ocean–atmosphere processes propagate into estuaries from the sea, and atmospheric processes over land propagate into estuaries from watersheds. We examined the effects of these two separate climate-driven processes on pelagic and demersal fish community structure along the salinity gradient in the San Francisco Estuary, California, USA. A 33-year data set (1980–2012) on pelagic and demersal fishes spanning the freshwater to marine regions of the estuary suggested the existence of five estuarine salinity fish guilds: limnetic (salinity = 0–1), oligohaline (salinity = 1–12), mesohaline (salinity = 6–19), polyhaline (salinity = 19–28), and euhaline (salinity = 29–32). Climatic effects propagating from the adjacent Pacific Ocean, indexed by the North Pacific Gyre Oscillation (NPGO), affected demersal and pelagic fish community structure in the euhaline and polyhaline guilds. Climatic effects propagating over land, indexed as freshwater outflow from the watershed (OUT), affected demersal and pelagic fish community structure in the oligohaline, mesohaline, polyhaline, and euhaline guilds. The effects of OUT propagated further down the estuary salinity gradient than the effects of NPGO that propagated up the estuary salinity gradient, exemplifying the role of variable freshwater outflow as an important driver of biotic communities in river-dominated estuaries. These results illustrate how unique sources of climate variability interact to drive biotic communities and, therefore, that climate change is likely to be an important driver in shaping the future trajectory of biotic communities in estuaries and other transitional habitats.
How U-Th series radionuclides have come to trace estuarine processes
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Church, T. M.
2014-12-01
Some forty years ago, the essence of estuarine processes was pioneered in terms of property-property (salinity) parameterization and end member mixing experiments. The result revealed how scavenging via "flocculation" of organic material such as humic acids affect primary nutrients and trace elements, many of pollutant interest. Defined in the Delaware are estuarine reaction zones, including one more "geochemical" in upper turbid areas and another more" biochemical" in more productive photic zones of lower areas. Since then, the natural U-Th radionuclide series have been employed to quantify estuarine transport and scavenging processes. Parent U appears negatively non-conserved during summer in estuarine and coastal waters, while that of Ra isotopes positively non-conservative dominated by a ground water end member. For both U and Ra, the biogeochemical influence of marginal salt marshes is significant. Indeed in the marsh atmospheric 210-Pb has become the metric of choice for the chronology of estuarine pollutant records. Using the more particle reactive isotopes in quantifying estuarine mixing processes (e.g. Th or Pb) proves to be fruitful in the Delaware and upper Chesapeake. While Th simply tracks that of particle abundance, both 210-Pb and 210-Po show differential scavenging with residence times of weeks to a month according to lithogenic and biogenic cycling processes, respectively.
As part of a larger investigation into potential impacts of climate change on estuarine habitats in the Pacific Northwest (PNW), we estimated changes in freshwater inputs into four estuaries. These were the Coquille River estuary, the South Slough of Coos Bay, and the Yaquina Bay...
LANDSCAPE METRICS THAT ARE USEFUL FOR EXPLAINING ESTUARINE ECOLOGICAL RESPONSES
We investigated whether land use/cover characteristics of watersheds associated with estuaries exhibit a strong enough signal to make landscape metrics useful for predicting estuarine ecological condition. We used multivariate logistic regression models to discriminate between su...
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Suja, S.; Kessarkar, Pratima M.; Fernandes, Lina L.; Kurian, Siby; Tomer, Arti
2017-09-01
Major (Al, Fe, Mn, Ti, Mg) and trace (Cu, Zn, Pb, Cr, Ni, Co, Zr, Rb, Sr, Ba, Li, Be, Sc, V, Ga, Nb, Mo, Sn, Sb, Cs, Hf, Ta, Bi, Th, U) elements and particulate organic carbon (POC) concentrations in surface suspended particulate matter (SPM) of the Kali estuary, (central west coast of India) were studied during the pre-monsoon, monsoon and post monsoon seasons to infer estuarine processes, source of SPM and Geoaccumulation Index (Igeo) assigned pollutionIgeo levels. Distribution of SPM indicates the presence of the estuarine turbidity maximum (ETM) during all three seasons near the river mouth and a second ETM during the post monsoon time in the upstream associated with salinities gradient. The SPM during the monsoon is finer grained (avg. 53 μm), characterized by uniformly low normalized elemental concentration, whereas the post and pre monsoon are characterized by high normalized elemental concentration with coarser grain size (avg. 202 μm and 173 μm respectively) with highest ratios in the upstream estuary. The elemental composition and principal component analysis for the upstream estuary SPM support more contribution from the upstream catchment area rocks during the monsoon season; there is additional contribution from the downstream catchment area during the pre and post monsoon period due to the tidal effect. The Kali estuarine SPM has higher Al, Fe, Mn, Ti, Mg, Ni, Co, Ba, Li and V with respect to Average World River SPM (WRSPM). Igeo values for the SPM indicate Kali Estuary to be severely enriched with Mn and moderately enriched with Cu, Zn, Ni, Co, U and Mo in the upstream estuary during pre and post monsoon seasons. Seasonal changes in salinity gradient (reduced freshwater flow due to closing of the dam gates), reduced velocity at meandering region of the estuary and POC of 1.6-2.3% resulted in co-precipitation of trace elements that were further fortified by flocculation and coagulation throughout the water column resulting in metal trapping in the
Multibiomarker assessment of three Brazilian estuaries using oysters as bioindicators
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Valdez Domingos, F.X.; Azevedo, M.; Silva, M.D.
2007-11-15
Oysters have been largely employed as bioindicators of environmental quality in biomonitoring studies. Crassostrea rhizophorae was selected to evaluate the health status of three estuarine areas impacted by anthropogenic activities along the Brazilian coast, in three estuarine complexes, ranging in latitude from 7 to 25 deg. S. In each estuary three sites were sampled in Winter and in Summer: a site considered as reference, and two sites next to contamination sources. Condition index was similar at all sites and estuaries, with the highest values found for Itamaraca oysters in Summer. Necrosis, hyperplasia, mucocyte hypertrophy and fusion of ordinary filaments weremore » the main histopathological lesions observed. Muscle cholinesterase activity was overall similar, but with a strong seasonal effect. Inhibition or activation of branchial total ATPase and Na,K-ATPase activities at the contaminated sites was observed. The health status of these estuarine areas is quite similar, and the combined use of biomarkers is recommended.« less
Araujo, Adriana V; Dias, Cristina O; Bonecker, Sérgio L C
2017-02-15
We examined the relationship between pollution and structure of copepod assemblages in estuaries, using sampling standardization of salinity range to reduce the effects of "Estuarine Quality Paradox". Copepod assemblages were analyzed in four Southeast Brazilian estuaries with different water quality levels and different hydrodynamic characteristics. The pollution negatively impacted the descriptors of the assemblage structure. The distribution of structure of copepod assemblages also showed a main separation trend between the most polluted estuaries and those less polluted. Temperature was the main factor affecting the assemblage structuring in the four estuaries. This factor acted in synergism with the effects of pollution impact and physical characteristics of the estuaries on the structure of copepod assemblages, supporting the potential vulnerability of coastal environments due to nutrient enrichment associated with climate change. Our study demonstrated the importance of sampling standardization of the salinity range in estuaries for reliable analysis of pollution effects on biota. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Smalling, Kelly L.; Deshpande, Ashok D.; Blazer, Vicki S.; Bruce W Dockum,; DeMond Timmons,; Beth L. Sharack,; Baker, Ronald J.; Jennifer Samson,; Reilly, Timothy J.
2016-01-01
Atlantic coastal bays of the US are essential habitat for young of year bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix). Their residence in these estuaries during critical life stages, high lipid content, and piscivory make bluefish an ideal bioindicator species for evaluating estuarine health. Individual whole fish from four estuaries impacted by Hurricane Sandy were collected in August 2013, analyzed for a suite of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) including polychlorinated biphenyls, polybrominated diphenyl ethers and organochlorine pesticides and evaluated using health metrics. Concentrations in whole bluefish differed by estuary; however, concentrations for many POPs decreased or were similar to those observed prior to the hurricane. Prevalence of the ectoparasitic gill isopod (Lironeca ovalis) varied by estuary and no relationships between contaminants and lesions were observed. Bluefish should be considered for monitoring programs and, if sampled frequently, could be an effective bioindicator of incremental and episodic changes in contaminants within aquatic food webs.
Estuarine Macroinvertebrate Pollution Indicator Species in the Virginian Biogeographic Province
Macroinvertebrates are commonly used as biomonitors to detect pollution impacts in estuaries. In this study we identified estuarine benthic invertebrates that could be used to detect presence or absence of pollution in the Virginian Biogeographic Province using available monitor...
Scavenging Rate Ecoassay: A Potential Indicator of Estuary Condition
Porter, Augustine G.; Scanes, Peter R.
2015-01-01
Monitoring of estuary condition is essential due to the highly productive and often intensely impacted nature of these ecosystems. Assessment of the physico-chemical condition of estuaries is expensive and difficult due to naturally fluctuating water quality and biota. Assessing the vigour of ecosystem processes is an alternative method with potential to overcome much of the variability associated with physico-chemical measures. Indicators of estuary condition should have small spatial and temporal variability, have a predictable response to perturbation and be ecologically relevant. Here, we present tests of the first criterion, the spatio-temporal variability of a potential ecoassay measuring the rate of scavenging in estuaries. We hypothesised that the proposed scavenging ecoassay would not vary significantly among A) sites in an estuary, B) trips separated by weeks, or C) days in a trip. Because not all habitats are present in all estuaries, this test was undertaken in two habitats. When conducted over bare substrate there were occasional significant differences, but no discernible patterns, within levels of the experiment. When conducted over vegetated substrate, days within a trip did not vary significantly, but later trips experienced greater scavenging. This scavenging ecoassay shows potential as a tool for assessing the condition of estuarine ecosystems, and further exploration of this protocol is warranted by implementation in estuaries across a gradient of anthropogenic stress. PMID:26024225
Scavenging rate ecoassay: a potential indicator of estuary condition.
Porter, Augustine G; Scanes, Peter R
2015-01-01
Monitoring of estuary condition is essential due to the highly productive and often intensely impacted nature of these ecosystems. Assessment of the physico-chemical condition of estuaries is expensive and difficult due to naturally fluctuating water quality and biota. Assessing the vigour of ecosystem processes is an alternative method with potential to overcome much of the variability associated with physico-chemical measures. Indicators of estuary condition should have small spatial and temporal variability, have a predictable response to perturbation and be ecologically relevant. Here, we present tests of the first criterion, the spatio-temporal variability of a potential ecoassay measuring the rate of scavenging in estuaries. We hypothesised that the proposed scavenging ecoassay would not vary significantly among A) sites in an estuary, B) trips separated by weeks, or C) days in a trip. Because not all habitats are present in all estuaries, this test was undertaken in two habitats. When conducted over bare substrate there were occasional significant differences, but no discernible patterns, within levels of the experiment. When conducted over vegetated substrate, days within a trip did not vary significantly, but later trips experienced greater scavenging. This scavenging ecoassay shows potential as a tool for assessing the condition of estuarine ecosystems, and further exploration of this protocol is warranted by implementation in estuaries across a gradient of anthropogenic stress.
Halogen Radicals Promote the Photodegradation of Microcystins in Estuarine Systems.
Parker, Kimberly M; Reichwaldt, Elke S; Ghadouani, Anas; Mitch, William A
2016-08-16
The transport of microcystin, a hepatotoxin produced by cyanobacteria (e.g., Microcystis aeruginosa), to estuaries can adversely affect estuarine and coastal ecosystems. We evaluated whether halogen radicals (i.e., reactive halogen species (RHS)) could significantly contribute to microcystin photodegradation during transport within estuaries. Experiments in synthetic and natural water samples demonstrated that the presence of seawater halides increased quantum yields for microcystin indirect photodegradation by factors of 3-6. Additional experiments indicated that photoproduced RHS were responsible for this effect. Despite the fact that dissolved organic matter (DOM) concentrations decreased in more saline waters, the calculated photochemical half-life of microcystin decreased 6-fold with increasing salinity along a freshwater-estuarine transect due to the halide-associated increase in quantum yield. Modeling of microcystin photodegradation along this transect indicated that the time scale for RHS-mediated microcystin photodegradation is comparable to the time scale of transport. Microcystin concentrations decline by ∼98% along the transect when considering photodegradation by RHS, but only by ∼54% if this pathway were ignored. These results suggest the importance of considering RHS-mediated photodegradation in future models of microcystin fate in freshwater-estuarine systems.
MAPPING BURROWING SHRIMP AND SEAGRASS IN YAQUINA ESTUARY
Burrowing shrimp and seagrasses create extensive intertidal and shallow subtidal habitats within Pacific NW estuaries. Maps of their populations are useful to inform estuarine managers of locations that deserve special consideration for conservation, and to inform oyster farmers...
HIGH CYANOBACTERIAL ABUNDANCE IN GULF OF MEXICO ESTUARIES
Aquatic phytoplankton comprise a wide variety of taxa spanning more than 2 orders of magnitude in size, yet studies of estuarine phytoplankton often overlook the picoplankton, particularly chroococcoid cyanobacteria (c.f. Synechocococcus). Three Gulf of Mexico estuaries (Apalachi...
Coastal Upwelling Supplies Oxygen-Depleted Water to the Columbia River Estuary
Roegner, G. Curtis; Needoba, Joseph A.; Baptista, António M.
2011-01-01
Low dissolved oxygen (DO) is a common feature of many estuarine and shallow-water environments, and is often attributed to anthropogenic nutrient enrichment from terrestrial-fluvial pathways. However, recent events in the U.S. Pacific Northwest have highlighted that wind-forced upwelling can cause naturally occurring low DO water to move onto the continental shelf, leading to mortalities of benthic fish and invertebrates. Coastal estuaries in the Pacific Northwest are strongly linked to ocean forcings, and here we report observations on the spatial and temporal patterns of oxygen concentration in the Columbia River estuary. Hydrographic measurements were made from transect (spatial survey) or anchor station (temporal survey) deployments over a variety of wind stresses and tidal states during the upwelling seasons of 2006 through 2008. During this period, biologically stressful levels of dissolved oxygen were observed to enter the Columbia River estuary from oceanic sources, with minimum values close to the hypoxic threshold of 2.0 mg L−1. Riverine water was consistently normoxic. Upwelling wind stress controlled the timing and magnitude of low DO events, while tidal-modulated estuarine circulation patterns influenced the spatial extent and duration of exposure to low DO water. Strong upwelling during neap tides produced the largest impact on the estuary. The observed oxygen concentrations likely had deleterious behavioral and physiological consequences for migrating juvenile salmon and benthic crabs. Based on a wind-forced supply mechanism, low DO events are probably common to the Columbia River and other regional estuaries and if conditions on the shelf deteriorate further, as observations and models predict, Pacific Northwest estuarine habitats could experience a decrease in environmental quality. PMID:21533083
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Duarte, Bernardo; Silva, Gilda; Costa, José Lino; Medeiros, João Paulo; Azeda, Carla; Sá, Erica; Metelo, Inês; Costa, Maria José; Caçador, Isabel
2014-10-01
Worldwide estuarine ecosystems are by their privileged geographic location, anthropogenically impacted systems. Heavy metal contamination in estuarine waters and sediments are well known to be one of the most important outcomes driven from human activities. The partitioning of these elements has been widely focused, due to its importance not only on the estuarine biogeochemistry but also on its bioavailability to the trophic webs. As observed in other estuaries, in the Tagus basin, no increase in the partition coefficients with the increasing suspended particulate matter concentrations was observed, mostly due to a permanent dilution process of the suspended matter, rich in heavy metals and less contaminated and resuspended bottom sediments. Another important outcome of this study was the common origin of all the analysed heavy metals, probably due to the large industrialization process that the margins of the Tagus estuary suffered in the past, although no relationship was found with the presence of the different discharge areas. In fact, metal partitioning seems to be mostly influenced by the chemical species in which the pollutant is delivered to the system and on water chemistry, with a higher emphasis on the metal cycling essentially between the particulate and dissolved phase. This partitioning system acquires a relevant importance while evaluating the impacts of marine construction and the associated dredging operations, and consequent changes in the estuarine water chemistry.
Bissoli, Lorena B; Bernardino, Angelo F
2018-01-01
Tropical estuaries are highly productive and support diverse benthic assemblages within mangroves and tidal flats habitats. Determining differences and similarities of benthic assemblages within estuarine habitats and between regional ecosystems may provide scientific support for management of those ecosystems. Here we studied three tropical estuaries in the Eastern Marine Ecoregion of Brazil to assess the spatial variability of benthic assemblages from vegetated (mangroves) and unvegetated (tidal flats) habitats. A nested sampling design was used to determine spatial scales of variability in benthic macrofaunal density, biomass and secondary production. Habitat differences in benthic assemblage composition were evident, with mangrove forests being dominated by annelids (Oligochaeta and Capitellidae) whereas peracarid crustaceans were also abundant on tidal flats. Macrofaunal biomass, density and secondary production also differed between habitats and among estuaries. Those differences were related both to the composition of benthic assemblages and to random spatial variability, underscoring the importance of hierarchical sampling in estuarine ecological studies. Given variable levels of human impacts and predicted climate change effects on tropical estuarine assemblages in Eastern Brazil, our data support the use of benthic secondary production to address long-term changes and improved management of estuaries in Eastern Brazil.
Bissoli, Lorena B.
2018-01-01
Tropical estuaries are highly productive and support diverse benthic assemblages within mangroves and tidal flats habitats. Determining differences and similarities of benthic assemblages within estuarine habitats and between regional ecosystems may provide scientific support for management of those ecosystems. Here we studied three tropical estuaries in the Eastern Marine Ecoregion of Brazil to assess the spatial variability of benthic assemblages from vegetated (mangroves) and unvegetated (tidal flats) habitats. A nested sampling design was used to determine spatial scales of variability in benthic macrofaunal density, biomass and secondary production. Habitat differences in benthic assemblage composition were evident, with mangrove forests being dominated by annelids (Oligochaeta and Capitellidae) whereas peracarid crustaceans were also abundant on tidal flats. Macrofaunal biomass, density and secondary production also differed between habitats and among estuaries. Those differences were related both to the composition of benthic assemblages and to random spatial variability, underscoring the importance of hierarchical sampling in estuarine ecological studies. Given variable levels of human impacts and predicted climate change effects on tropical estuarine assemblages in Eastern Brazil, our data support the use of benthic secondary production to address long-term changes and improved management of estuaries in Eastern Brazil. PMID:29507833
Maciel, Daniele Claudino; de Souza, José Roberto Botelho; Taniguchi, Satie; Bícego, Márcia Caruso; Schettini, Carlos Augusto França; Zanardi-Lamardo, Eliete
2016-12-15
Estuaries generally act as sediment traps and may retain a range of contaminants associated to this matrix. Aliphatic hydrocarbons (AHs) were investigated in Capibaribe Estuarine System and adjacent shelf, Northeast of Brazil, to evaluate the contamination and to better understand its functionality related to the coast. Fourteen sediment samples were analyzed, using gas chromatography with flame ionization detection. Total AHs concentrations ranged from 7.5 to 190.3μgg -1 and n-alkanes ranged from below detection limit (
Knowles, Noah
2002-01-01
Understanding the processes controlling the physics, chemistry, and biology of the San Francisco Estuary and their relation to climate variability is complicated by the combined influence on freshwater inflows of natural variability and upstream management. To distinguish these influences, alterations of estuarine inflow due to major reservoirs and freshwater pumping in the watershed were inferred from available data. Effects on salinity were estimated by using reconstructed estuarine inflows corresponding to differing levels of impairment to drive a numerical salinity model. Both natural and management inflow and salinity signals show strong interannual variability. Management effects raise salinities during the wet season, with maximum influence in spring. While year‐to‐year variations in all signals are very large, natural interannual variability can greatly exceed the range of management effects on salinity in the estuary.
Howe, Emily; Simenstad, Charles A; Ogston, Andrea
2017-10-01
We measured the influence of landscape setting on estuarine food web connectivity in five macrotidal Pacific Northwest estuaries across a gradient of freshwater influence. We used stable isotopes (δ 13 C, δ 15 N, δ 34 S) in combination with a Bayesian mixing model to trace primary producer contributions to suspension- and deposit-feeding bivalve consumers (Mytilus trossulus and Macoma nasuta) transplanted into three estuarine vegetation zones: emergent marsh, mudflat, and eelgrass. Eelgrass includes both Japanese eelgrass (Zostera japonica) and native eelgrass (Zostera marina). Fluvial discharge and consumer feeding mode strongly influenced the strength and spatial scale of observed food web linkages, while season played a secondary role. Mussels displayed strong cross-ecosystem connectivity in all estuaries, with decreasing marine influence in the more fluvial estuaries. Mussel diets indicated homogenization of detrital sources within the water column of each estuary. In contrast, the diets of benthic deposit-feeding clams indicated stronger compartmentalization in food web connectivity, especially in the largest river delta where clam diets were trophically disconnected from marsh sources of detritus. This suggests detritus deposition is patchy across space, and less homogenous than the suspended detritus pool. In addition to fluvial setting, other estuary-specific environmental drivers, such as marsh area or particle transport speed, influenced the degree of food web linkages across space and time, often accounting for unexpected patterns in food web connectivity. Transformations of the estuarine landscape that alter river hydrology or availability of detritus sources can thus potentially disrupt natural food web connectivity at the landscape scale, especially for sedentary organisms, which cannot track their food sources through space. © 2017 by the Ecological Society of America.
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
The Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve has the highest biotic diversity of habitats and offer a reserve of food resources and commercially significant species. Rapid human civilization has led to accumulation of heavy metals and trace elements in estuaries. The Grand Bay National Estuarin...
Flux of Total Mercury and Methylmercury to the Northern Gulf of Mexico from U.S. Estuaries.
Buck, Clifton S; Hammerschmidt, Chad R; Bowman, Katlin L; Gill, Gary A; Landing, William M
2015-12-15
To better understand the source of elevated methylmercury (MeHg) concentrations in Gulf of Mexico (GOM) fish, we quantified fluxes of total Hg and MeHg from 11 rivers in the southeastern United States, including the 10 largest rivers discharging to the GOM. Filtered water and suspended particles were collected across estuarine salinity gradients in Spring and Fall 2012 to estimate fluxes from rivers to estuaries and from estuaries to coastal waters. Fluxes of total Hg and MeHg from rivers to estuaries varied as much as 100-fold among rivers. The Mississippi River accounted for 59% of the total Hg flux and 49% of the fluvial MeHg flux into GOM estuaries. While some estuaries were sources of Hg, the combined estimated fluxes of total Hg (~5200 mol y(-1)) and MeHg (~120 mol y(-1)) from the estuaries to the GOM were less than those from rivers to estuaries, suggesting an overall estuarine sink. Fluxes of total Hg from the estuaries to coastal waters of the northern GOM are approximately an order of magnitude less than from atmospheric deposition. However, fluxes from rivers are significant sources of MeHg to estuaries and coastal regions of the northern GOM.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Dunne, Barbara B.
The Maryland Marine Science Education Project has produced a series of mini-units in marine science education for the junior high/middle school classroom. This unit focuses on food chains in an estuary. Although the unit specifically treats the Chesapeake Bay, it may be adapted for use with similar estuarine systems. In addition, the unit may be…
Estuarine fish communities respond to climate variability over both river and ocean basins.
Feyrer, Frederick; Cloern, James E; Brown, Larry R; Fish, Maxfield A; Hieb, Kathryn A; Baxter, Randall D
2015-10-01
Estuaries are dynamic environments at the land-sea interface that are strongly affected by interannual climate variability. Ocean-atmosphere processes propagate into estuaries from the sea, and atmospheric processes over land propagate into estuaries from watersheds. We examined the effects of these two separate climate-driven processes on pelagic and demersal fish community structure along the salinity gradient in the San Francisco Estuary, California, USA. A 33-year data set (1980-2012) on pelagic and demersal fishes spanning the freshwater to marine regions of the estuary suggested the existence of five estuarine salinity fish guilds: limnetic (salinity = 0-1), oligohaline (salinity = 1-12), mesohaline (salinity = 6-19), polyhaline (salinity = 19-28), and euhaline (salinity = 29-32). Climatic effects propagating from the adjacent Pacific Ocean, indexed by the North Pacific Gyre Oscillation (NPGO), affected demersal and pelagic fish community structure in the euhaline and polyhaline guilds. Climatic effects propagating over land, indexed as freshwater outflow from the watershed (OUT), affected demersal and pelagic fish community structure in the oligohaline, mesohaline, polyhaline, and euhaline guilds. The effects of OUT propagated further down the estuary salinity gradient than the effects of NPGO that propagated up the estuary salinity gradient, exemplifying the role of variable freshwater outflow as an important driver of biotic communities in river-dominated estuaries. These results illustrate how unique sources of climate variability interact to drive biotic communities and, therefore, that climate change is likely to be an important driver in shaping the future trajectory of biotic communities in estuaries and other transitional habitats. Published 2015. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Ryan, Diarmuid; Wögerbauer, Ciara; Roche, William
2016-12-01
The ability to determine connectivity between juveniles in nursery estuaries and adult populations is an important tool for fisheries management. Otoliths of juvenile fish contain geochemical tags, which reflect the variation in estuarine elemental chemistry, and allow discrimination of their natal and/or nursery estuaries. These tags can be used to investigate connectivity patterns between juveniles and adults. However, inter-annual variability of geochemical tags may limit the accuracy of nursery origin determinations. Otolith elemental composition was used to assign a single cohort of 0-group sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax to their nursery estuary thus establishing an initial baseline for stocks in waters around Ireland. Using a standard LDFA model, high classification accuracies to nursery sites (80-88%) were obtained. Temporal stability of otolith geochemical tags was also investigated to assess if annual sampling is required for connectivity studies. Geochemical tag stability was found to be strongly estuary dependent.
The Estuary: A Special Place. Student Guide and Teacher Guide. OEAGLS Investigation 20.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Fortner, Rosanne; Mischler, Ron
In this unit students examine Old Woman Creek National Estuarine Sanctuary on Lake Erie to study the characteristics and importance of estuaries in general. Activities include the analysis of a pictured plankton sample, a transect study using computer data, a consideration of the ecological roles of various estuarine species, and a discussion of…
Methylmercury production in estuarine sediments: role of organic matter
Schartup, Amina T.; Mason, Robert P.; Balcom, Prentiss H.; Hollweg, Terill A.; Chen, Celia Y.
2013-01-01
Methylmercury (MeHg) affects wildlife and human health mainly through marine fish consumption. In marine systems, MeHg is formed from inorganic mercury (HgII) species primarily in sediments then accumulates and biomagnifies in the food web. Most of the fish consumed in the US are from estuarine and marine systems highlighting the importance of understanding MeHg formation in these productive regions. Sediment organic matter has been shown to limit mercury methylation in estuarine ecosystems, as a result it is often described as the primary control over MeHg production. In this paper, we explore the role of organic matter by looking at the effects of its changing sediment concentrations on the methylation rates across multiple estuaries. We measured sedimentary MeHg production at eleven estuarine sites that were selected for their contrasting biogeochemical characteristics, mercury (Hg) content, and location in the Northeastern US (ME, NH, CT, NY, and NJ). Sedimentary total Hg concentrations ranged across five orders of magnitude, increasing in concentration from the pristine, sandy sediments of Wells (ME), to industrially contaminated areas like Portsmouth (NH) and Hackensack (NJ). We find that methylation rates are the highest at locations with high Hg content (relative to carbon), and that organic matter does not hinder mercury methylation in estuaries. PMID:23194318
Salinity-oriented environmental flows for keystone species in the Modaomen Estuary, China
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Zhang, Menglu; Cui, Baoshan; Zhang, Zhiming; Jiang, Xuelian
2017-12-01
Rapid development and urbanization in recent years have contributed to a reduction in freshwater discharge and intensified saltwater intrusion in the Pearl River Delta. This comprises a significant threat to potable water supplies and overall estuary ecosystem health. In this study, the environmental flows of the Modaomen Estuary, one of the estuaries of the Pearl River Delta in China, were determined based on the salinity demand of keystone species and the linear relationship between river discharge and estuarine salinity. The estimated minimum and optimal annual environmental flows in the Modaomen Estuary were 116.8 × 109 m3 and 273.8 × 109 m3, respectively, representing 59.3% and 139.0% of the natural runoff. Water quality assessments in recent years indicate that the environmental flows have not been satisfied most of the time, particularly the optimal environmental flow, despite implementation of various water regulations since 2005. Therefore, water regulations and wetland network recoveries based on rational environmental flows should be implemented to alleviate saltwater intrusion and for the creation of an ideal estuarine habitat.
Smalling, Kelly L; Deshpande, Ashok D; Blazer, Vicki S; Dockum, Bruce W; Timmons, DeMond; Sharack, Beth L; Baker, Ronald J; Samson, Jennifer; Reilly, Timothy J
2016-06-30
Atlantic coastal bays of the US are essential habitat for young of year bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix). Their residence in these estuaries during critical life stages, high lipid content, and piscivory make bluefish an ideal bioindicator species for evaluating estuarine health. Individual whole fish from four estuaries impacted by Hurricane Sandy were collected in August 2013, analyzed for a suite of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) including polychlorinated biphenyls, polybrominated diphenyl ethers and organochlorine pesticides and evaluated using health metrics. Concentrations in whole bluefish differed by estuary; however, concentrations for many POPs decreased or were similar to those observed prior to the hurricane. Prevalence of the ectoparasitic gill isopod (Lironeca ovalis) varied by estuary and no relationships between contaminants and lesions were observed. Bluefish should be considered for monitoring programs and, if sampled frequently, could be an effective bioindicator of incremental and episodic changes in contaminants within aquatic food webs. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Biogeography of dinoflagellate cysts in northwest Atlantic estuaries
Few biogeographic studies of dinoflagellate cysts include the near-shore estuarine environment. We determine the effect of estuary type, biogeography, and water quality on the spatial distribution of organic-walled dinoflagellate cysts from the Northeast USA (Maine to Delaware) a...
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Buzzelli, Christopher; Doering, Peter; Wan, Yongshan; Sun, Detong
2014-12-01
Short- and long-term changes in estuarine biogeochemical and biological attributes are consequences of variations in both the magnitude and composition of freshwater inputs. A common conceptualization of estuaries depicts nutrient loading from coastal watersheds as the stressor that promotes algal biomass, decreases submarine light penetration, and degrades seagrass habitats. Freshwater inflow depresses salinity while simultaneously introducing colored dissolved organic matter (color or CDOM) which greatly reduces estuarine light penetration. This is especially true for sub-tropical estuaries. This study applied a model of the Caloosahatchee River Estuary (CRE) in southwest Florida to explore the relationships between freshwater inflow, nutrient loading, submarine light, and seagrass survival. In two independent model series, the loading of dissolved inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus (DIN and DIP) was reduced by 10%, 20%, 30%, and 50% relative to the base model case from 2002 to 2009 (2922 days). While external nutrient loads were reduced by lowering inflow (Q0) in the first series (Q0 series), reductions were accomplished by decreasing the incoming concentrations of DIN and DIP in the second series (NP Series). The model also was used to explore the partitioning of submarine light extinction due to chlorophyll a, CDOM, and turbidity. Results suggested that attempting to control nutrient loading by decreasing freshwater inflow could have minor effects on water column concentrations but greatly influence submarine light and seagrass biomass. This is because of the relative importance of Q0 to salinity and submarine light. In general, light penetration and seagrass biomass decreased with increased inflow and CDOM. Increased chlorophyll a did account for more submarine light extinction in the lower estuary. The model output was used to help identify desirable levels of inflow, nutrient loading, water quality, salinity, and submarine light for seagrass in the lower CRE
Modelling extreme climatic events in Guadalquivir Estuary ( Spain)
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Delgado, Juan; Moreno-Navas, Juan; Pulido, Antoine; García-Lafuente, Juan; Calero Quesada, Maria C.; García, Rodrigo
2017-04-01
Extreme climatic events, such as heat waves and severe storms are predicted to increase in frequency and magnitude as a consequence of global warming but their socio-ecological effects are poorly understood, particularly in estuarine ecosystems. The Guadalquivir Estuary has been anthropologically modified several times, the original salt marshes have been transformed to grow rice and cotton and approximately one-fourth of the total surface of the estuary is now part of two protected areas, one of them is a UNESCO, MAB Biosphere Reserve. The climatic events are most likely to affect Europe in forthcoming decades and a further understanding how these climatic disturbances drive abrupt changes in the Guadalquivir estuary is needed. A barotropic model has been developed to study how severe storm events affects the estuary by conducting paired control and climate-events simulations. The changes in the local wind and atmospheric pressure conditions in the estuary have been studied in detail and several scenarios are obtained by running the model under control and real storm conditions. The model output has been validated with in situ water elevation and good agreement between modelled and real measurements have been obtained. Our preliminary results show that the model demonstrated the capability describe of the tide-surge levels in the estuary, opening the possibility to study the interaction between climatic events and the port operations and food production activities. The barotropic hydrodynamic model provide spatially explicit information on the key variables governing the tide dynamics of estuarine areas under severe climatic scenarios . The numerical model will be a powerful tool in future climate change mitigation and adaptation programs in a complex socio-ecological system.
Subtidal sea level variability in a shallow Mississippi River deltaic estuary, Louisiana
Snedden, G.A.; Cable, J.E.; Wiseman, W.J.
2007-01-01
The relative roles of river, atmospheric, and tidal forcings on estuarine sea level variability are examined in Breton Sound, a shallow (0.7 m) deltaic estuary situated in an interdistributary basin on the Mississippi River deltaic plain. The deltaic landscape contains vegetated marshes, tidal flats, circuitous channels, and other features that frictionally dissipate waves propagating through the system. Direct forcing by local wind stress over the surface of the estuary is minimal, owing to the lack of significant fetch due to landscape features of the estuary. Atmospheric forcing occurs almost entirely through remote forcing, where alongshore winds facilitate estuary-shelf exchange through coastal Ekman convergence. The highly frictional nature of the deltaic landscape causes the estuary to act as a low-pass filter to remote atmospheric forcing, where high-frequency, coastally-induced fluctuations are significantly damped, and the damping increases with distance from the estuary mouth. During spring, when substantial quantities of controlled Mississippi River inputs (q?? = 62 m3 s-1) are discharged into the estuary, upper estuary subtidal sea levels are forced by a combination of river and remote atmospheric forcings, while river effects are less clear downestuary. During autumn (q?? = 7 m3 s-1) sea level variability throughout the estuary is governed entirely by coastal variations at the marine boundary. A frequency-dependent analytical model, previously used to describe sea level dynamics forced by local wind stress and coastal forcing in deeper, less frictional systems, is applied in the shallow Breton Sound estuary. In contrast to deeper systems where coastally-induced fluctuations exhibit little or no frictional attenuation inside the estuary, these fluctuations in the shallow Breton Sound estuary show strong frequency-dependent amplitude reductions that extend well into the subtidal frequency spectrum. ?? 2007 Estuarine Research Federation.
CLASSIFYING OREGON ESTUARIES BY HABITAT: ANALYSIS OF EXISTING DATA AND A PROPOSAL FOR A PILOT STUDY
Because many estuarine resources are linked to benthic habitats, classification of estuaries by habitat types may prove a relevant approach for grouping estuaries with similar ecological values and vulnerability to landscape alterations. As a first step, we evaluated whether pub...
Climate variability in an estuary: Effects of riverflow on San Francisco Bay
Peterson, David H.; Cayan, Daniel R.; Festa, John F.; Nichols, Frederic H.; Walters, Roy A.; Slack, James V.; Hager, Stephen E.; Schemel, Laurence E.; Peterson, David H.
1989-01-01
A simple conceptual model of estuarine variability in the context of climate forcing has been formulated using up to 65 years of estimated mean-monthly delta flow, the cumulative freshwater flow to San Francisco Bay from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River, and salinity observations near the mouth, head, mid-estuary, and coastal ocean. Variations in delta flow, the principal source of variability in the bay, originate from anomalous changes in northern and central California streamflow, much of which is linked to anomalous winter sea level pressure (“CPA”) in the eastern Pacific. In years when CPA is strongly negative, precipitation in the watershed is heavy, delta flow is high, and the bay's salinity is low; similarly, when CPA is strongly positive, precipitation is light, delta flow is low, and the bay's salinity is high. Thus the pattern of temporal variability in atmospheric pressure anomalies is reflected in the streamflow, then in delta flow, then in estuarine variability. Estuarine salinity can be characterized by river to ocean patterns in annual cycles of salinity in relation to delta flow. Salinity (total dissolved solids) data from the relatively pristine mountain streams of the Sierra Nevada show that for a given flow, one observes higher salinities during the rise in winter flow than on the decline. Salinity at locations throughout San Francisco Bay estuary are also higher during the rise in winter flow than the decline (because it takes a finite time for salinity to fully respond to changes in freshwater flow). In the coastal ocean, however, the annual pattern of sea surface salinity is reversed: lower salinities during the rise in winter flow than on the decline due to effects associated with spring upwelling. Delta flow in spring masks these effects of coastal upwelling on estuarine salinity, including near the mouth of the estuary and, in fact, explains in a statistical sense 86 percent of the variance in salinity at the mouth of the estuary. Some
Swarzenski, P.W.; Orem, W.H.; McPherson, B.F.; Baskaran, M.; Wan, Y.
2006-01-01
The distributions of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), Ba, U, and a suite of naturally occurring radionuclides in the U/Th decay series (222Rn, 223,224,226,228Ra) were studied during high- and low-discharge conditions in the Loxahatchee River estuary, Florida to examine the role of submarine groundwater discharge in estuarine transport. The fresh water endmember of this still relatively pristine estuary may reflect not only river-borne constituents, but also those advected during active groundwater/surface water (hyporheic) exchange. During both discharge conditions, Ba concentrations indicated slight non-conservative mixing. Such Ba excesses could be attributed either to submarine groundwater discharge or particle desorption processes. Estuarine dissolved organic carbon concentrations were highest at salinities closest to zero. Uranium distributions were lowest in the fresh water sites and mixed mostly conservatively with an increase in salinity. Suspended particulate matter (SPM) concentrations were generally lowest ( 28??dpm L- 1) at the freshwater endmember of the estuary and appear to identify regions of the river most influenced by the discharge of fresh groundwater. Activities of four naturally occurring isotopes of Ra (223,224,226,228Ra) in this estuary and select adjacent shallow groundwater wells yield mean estuarine water-mass transit times of less than 1 day; these values are in close agreement to those calculated by tidal prism and tidal frequency. Submarine groundwater discharge rates to the Loxahatchee River estuary were calculated using a tidal prism approach, an excess 226Ra mass balance, and an electromagnetic seepage meter. Average SGD rates ranged from 1.0 to 3.8 ?? 105??m3 d- 1 (20-74??L m- 2 d- 1), depending on river-discharge stage. Such calculated SGD estimates, which must include both a recirculated as well as fresh water component, are in close agreement with results obtained from a first-order watershed mass balance. Average submarine
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Villate, Fernando; Iriarte, Arantza; Uriarte, Ibon; Sanchez, Iraide
2017-12-01
Seasonal and interannual variations of total mesozooplankton abundance and community variability were assessed for the period 1998-2005 at 3 salinity sites (35, 33 and 30) of the estuaries of Bilbao and Urdaibai (southeast Bay of Biscay). Spatial differences in mesozooplankton seasonality were recognized, both within and between estuaries, related to differences between sites in hydrodynamic features and anthropogenic nutrient enrichment that drive phytoplankton biomass seasonal cycles. The within estuary seasonal differences in mesozooplankton community were mainly shown through seaward time-advances in the seasonal peak from summer to spring along the salinity gradient, linked to differences in phytoplankton availability during the summer, in turn, related to nutrient availability. These differences were most marked in the estuary of Urdaibai, where zooplankton seasonal pattern at 35 salinity (high tidal flushing) resembled that of shelf waters, while at 35 of the estuary of Bilbao zooplankton showed an estuarine seasonal pattern due to the influence of the estuarine plume. Cirripede larvae contributed most to the mesozooplankton seasonal variability, except at the outer estuary of Bilbao, where cladocerans and fish eggs and larvae were the major contributors, and the inner estuary of Urdaibai, where gastropod larvae contributed most. Total mesozooplankton increased at 30 salinity of the estuary of Bilbao and 35 salinity of the estuary of Urdaibai. Interannual variability of mesozooplankton at the lowest salinity of the estuary of Bilbao was mainly accounted for by copepods due to the introduction of non-indigenous species during estuarine rehabilitation from intense pollution. However, bivalve larvae and gastropod larvae showed the highest contributions at 35 salinity of the estuary of Urdaibai. At the rest of sites, the opposite interannual trends of polychaete larvae and hydromedusae generally made the highest contribution.
Wang, Hongqing; Chen, Qin; Hu, Kelin; LaPeyre, Megan K.
2017-01-01
Freshwater and sediment management in estuaries affects water quality, particularly in deltaic estuaries. Furthermore, climate change-induced sea-level rise (SLR) and land subsidence also affect estuarine water quality by changing salinity, circulation, stratification, sedimentation, erosion, residence time, and other physical and ecological processes. However, little is known about how the magnitudes and spatial and temporal patterns in estuarine water quality variables will change in response to freshwater and sediment management in the context of future SLR. In this study, we applied the Delft3D model that couples hydrodynamics and water quality processes to examine the spatial and temporal variations of salinity, total suspended solids, and chlorophyll-α concentration in response to small (142 m3 s−1) and large (7080 m3 s−1) Mississippi River (MR) diversions under low (0.38 m) and high (1.44 m) relative SLR (RSLR = eustatic SLR + subsidence) scenarios in the Breton Sound Estuary, Louisiana, USA. The hydrodynamics and water quality model were calibrated and validated via field observations at multiple stations across the estuary. Model results indicate that the large MR diversion would significantly affect the magnitude and spatial and temporal patterns of the studied water quality variables across the entire estuary, whereas the small diversion tends to influence water quality only in small areas near the diversion. RSLR would also play a significant role on the spatial heterogeneity in estuary water quality by acting as an opposite force to river diversions; however, RSLR plays a greater role than the small-scale diversion on the magnitude and spatial pattern of the water quality parameters in this deltaic estuary.
Fate, bioavailability and toxicity of silver in estuarine environments
Luoma, S.N.; Ho, Y.B.; Bryan, G.W.
1995-01-01
The chemistry and bioavailability of Ag contribute to its high toxicity in marine and estuarine waters. Silver is unusual, in that both the dominant speciation reaction in seawater and the processes important in sorbing Ag in sediments favour enhanced bioavailability. Formation of a stable chloro complex favours dispersal of dissolved Ag, and the abundant chloro complex is available to biota. Sequestration by sediments also occurs, but with relatively slow kinetics. Amorphous aggregated coatings enhance Ag accumulation in sediments, as well as Ag uptake from sediments by deposit feeders. In estuaries, the bioaccumulation of Ag increases 56-fold with each unit of increased Ag concentration in sediments. Toxicity for sensitive marine species occurs at absolute concentrations as low as those observed for any nonalkylated metal, partly because bioaccumulation increases so steeply with contamination. The environmental window of tolerance to Ag in estuaries could be narrower than for many elements.
Spatial variability of metals in the inter-tidal sediments of the Medway Estuary, Kent, UK.
Spencer, Kate L
2002-09-01
Concentrations of major and trace metals were determined in eight sediment cores collected from the inter-tidal zone of the Medway Estuary, Kent, UK. Metal associations and potential sources have been investigated using principal component analysis. These data provide the first detailed geochemical survey of recent sediments in the Medway Estuary. Metal concentrations in surface sediments lie in the mid to lower range for UK estuarine sediments indicating that the Medway receives low but appreciable contaminant inputs. Vertical metal distributions reveal variable redox zonation across the estuary and historically elevated anthropogenic inputs. Peak concentrations of Cu, Pb and Zn can be traced laterally across the estuary and their positions indicate periods of past erosion and/or non-deposition. However, low rates of sediment accumulation do not allow these sub surface maxima to be used as accurate geochemical marker horizons. The salt marshes and inter-tidal mud flats in the Medway Estuary are experiencing erosion, however the erosion of historically contaminated sediments is unlikely to re-release significant amounts of heavy metals to the estuarine system.
Persistence and Degradation Pathways of Tributyltin in Freshwater and Estuarine Sediments
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Dowson, P. H.; Bubb, J. M.; Lester, J. N.
1996-05-01
The degradation of tributyltin (TBT) in contaminated freshwater and estuarine sediments was investigated for a 330-day period under controlled laboratory conditions. Rates of TBT degradation at different depths within various sediments were established, where possible, using regression modelling, and revealed TBT half-lives ranging from 360 to 775 days in surficial sediments. There appeared to be very little difference between degradation rates in freshwater and estuarine sediments, although a notable increase in TBT half-life was evident in spiked sediments containing elevated TBT concen-trations. Degradation trends suggest that TBT either debutylates to dibutyltin (DBT) and monobutyltin (MBT) in aerobic sediments or degrades to DBT which subsequently desorbs to the overlying water column. In anaerobic sediment, the half-life of TBT was not discernible and appears to be in the order of tens of years. Biotic processes were the most important mechanisms for the decomposition of TBT in freshwater and estuarine sediments. The results are reviewed in the context of concentrations of TBT determined in marina and boatyard sediments in U.K. east coast estuaries.
Decadal-scale Evolution of Sediment Flux in the Aulne Estuary
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Moskalski, S. M.; Deschamps, A.; Floc'h, F.; Verney, R.; Piete, H.; Fromant, G.; Delacourt, C.
2013-12-01
Estuarine sediment transport processes have the potential to evolve over time in response to alterations in various factors both internal and external to the estuary, such as sediment supply, river discharge, tidal forcing, or changes to bathymetry. Changes in sediment transport can affect many estuarine processes (e.g. budgets of sediment-adsorbed contaminants or nutrients) and ecosystem services, such as aquaculture, primary production and the need to dredge shipping channels. Most studies of decadal-scale changes in estuaries focus on geomorphology or bathymetry, or are performed using models calibrated by a limited set of observational studies. Because of the potential for sediment flux to both affect and be affected by geomorphology and bathymetry, observational studies oriented to sediment flux evolution are needed. This study focuses on two intensive observational studies separated by 30 years to quantify change in suspended sediment concentration (SSC) in the Aulne river, a shallow macrotidal estuary in western Brittany. Moored and vessel-mounted acoustic Doppler current profilers and YSIs were deployed over a three-week period in the winter of 2013 to examine hydrodynamic and sediment transport processes. The results of the modern study were compared to a 1977 investigation of currents, suspended sediment concentration, and erosion/deposition. The 1977 study found that SSC during spring tide and average river discharge was less than 30 mg/L near the mouth and above 300 mg/L landward, with near-bottom concentrations in the turbidity maximum zone occasionally greater than 1000 mg/L. SSC was highest during low tide and remained elevated throughout, in the upstream part of the estuary. Sediment deposition was stronger after flood tide due to a longer slack period, which implies landward sediment transport in the estuary. In the 2013 study, near-bottom SSC during spring tide and average river discharge was also highest during low tide, but SSC was above 1000 mg
Anomalously Low pCO2 Measured in the San Francisco Estuary
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Fuller, J. R.; Wilkerson, F.; Parker, A. E.; Marchi, A.
2008-12-01
Estuaries have been identified as potential net sources of CO2 to the atmosphere. Bacterial respiration of organic matter entering the estuary leads to supersaturated levels of pCO2. The southern embayment of the San Francisco Estuary (SFE) is no exception due in part to wastewater treatment practices. Persistently high levels of pCO2 between 600 and 1000 μatm have been reported for this embayment by the U.S. Geological Survey over the period 1976-1980 and more recently (2007-2008) by the authors. However, both studies also found notable exceptions to the high pCO2 levels during the spring phytoplankton bloom. An average level of 375 μatm, slightly above the contemporary atmospheric level, was observed during an April 1980 transect. Our recent measurements over the same transect have observed an even greater drawdown of pCO2 to as low as 175 μatm. In addition the pCO2 drawdown persisted from early March 2008 until the end of May. These anomalously low levels correspond directly with an algal bloom as evidenced by high concentrations of chlorophyll a and supersaturated dissolved oxygen. To our knowledge these are the lowest levels reported for the SFE and they indicate that portions of the estuary are a sink for atmospheric CO2 during bloom conditions. The hydrology of the southern embayment is dominated at times by the input of wastewater which is often treated to the advanced secondary level with inorganic nitrate as the product. This possibly contributes to a healthy estuarine algal population that helps to maintain current pCO2 levels in the SFE to those of 30 years ago despite significant urban growth around the estuary over that period. These findings have major implications both to estuarine management and to estimates of the estuarine component in global air-sea CO2 exchange
Tracing Mississippi River influences in estuarine food webs of coastal Louisiana.
Wissel, Björn; Fry, Brian
2005-08-01
The Breton Sound estuary in southern Louisiana receives large amounts of Mississippi River water via a controlled diversion structure at the upstream end of the estuary. We used stable isotopes to trace spatial and seasonal responses of the downstream food web to winter and spring introductions of river water. Analysis of delta13C, delta15N, and delta34S in the common local consumers such as grass shrimp (Palaemonetes sp.), barnacles (Balanus sp.), and small plankton-feeding fish (bay anchovies, Anchoa mitchilli) showed that the diversion was associated with two of the five major source regimes that were supporting food webs: a river regime near the diversion and a river-influenced productive marsh regime farther away from the diversion. Mixing models identified a third river-influenced source regime at the marine end of the estuary where major natural discharge from the Bird's Foot Delta wraps around into estuarine waters. The remaining two source regimes represented typical estuarine conditions: local freshwater sources especially from precipitation and a brackish source regime representing higher salinity marine influences. Overall, the Mississippi River diversion accounted for 75% of food web support in the upper estuary and 25% in the middle estuary, with influence strongest along known flow pathways and closest to the diversion. Isotopes also traced seasonal changes in river contributions, and indicated increased plant community productivity along the major flow path of diversion water. In the Breton Sound estuary, bottom-up forcing of food webs is strongly linked to river introductions and discharge, occurring in spatial and temporal patterns predictable from known river input regimes and known hydrologic circulation patterns.
Impact of multiple stressors on juvenile fish in estuaries of the northeast Pacific.
Toft, Jason D; Munsch, Stuart H; Cordell, Jeffery R; Siitari, Kiira; Hare, Van C; Holycross, Brett M; DeBruyckere, Lisa A; Greene, Correigh M; Hughes, Brent B
2018-05-01
A key step in identifying global change impacts on species and ecosystems is to quantify effects of multiple stressors. To date, the science of global change has been dominated by regional field studies, experimental manipulation, meta-analyses, conceptual models, reviews, and studies focusing on a single stressor or species over broad spatial and temporal scales. Here, we provide one of the first studies for coastal systems examining multiple stressor effects across broad scales, focused on the nursery function of 20 estuaries spanning 1,600 km of coastline, 25 years of monitoring, and seven fish and invertebrate species along the northeast Pacific coast. We hypothesized those species most estuarine dependent and negatively impacted by human activities would have lower presence and abundances in estuaries with greater anthropogenic land cover, pollution, and water flow stress. We found significant negative relationships between juveniles of two of seven species (Chinook salmon and English sole) and estuarine stressors. Chinook salmon were less likely to occur and were less abundant in estuaries with greater pollution stress. They were also less abundant in estuaries with greater flow stress, although this relationship was marginally insignificant. English sole were less abundant in estuaries with greater land cover stress. Together, we provide new empirical evidence that effects of stressors on two fish species culminate in detectable trends along the northeast Pacific coast, elevating the need for protection from pollution, land cover, and flow stressors to their habitats. Lack of response among the other five species could be related to differing resistance to specific stressors, type and precision of the stressor metrics, and limitations in catch data across estuaries and habitats. Acquiring improved measurements of impacts to species will guide future management actions, and help predict how estuarine nursery functions can be optimized given anthropogenic
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Potter, Ian C.; Veale, Lauren; Tweedley, James R.; Clarke, K. Robert
2016-11-01
This study has determined how the characteristics of the ichthyofauna of a large eutrophic microtidal estuary changed, initially in response to major structural remedial modifications, and then, during later years, as the environment became further modified, due mainly to effects of climate change. Data on the ichthyofauna of the Peel-Harvey Estuary, in south-western Australia, were derived firstly by seining seasonally in five regions over two consecutive twelve months (two years) in 2008-10. These data were then collated with those recorded previously using the same sampling regime throughout 1980 and 1981, when massive macroalgal growths were present, and throughout 1996 and 1997, soon after the opening, in 1994, of an artificial, deep and second entrance channel. The latter resulted in greater tidal flushing, consistently high salinities and reduced macroalgal biomass. Ichthyofaunal composition changed significantly overall and in four of the five regions across the three periods. Although increased tidal exchange did not lead to a rise in the number either of those marine species that typically use estuaries as nursery areas (marine estuarine-opportunists) or of those that complete their life cycle within the estuary (estuarine residents), the contributions made by the abundances of the representatives of those two groups to the total catch of fish varied markedly between periods. Those differences were largely responsible for the inter-period changes in species composition. In contrast to the situation with marine estuarine-opportunists, increased tidal exchange and higher salinities resulted in a greater number of marine straggler species entering the system, albeit in low numbers. The ichthyofauna during 1980-81 contained relatively large numbers of species that are typically associated with macrophytes, including marine estuarine-opportunists, e.g. Pelates octolineatus, and estuarine residents e.g. Ostorhinchus rueppellii and Hyporhamphus regularis
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Mitchell, Steven B.; Jennerjahn, Tim C.; Vizzini, Salvatrice; Zhang, Weiguo
2015-04-01
From the 2013 ECSA conference 'Estuaries and Coastal Areas in Times of Intense Change' a theme emerged that has ended up being the focus of this Special Issue of Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science, namely 'Changes to processes in estuaries and coastal waters due to intense multiple pressures'. Many parts of the world are continuing to experience unprecedented rates of economic growth, and those responsible for managing coastal and estuarine areas must respond accordingly. At the same time, global climate change and sea level rise are also continuing, placing new or more intense pressures on coastal areas that must be dealt with in ways that are as far as possible managed as a result of good scientific understanding. There are other pressures too, which depend on the system concerned. This article provides an overview of the papers contained within the Special Issue and provides a discussion of how these fit within the main theme of intense multiple stressors, considering how a balance can be achieved between the needs of various different stakeholders and interest groups, and the sustainability of the system concerned. We categorise the papers in four main groupings: (1) stressors related to sea level rise; (2) stressors related to changes in fresh water inputs; (3) stressors related to anthropogenic pollution; and (4) the use of indicators as a means of assessing the effects of stressors, and reflect on the fact that despite the diversity of different challenges and geographical regions involved many of the approaches and discussions contained within the Special Issue have strong similarities, leading to a set of overarching principles that should be considered when making recommendations on management strategies.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Dame, R.; Childers, D.; Koepfler, E.
Using ecosystem development theory and the River Continuum Concept as starting points, we present a new holistic theory to explain the spatial and temporal behaviour of marsh-estuarine ecosystems Along the marine-estuarine-freshwater gradient in response to sea-level rise. In this theory, a geohydrologic continuum represented by tidal channel provides a predictable physical model of how the marsh-estuarine ecosystem adapts until there is a change of state. North Inlet, South Carolina is used as an example of this marsh-estuarine continuum. Mature creeks are at the ocean-estuary interface and are strongly influenced by marine factors. Further into the estuary, less and less mature creeks are encountered which are dominated by smaller scale spatial and temporal controls such as oyster reefs. Immature or ephemeral creeks import both particulate and dissolved materials, while mature creeks export both forms of nutrients. Mid-aged creeks appear to take up particulate materials and release dissolved constituents. Ultimately, the continuum reaches the fresh-saltwater interface where a very young estuarine ecosystem invades a more mature type, under the influence of disturbance. Our new explanation satisfies most criteria for a good theory by being internally consistent to the location specified, generating testable hypothesis, not blindly adapting existing theories, agreeing with known properties of the ecosystem described and by generating new invigorating discussion within the scientific community.
The Mobile Bay estuary provides rich habitat for many fish and shellfish, including those identified as economically and ecologically important. The National Estuary Program has focused on restoration of degraded estuarine habitat on which these species depend. To support this ...
Bioaccumulation of metals by Fucus ceranoides in estuaries of South West England.
Varma, Ranjit; Turner, Andrew; Brown, Murray T
2011-11-01
Fucus ceranoides tolerates abiotic conditions encountered across the full range of estuarine salinities. We examined the bioaccumulation of metals in individuals and metal concentrations in accompanying sediment samples collected at different locations along estuaries of South West England. Intra- and inter-estuarine variations in metal accumulation by F. ceranoides, after correction for particulate contamination using Fe as a proxy, were attributed to variations in the availabilities and concentrations of aqueous metals. Greatest accumulation was observed in estuaries that remain most heavily impacted by historical mining activities and for metals that were mobilised to the greatest extent during these operations (As, Cu, Sn, Zn). Arsenic concentrations displayed a seaward increase in estuaries in which multiple samples were taken, whereas Cd concentrations were always greatest in samples collected from the most landward locations. Ongoing research aims to better understand the mechanisms and kinetics of metal interactions with F. ceranoides and their dependence on salinity. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Parameter Space of the Columbia River Estuarine Turbidity Maxima
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
McNeil, C. L.; Shcherbina, A.; Lopez, J.; Karna, T.; Baptista, A. M.; Crump, B. C.; Sanford, T. B.
2016-12-01
We present observations of estuarine turbidity maxima (ETM) in the North Channel of the Columbia River estuary (OR and WA, USA) covering different river discharge and flood tide conditions. Measurements were made using optical backscattering sensors on two REMUS-100 autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) during spring 2012, summer 2013, and fall 2012. Although significant short term variability in AUV measured optical backscatter was observed, some clustering of the data occurs around the estuarine regimes defined by a mixing parameter and a freshwater Froude number (Geyer & MacCready [2014]). Similar clustering is observed in long term time series of turbidity from the SATURN observatory. We will use available measurements and numerical model simulations of suspended sediment to further explore the variability of suspended sediment dynamics within a frame work of estuarine parameter space.
Microplastic in three urban estuaries, China.
Zhao, Shiye; Zhu, Lixin; Li, Daoji
2015-11-01
Estuarine Microplastics (MPs) are limited to know globally. By filtering subsurface water through 330 μm nets, MPs in Jiaojiang, Oujiang Estuaries were quantified, as well as that in Minjiang Estuary responding to Typhoon Soulik. Polymer matrix was analyzed by Raman spectroscopy. MP (<5 mm) comprised more than 90% of total number plastics. The highest MPs density was found in Minjiang, following Jiaojiang and Oujiang. Fibers and granules were the primary shapes, with no pellets found. Colored MPs were the majority. The concentrations of suspended microplastics determine their bioavailability to low trophic organisms, and then possibly promoting the transfer of microplastic to higher trophic levels. Polypropylene and polyethylene were the prevalent types of MPs analyzed. Economic structures in urban estuaries influenced on MPs contamination levels. Typhoon didn't influence the suspended MP densities significantly. Our results provide basic information for better understanding suspended microplastics within urban estuaries and for managerial actions. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Collaborative Potential between National Estuary Programs ...
Estuaries are among the most productive ecosystems in the world, providing unique habitat for freshwater and marine species as well as valuable social and economic benefits. The wealth of ecosystem goods and services from estuaries has led to growth and development of human communities in adjacent areas and an increase in human activities that can adversely affect water quality and critical habitat. Managing for sustainable estuaries requires a balance of environmental concerns with community social and economic values. This has created an opportunity to leverage Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) scientific knowledge and tools with National Estuary Program (NEP) planning and management expertise to address environmental challenges in important estuarine ecosystems. The non-regulatory National Estuary Program (NEP) was outlined in the Clean Water Act to provide stakeholders an opportunity to monitor and manage ‘nationally significant’ estuaries. Currently there are 28 estuaries in the NEP, broadly distributed across the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf Coasts, and in Puerto Rico. The local NEP management conferences must address a variety of environmental issues, from water quality and natural resources to coastal and watershed development. While the underlying objectives of each NEP are quite similar, each has unique landscapes, land uses, waterbodies, habitats, biological resources, economies and social culture. Consequently, the effects and severity of anthr
Combined effects of acidification and hypoxia on the estuarine ctenophore, Mnemiopsis leidyi
Estuaries are transitive zones which experience large fluctuations in environmental parameters (temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, etc.). The interactive effects of reduced dissolved oxygen (DO) and elevated pCO2 on estuarine organisms is not currently well understood. Ctenophore...
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Jay, D. A.; Leffler, K.; Diefenderfer, Heida L.
This two-part paper provides comprehensive time and frequency domain analyses and models of along-channel water level variations in the 234km-long Lower Columbia River and Estuary (LCRE) and documents the response of floodplain wetlands thereto. In Part I, power spectra, continuous wavelet transforms, and harmonic analyses are used to understand the influences of tides, river flow, upwelling and downwelling, and hydropower operations ("power-peaking") on the water level regime. Estuarine water levels are influenced primarily by astronomical tides and coastal processes, and secondarily by river flow. The importance of coastal and tidal influences decreases in the landward direction, and water levels aremore » increasingly controlled by river flow variations at periods from ≤1 day to years. Water level records are only slightly non-stationary near the ocean, but become increasingly irregular upriver. Although astronomically forced tidal constituents decrease above the estuary, tidal fortnightly and overtide variations increase for 80-200km landward, both relative to major tidal constituents and in absolute terms.« less
A numerical study of local variations in tidal regime of Tagus estuary, Portugal.
Dias, João Miguel; Valentim, Juliana Marques; Sousa, Magda Catarina
2013-01-01
Tidal dynamics of shallow estuaries and lagoons is a complex matter that has attracted the attention of a large number of researchers over the last few decades. The main purpose of the present work is to study the intricate tidal dynamics of the Tagus estuary, which states as the largest estuary of the Iberian Peninsula and one of the most important wetlands in Portugal and Europe. Tagus has large areas of low depth and a remarkable geomorphology, both determining the complex propagation of tidal waves along the estuary of unknown manner. A non-linear two-dimensional vertically integrated hydrodynamic model was considered to be adequate to simulate its hydrodynamics and an application developed from the SIMSYS2D model was applied to study the tidal propagation along the estuary. The implementation and calibration of this model revealed its accuracy to predict tidal properties along the entire system. Several model runs enabled the analysis of the local variations in tidal dynamics, through the interpretation of amplitude and phase patterns of the main tidal constituents, tidal asymmetry, tidal ellipses, form factor and tidal dissipation. Results show that Tagus estuary tidal dynamics is extremely dependent on an estuarine resonance mode for the semi-diurnal constituents that induce important tidal characteristics. Besides, the estuarine coastline features and topography determines the changes in tidal propagation along the estuary, which therefore result essentially from a balance between convergence/divergence and friction and advection effects, besides the resonance effects.
A Numerical Study of Local Variations in Tidal Regime of Tagus Estuary, Portugal
Dias, João Miguel; Valentim, Juliana Marques; Sousa, Magda Catarina
2013-01-01
Tidal dynamics of shallow estuaries and lagoons is a complex matter that has attracted the attention of a large number of researchers over the last few decades. The main purpose of the present work is to study the intricate tidal dynamics of the Tagus estuary, which states as the largest estuary of the Iberian Peninsula and one of the most important wetlands in Portugal and Europe. Tagus has large areas of low depth and a remarkable geomorphology, both determining the complex propagation of tidal waves along the estuary of unknown manner. A non-linear two-dimensional vertically integrated hydrodynamic model was considered to be adequate to simulate its hydrodynamics and an application developed from the SIMSYS2D model was applied to study the tidal propagation along the estuary. The implementation and calibration of this model revealed its accuracy to predict tidal properties along the entire system. Several model runs enabled the analysis of the local variations in tidal dynamics, through the interpretation of amplitude and phase patterns of the main tidal constituents, tidal asymmetry, tidal ellipses, form factor and tidal dissipation. Results show that Tagus estuary tidal dynamics is extremely dependent on an estuarine resonance mode for the semi-diurnal constituents that induce important tidal characteristics. Besides, the estuarine coastline features and topography determines the changes in tidal propagation along the estuary, which therefore result essentially from a balance between convergence/divergence and friction and advection effects, besides the resonance effects. PMID:24312474
Partitioning of mercury onto suspended sediments in estuaries.
Le Roux, S M; Turner, A; Millward, G E; Ebdon, L; Appriou, P
2001-02-01
Radiochemical partitioning experiments using 203Hg have been undertaken with mixtures of river, seawater and sediment samples taken from three geochemically contrasting UK estuaries: the Plym, Beaulieu and Mersey. Species of dissolved Hg were determined using reversed-phase C18 chelating columns and particulate species were determined by sequential leaching with 1 M NH4OAc and 1 M HCl. Mercury had a high particle reactivity with partition coefficients, KDs, ranging from 10(4) to 5 x 10(5) ml g(-1), depending on salinity, the chemical composition of the end-member waters, and on the physico-chemical characteristics of the sediment. Dissolved organic matter present in the waters (humic substances and/or anthropogenic compounds) was found to be the main factor governing the forms of dissolved Hg and their reactivity. From the spiked 203Hg, up to 95% of the dissolved metal was retained on the C18 columns for the Mersey waters, whereas this fraction was < 60% in the Plym and Beaulieu waters. Quasi-irreversible adsorption of Hg onto particles from each estuary was observed over a time-scale of a few hours and < 20% of total particulate Hg was released by the sequential leach. In this paper, physico-chemical processes are proposed to explain the estuarine behaviour of Hg and the results are discussed in terms of Hg availability in estuarine systems.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Reis-Santos, Patrick; Gillanders, Bronwyn M.; Tanner, Susanne E.; Vasconcelos, Rita P.; Elsdon, Travis S.; Cabral, Henrique N.
2012-10-01
The chemical composition of fish otoliths can provide valuable information for determining the nursery value of estuaries to adult populations of coastal fishes. However, understanding temporal variation in elemental fingerprints at different scales is important as it can potentially confound spatial discrimination among estuaries. Otolith elemental ratios (Li:Ca, Mg:Ca, Mn:Ca, Cu:Ca, Sr:Ca, Ba:Ca and Pb:Ca) of Platichthys flesus and Dicentrarchus labrax, from several estuaries along the Portuguese coast in two years and three seasons (spring, summer and autumn) within a year, were determined via Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry. Elemental fingerprints varied significantly among years and seasons within a year but we achieved accurate classifications of juvenile fish to estuarine nursery of origin (77-96% overall cross-validated accuracy). Although elemental fingerprints were year-specific, variation among seasons did not hinder spatial discrimination. Estuarine fingerprints of pooled seasonal data were representative of the entire juvenile year class and attained high discrimination (77% and 80% overall cross-validated accuracy for flounder and sea bass, respectively). Incorporating seasonal variation resulted in up to an 11% increase in correct classification of individual estuaries, in comparison to seasons where accuracies were lowest. Overall, understanding the implications of temporal variations in otolith chemistry for spatial discrimination is key to establish baseline data for connectivity studies.
Turbidity as a control on phytoplankton biomass and productivity in estuaries
Cloern, J.E.
1987-01-01
In many coastal plain estuaries light attenuation by suspended sediments confines the photic zone to a small fraction of the water column, such that light limitation is a major control on phytoplankon production and turnover rate. For a variety of estuarine systems (e.g. San Francisco Bay, Puget Sound, Delaware Bay, Hudson River plume), photic-zone productivity can be estimated as a function of phytoplankton biomass times mean irradiance of the photic zone. Net water column productivity also varies with light availability, and in San Francisco Bay net productivity is zero (estimated respiratory loss of phytoplankton balances photosynthesis) when the ratio of photic depth (Zp) to mixed depth (Zm) is less than about 0.2. Thus whenever Zp:Zm < 0.2, the water column is a sink for phytoplankton production. Much of the spatial and temporal variability of phytoplankton biomass or productivity in estuaries is explained by variations in the ratio of photic depth to mixed depth. For example, phytoplankton blooms often coincide with stratification events that reduce the depth of the surface mixed layer (increase Zp:Zm). Shallow estuarine embayments (high Zp:Zm) are often characterized by high phytoplankton biomass relative to adjacent channels (low Zp:Zm). Many estuaries have longitudinal gradients in productivity that mirror the distribution of suspended sediments: productivity is low near the riverine source of sediments (low Zp:Zm) and increases toward the estuary mouth where turbidity decreases. Some of these generalizations are qualitative in nature, and detailed understanding of the interaction between turbidity and estuarine phytoplankton dynamics requires improved understanding of vertical mixing rates and phytoplankton respiration. ?? 1987.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) is developing e-Estuary, a decision-support system for Clean Water Act applications in coastal management. E-Estuary has three elements: an estuarine geo-referenced relational database, watershed GIS coverages, and tools to suppo...
DOWNSTREAM MIGRATION OF SALMONID SMOLTS IN OREGON RIVERS AND ESTUARIES
Migratory fish passage is an important designated use for many Oregon estuaries. Acoustic transmitters were implanted in coho smolts in 2004 and 2006 to evaluate how estuarine habitat, and habitat loss, might affect population health. Acoustic receivers that identified individu...
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Woulds, Clare; Cowie, Greg; Witte, Ursula; Middelburg, Jack
2013-04-01
The supply of detrital organic matter to marine sediments is important for the nutrition of benthic ecosystems, while its remineralisation and burial supplies nutrients to the water column, and is a significant C sequestration process. Biological processes regulate sedimentary organic matter cycling, however the dominant processes vary between sites, and our knowledge of the factors driving that variation is still limited. Isotope tracing experiments have shown that the pattern and rate of biological processing of organic carbon (C) in marine sediments allows sites to be categorised based on the relative importance of different processes and C pools. Thus, total community respiration is often the dominant process, but its dominance is maximal in deep ocean sediments. In shallower settings, with greater organic matter availability, faunal uptake of organic C becomes more significant, and, where there is particularly high faunal biomass, can become dominant. New isotope tracing experiments have been conducted which compare biological C processing patterns in two contrasting Scottish estuaries. These are Loch Etive, where muddy, comparatively organic C rich sediments become hypoxic within millimetres of the sediment-water interface; and the Ythan estuary, where organic C poor, sandy sediments are kept oxygenated by porewater advection. Taken together with other experiments from the literature, the results now suggest that estuarine and shelf sandy sediments constitute a distinct category of biological C processing, in which bacterial C uptake plays a particularly significant role.
Question: Does wetland plant composition vary more by estuarine type (differentiated by the degree of riverine versus oceanic influence) or habitat type within estuaries (defined by US National Wetlands Inventory [NWI] marsh classes)? Location: Oregon estuaries: Netarts Bay, ...
Identifying candidate water quality criteria in estuarine waters is confounded by differences among estuaries and biogeographic regions. Dealing with these differences is paramount to successfully addressing estuarine water quality impairment. As such, we outline an approach to...
Gopal, V; Nithya, B; Magesh, N S; Jayaprakash, M
2018-04-01
Twenty four surface sediments were gathered from the Uppanar river estuary, southern India to evaluate the trace element contamination risk in the sediments. The circulation of organic matter and calcium carbonate were controlled by algal blooms and shell fragments. Moreover, the concentrations of iron and manganese in the estuarine sediments were possibly contributed by riverine sources and geogenic processes. The geoaccumulation index, enrichment factor and contamination factor reveals that the sediments were contaminated by copper and chromium. The pollution load index recommends that the estuarine sediments have the risk of pollution. The sediment pollution index highlights that the majority of the sediments are low polluted sediments. The potential ecological risk index discloses that the Uppanar river estuary is under moderate risk. The statistical analysis reveals that the organic matter content is managed by fine fractions and the majority of the trace elements are associated with each other having similar origin. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Pathways of Methylmercury Transfer to the Water Column Across Multiple Estuaries
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Schartup, A. T.; Balcom, P. H.; Mason, R. P.; Chen, C.
2014-12-01
Estuarine water column methylmercury (MeHg) is an important driver of bioaccumulation in pelagic organisms so it is important to understand the sources and cycling of MeHg. As MeHg biomagnifies in food webs, increased water column concentrations can be transferred to fish consumed by humans. Few studies have taken a multi-estuary approach to look at MeHg cycling in the water column of these important MeHg producing areas. We examined the distributions and partitioning of sediment and water column MeHg across a geographic range of estuaries. In 2008 we sampled 10 shallow-water estuarine sites from Maine to New Jersey, sampled 11 sites in 4 estuaries in 2009, and sampled at 3 estuarine turbidity maximum (ETM) sites in 1 estuary in 2012. Sediment measurements included both solid phase and pore water MeHg and total mercury (HgT). Water column parameters included dissolved and particulate MeHg and HgT, total suspended solids, nutrients, and dissolved organic carbon. Average suspended particle MeHg was highest at Wells (ME; 6 to 11.5 pmol/g; 4.5 to 7% of HgT) and lowest at Portsmouth (NH) and in Long Island Sound (CT-NY; 0.2 to 5.5 pmol/g; 0.25 to 3.75% of HgT). Average water column dissolved MeHg was highest in the Delaware River ETM (0.5 to 0.7 pM; 16 to 24% of HgT) and lowest at Portsmouth (0.06 to 0.12 pM; 1 to 2% of HgT). Significant positive correlations were found between MeHg and HgT across multiple estuaries in both sediment and the water column in 2008 and 2009. In contrast, water column dissolved and suspended particle MeHg do not correlate well with sediment MeHg or HgT, pore water MeHg or methylation rates in sediment across estuaries, indicating that sediment is often not a good predictor of water MeHg levels. However, ratios of average dissolved:pore water MeHg and suspended particle:sediment MeHg are close to 1 in the Delaware River ETM, suggesting that sediment supplies MeHg to the water column in this turbulent region, but average pore water MeHg was
Sources and Loading of Nitrogen to U.S. Estuaries
Previous assessments of land-based nitrogen loading and sources to U.S. estuaries have been limited to estimates for larger systems with watersheds at the scale of 8-digit HUCs and larger, in part due to the coarse resolution of available data, including estuarine watershed bound...
Maier, Gerald; Glegg, Gillian A; Tappin, Alan D; Worsfold, Paul J
2009-07-01
Using the Taw Estuary as an example, data routinely collected by the Environment Agency for England and Wales over the period 1990-2004 were interrogated to identify the drivers of excessive algal growth. The estuary was highly productive with chlorophyll concentrations regularly exceeding 100 microg L(-1), mostly during periods of low freshwater input from the River Taw when estuarine water residence times were longest. However, algal growth in mid estuary was often inhibited by ammonia inputs from the adjacent sewage treatment works. The reported approach demonstrates the value of applying conventional statistical analyses in a structured way to existing monitoring data and is recommended as a useful tool for the rapid assessment of eutrophication. However, future estuarine monitoring should include the collection of dissolved organic nutrient data and targeted high temporal resolution data because the drivers of eutrophication are complex and often very specific to a particular estuary.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
García-Alonso, J.; Lercari, D.; Araujo, B. F.; Almeida, M. G.; Rezende, C. E.
2017-03-01
Estuarine transitional waters constitute regions affected by or at risk of anthropogenic impact due to urbanization and industrial development. The elemental composition of the intertidal biofilm sediment is an excellent marker for the detection of any impact, and may exert a bottom-up influence by natural concatenation to higher organization levels (e.g. molecules, cells, organisms, communities). The distribution pattern of elemental composition (total and bioavailable fraction) along the estuary axes was analyzed, disentangling potential shifts produced by human activities. We predict that most abundant elements in the Rio de la Plata estuary are the natural earth-crust components and that these will not show any evident gradient along the estuarine axis. Elements involved in human related processes will shape concentration gradients from the most probable source (i.e. cities) indicating estuarine pollution. The research strategy involved the sampling of intertidal biofilm along the entire estuary and the registration of environmental variables and the total and bioavailable elemental composition. Sampling sites represent pristine, agricultural, and urbanized areas along a 428-km-long coastline comprising the inner, middle and outer Río de la Plata estuarine zones and a coastal fringe of oceanic beaches of Uruguay (South America). Biofilm sediment samples were collected in Autumn 2011 and digested for total and extractable (bioavailable) elements quantification measured by ICP-OES. Mercury (Hg) sediments were digested with aqua regia and quantified by cold vapor atomic absorption (CVAAS). The most abundant elements measured were Al, Fe, and Ca in all sampling. Anthropogenic marker elements such as Hg, Cr, Pb, Zn, and Cu were found, even at potentially toxic levels, at urban beaches at the city of Montevideo. The ordination of samples highlights the distinctive characteristics of urban beaches, placed in a particular location along the first principal component
Environmental features and macrofauna of Kahana Estuary, Oahu, Hawaii
Maciolek, J.A.; Timbol, A.S.
1981-01-01
Lack of ecological information on Hawaiian estuaries prompted an intensive 2-year study of a small (5.7 ha) stream-mouth estuary on windward Oahu. Water quality and macrofauna were sampled weekly at seven stations. The water mass was strongly stratified vertically except during freshets. Average values for water column temperature and bottom salinity were 23.2°C and 12‰ at the head to 28.3°C and 28‰ at the mouth. Dissolved oxygen saturation in the water column varied from about 50% at night to 140% in the afternoon. Usually, bottom waters were 3–6°C warmer than surface waters and sometimes showed severe oxygen depletion.Macrofauna, collected primarily by seining, consisted mainly of decapod crustaceans (four species of crabs, seven species of shrimps) and fishes (24 species). Other typical estuarine taxons (mollusks, barnacles, polychaetes) were scarce or absent. Diversity increased seaward from 14 species near the estuary head to 29 species near the mouth. Three species of crustaceans and six of fishes were captured at all stations. Most abundant were the native prawn, Macrobrachium grandimanus, and mullet, Mugil cephalus. Perennially resident adults occurred among crustaceans and gobioid fishes; most other fishes were present as juveniles and sporadic adults. Comparisons with other data suggest that more than 50 species of native fishes may occur in Hawaiian estuaries, and that estuarine macrofaunal diversity on oceanic islands is much lower than on continents at similar latitudes.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Van Damme, Stefan; Frank, Dehairs; Micky, Tackx; Olivier, Beauchard; Eric, Struyf; Britta, Gribsholt; Oswald, Van Cleemput; Patrick, Meire
2009-11-01
Tidal marsh exchange studies are relatively simple tools to investigate the interaction between tidal marshes and estuaries. They have mostly been confined to only a few elements and to saltwater or brackish systems. This study presents mass-balance results of an integrated one year campaign in a freshwater tidal marsh along the Scheldt estuary (Belgium), covering oxygen, nutrients (N, P and Si), carbon, chlorophyll, suspended matter, chloride and sulfate. The role of seepage from the marsh was also investigated. A ranking between the parameters revealed that oxygenation was the strongest effect of the marsh on the estuarine water. Particulate parameters showed overall import. Export of dissolved silica (DSi) was more important than exchange of any other nutrient form. Export of DSi and import of total dissolved nitrogen (DIN) nevertheless contributed about equally to the increase of the Si:N ratio in the seepage water. The marsh had a counteracting effect on the long term trend of nutrient ratios in the estuary.
Shulkin, Vladimir; Zhang, Jing
2014-11-15
This paper compares the distributions of dissolved and particulate forms of Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb in the estuaries of the largest rivers in East Asia: the Amur River and the Changjiang (Yangtze River). High suspended solid concentrations, elevated pH, and relatively low dissolved trace metal concentrations are characteristics of the Changjiang. Elevated dissolved Fe and Mn concentrations, neutral pH, and relatively low suspended solid concentrations are characteristics of the Amur River. The transfer of dissolved Fe to suspended forms is typical in the Amur River estuary, though Cd and Mn tend to mobilize to solution, and Cu and Ni are diluted in the estuarine system. Metal concentrations in suspended matter in the Amur River estuary are controlled by the ratio of terrigenous riverine material, enriched in Al and Fe, and marine biogenic particles, enriched in Cu, Mn, Cd, and in some cases Ni. The increase in dissolved forms of Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Cd, and Pb compared with river end-member is unique to the Changjiang estuary. Particle-solution interactions are not reflected in bulk suspended-solid metal concentrations in the Changjiang estuary due to the dominance of particulate forms of these metals. Cd is an exception in the Changjiang estuary, where the increase in dissolved Cd is of comparable magnitude to the decrease in particulate Cd. Despite runoff in the Amur River being lower than that in the Changjiang, the fluxes of dissolved Mn, Zn and Fe in the Amur River exceed those in the Changjiang. Dissolved Ni, and Cd fluxes are near equal in both estuaries, but dissolved Cu is lower in the Amur River estuary. The hydrological and physico-chemical river characteristics are dominated at the assessment of river influence on the adjoining coastal sea areas despite differences in estuarine processes. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
García-Luque, E.; González-Mazo, E.; Forja, J. M.; Gómez-Parra, A.
2009-02-01
Dynamic laboratory simulation of processes affecting chemical species in their transit through estuaries is a very useful tool to characterize these littoral systems. To date, laboratory studies concerning biodegradation and sorption (onto suspended particulate matter) of LAS in an estuary are scarce. For this reason, a dynamic automated estuarine simulator has been employed to carry out different experiments in order to assess the biodegradability of linear alkyl benzene sulfonates (LAS) and their biodegradation intermediates (sulfophenylcarboxylic acids, SPCs) using environmentally representative LAS concentrations in estuaries by a continuous injection of LAS into the system. During the experiments, a great affinity of LAS for the solid phase has been found, as well as an increased adsorption in line with increased chain length. On the other hand, the presence of SPCs with chain length between 6 and 13 carbon atoms was detected. Accumulation and persistence of medium chain length SPCs (C 6-C 8) along the experiments show that their degradation constitutes the limiting step for the process of LAS mineralization. In the final zone of the simulated estuarine system, the levels of SPCs were below the limits of detection. Thus, the disappearance of SPCs indicated that LAS biodegradation had been completed along the estuary. Similar results have been described for different Iberian littoral ecosystems. Therefore, the simulator employed in this research appears to be a useful tool to anticipate the behaviour of a xenobiotic chemical in its transit through littoral systems with different salinity gradients.
Benthic phosphorus regeneration in the Potomac River Estuary
Callender, E.
1982-01-01
The flux of dissolved reactive phosphate from Potomac riverine and estuarine sediments is controlled by processes occurring at the water-sediment interface and within surficial sediment. In situ benthic fluxes (0.1 to 2.0 mmoles m-2 day-1) are generally five to ten times higher than calculated diffusive fluxes (0.020 to 0.30 mmoles m-2 day-1). The discrepancy between the two flux estimates is greatest in the transition zone (river mile 50 to 70) and is attributd to macrofaunal irrigation. Both in situ and diffusive fluxes of dissolved reactive phosphate from Potomac tidal river sediments are low while those from anoxic lower estuarine sediments are high. The net accumulation rate of phosphorus in benthic sediment exhibits an inverse pattern. Thus a large fraction of phosphorus is retained by Potomac tidal river sediments, which contain a surficial oxidized layer and oligochaete worms tolerant of low oxygen conditions, and a large fraction of phosphorus is released from anoxic lower estuary sediments. Tidal river sediment pore waters are in equilibrium with amorphous Fe (OH)3 while lower estuary pore waters are significantly undersaturated with respect to this phase. Benthic regeneration of dissolved reactive phosphorus is sufficient to supply all the phosphorus requirements for net primary production in the lower tidal river and transition-zone waters of the Potomac River Estuary. Benthic regeneration supplies approximately 25% as much phosphorus as inputs from sewage treatment plants and 10% of all phosphorus inputs to the tidal Potomac River. When all available point source phosphorus data are put into a steady-state conservation of mass model and reasonable coefficients for uptake of dissolved phosphorus, remineralization of particulate phosphorus, and sedimentation of particulate phosphorus are used in the model, a reasonably accurate simulation of dissolved and particulate phosphorus in the water column is obtained for the summer of 1980. ?? 1982 Dr W. Junk
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Wiesnet, D. R. (Principal Investigator); Mcginnis, D. F.; Matson, M.
1980-01-01
The author has identified the following significant results. The HCMM thermal data are useful for monitoring estuarine surface thermal patterns. Estuarine thermal patterns, are, under certain conditions, indicative of the surface tidal current circulation patterns. Under optimum conditions, estuaries as small as the Cooper River (i.e., approximately 100 sq km) can be monitored for tidal/thermal circulation patterns by HCMM-type IR sensors.
Summertime conditions of a muddy estuarine environment: the EsCoSed project contribution.
Brocchini, Maurizio; Calantoni, Joseph; Reed, Allen H; Postacchini, Matteo; Lorenzoni, Carlo; Russo, Aniello; Mancinelli, Alessandro; Corvaro, Sara; Moriconi, Giacomo; Soldini, Luciano
2015-01-01
As part of the Estuarine Cohesive Sediments (EsCoSed) project, a field experiment was performed in a highly engineered environment, acting as a natural laboratory, to study the physico-chemical properties of estuarine sediments and the associated hydro-morphodynamics during different seasons. The present contribution focuses on the results obtained from the summertime monitoring of the most downstream part of the Misa River (Senigallia, Italy). The measured hydrodynamics suggested a strong interaction between river current, wave forcing and tidal motion; flow velocities, affected by wind waves traveling upstream, changed significantly along the water column in both direction and magnitude. Surficial salinities in the estuary were low in the upper reaches of the estuary and exceeded 10 psu before the river mouth. Montmorillonite dominated the clay mineral assemblage, suggesting that large, low density flocs with high settling velocities (>1 mm s(-1)) may dominate the suspended aggregate materials.
A note on the comparative turbidity of some estuaries of the Americas
Uncles, R.J.; Smith, R.E.
2005-01-01
Field data from 27 estuaries of the Americas are used to show that, in broad terms, there is a large difference in turbidity between the analyzed east and west-coast estuaries and that tidal range and tidal length have an important influence on that turbidity. Generic, numerical sediment-transport modeling is used to illustrate this influence, which exists over a range of space scales from, e.g., the Rogue River Estuary (few km, few mg l-1) to the Bay of Fundy (hundreds of km, few g l-1). The difference in Pacific and Atlantic seaboard estuarine turbidity for the analyzed estuaries is ultimately related to the broad-scale geomorphology of the two continents.
Anderson, Zachary T; Cundy, Andrew B; Croudace, Ian W; Warwick, Phillip E; Celis-Hernandez, Omar; Stead, Jessica L
2018-06-21
Microplastics are an increasingly important contaminant in the marine environment. Depending on their composition and degree of biofouling, many common microplastics are less dense than seawater and so tend to float at or near the ocean surface. As such, they may exhibit high concentrations in the sea surface microlayer (SML - the upper 1-1000 μm of the ocean) relative to deeper water. This paper examines the accumulation of microplastics, in particular microfibres, in the SML in two contrasting estuarine systems - the Hamble estuary and the Beaulieu estuary, southern U.K., via a novel and rapid SML-selective sampling method using a dipped glass plate. Microplastic concentrations (for identified fibres, of 0.05 to 4.5 mm length) were highest in the SML-selective samples (with a mean concentration of 43 ± 36 fibres/L), compared to <5 fibres/L for surface and sub-surface bulk water samples. Data collected show the usefulness of the dipped glass plate method as a rapid and inexpensive tool for sampling SML-associated microplastics in estuaries, and indicate that microplastics preferentially accumulate at the SML in estuarine conditions (providing a potential transfer mechanism for incorporation into upper intertidal sinks). Fibres are present (and readily sampled) in both developed and more pristine estuarine systems.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Davis, Tom R.; Harasti, David; Smith, Stephen D. A.; Kelaher, Brendan P.
2016-11-01
Climate change induced sea level rise will affect shallow estuarine habitats, which are already under threat from multiple anthropogenic stressors. Here, we present the results of modelling to predict potential impacts of climate change associated processes on seagrass distributions. We use a novel application of relative environmental suitability (RES) modelling to examine relationships between variables of physiological importance to seagrasses (light availability, wave exposure, and current flow) and seagrass distributions within 5 estuarine embayments. Models were constructed separately for Posidonia australis and Zostera muelleri subsp. capricorni using seagrass data from Port Stephens estuary, New South Wales, Australia. Subsequent testing of models used independent datasets from four other estuarine embayments (Wallis Lake, Lake Illawarra, Merimbula Lake, and Pambula Lake) distributed along 570 km of the east Australian coast. Relative environmental suitability models provided adequate predictions for seagrass distributions within Port Stephens and the other estuarine embayments, indicating that they may have broad regional application. Under the predictions of RES models, both sea level rise and increased turbidity are predicted to cause substantial seagrass losses in deeper estuarine areas, resulting in a net shoreward movement of seagrass beds. Seagrass species distribution models developed in this study provide a valuable tool to predict future shifts in estuarine seagrass distributions, allowing identification of areas for protection, monitoring and rehabilitation.
Herrmann, Maria; Najjar, Raymond G.; Kemp, W. Michael; Alexander, Richard B.; Boyer, Elizabeth W.; Cai, Wei-Jun; Griffith, Peter C.; Kroeger, Kevin D.; McCallister, S. Leigh; Smith, Richard A.
2015-01-01
Net ecosystem production (NEP) and the overall organic carbon budget for the estuaries along the East Coast of the United States are estimated. We focus on the open estuarine waters, excluding the fringing wetlands. We developed empirical models relating NEP to loading ratios of dissolved inorganic nitrogen to total organic carbon, and carbon burial in the sediment to estuarine water residence time and total nitrogen input across the landward boundary. Output from a data-constrained water quality model was used to estimate inputs of total nitrogen and organic carbon to the estuaries across the landward boundary, including fluvial and tidal-wetland sources. Organic carbon export from the estuaries to the continental shelf was computed by difference, assuming steady state. Uncertainties in the budget were estimated by allowing uncertainties in the supporting model relations. Collectively, U.S. East Coast estuaries are net heterotrophic, with the area-integrated NEP of −1.5 (−2.8, −1.0) Tg C yr−1 (best estimate and 95% confidence interval) and area-normalized NEP of −3.2 (−6.1, −2.3) mol C m−2 yr−1. East Coast estuaries serve as a source of organic carbon to the shelf, exporting 3.4 (2.0, 4.3) Tg C yr−1 or 7.6 (4.4, 9.5) mol C m−2 yr−1. Organic carbon inputs from fluvial and tidal-wetland sources for the region are estimated at 5.4 (4.6, 6.5) Tg C yr−1 or 12 (10, 14) mol C m−2 yr−1 and carbon burial in the open estuarine waters at 0.50 (0.33, 0.78) Tg C yr−1 or 1.1 (0.73, 1.7) mol C m−2 yr−1. Our results highlight the importance of estuarine systems in the overall coastal budget of organic carbon, suggesting that in the aggregate, U.S. East Coast estuaries assimilate (via respiration and burial) ~40% of organic carbon inputs from fluvial and tidal-wetland sources and allow ~60% to be exported to the shelf.
Liu, Kon-Kee; Kao, Shuh-Ji; Wen, Liang-Saw; Chen, Kuan-Lun
2007-08-15
The Danshuei Estuary is distinctive for the relatively short residence time (1-2 d) of its estuarine water and the very high concentration of ammonia, which is the dominant species of dissolved inorganic nitrogen in the estuary, except near the river mouth. These characteristics make the dynamics of nitrogen cycling distinctively different from previously studied estuaries and result in unusual isotopic compositions of particulate nitrogen (PN). The delta(15)N(PN) values ranging from -16.4 per thousand to 3.8 per thousand lie in the lower end of nitrogen isotopic compositions (-16.4 to +18.7 per thousand) of suspended particulate matter observed in estuaries, while the delta(13)C values of particulate organic carbon (POC) and the C/N (organic carbon to nitrogen) ratios showed rather normal ranges from -25.5 per thousand to -19.0 per thousand and from 6.0 to 11.3, respectively. There were three major types of particulate organic matter (POM) in the estuary: natural terrigenous materials consisting mainly of soils and bedrock-derived sediments, anthropogenic wastes and autochthonous materials from the aquatic system. During the typhoon induced flood period in August 2000, the flux-weighted mean of delta(13)C(POC) values was -24.4 per thousand, that of delta(15)N(PN) values was +2.3 per thousand and that of C/N ratio was 9.3. During non-typhoon periods, the concentration-weighted mean was -23.6 per thousand for delta(13)C(POC), -2.6 per thousand for delta(15)N(PN) and 8.0 for C/N ratio. From the distribution of delta(15)N(PN) values of highly polluted estuarine waters, we identified the waste-dominated samples and calculated their mean properties: delta(13)C(POC) value of -23.6+/-0.7 per thousand, delta(15)N(PN) value of -3.0+/-0.1 per thousand and C/N ratio of 8.0+/-1.4. Using a three end-member mixing model based on delta(15)N(PN) values and C/N ratios, we calculated contributions of the three major allochthonous sources of POC, namely, wastes, soils and bedrock
Nitrogen isotope and mass balance approach in the Elbe Estuary
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Sanders, Tina; Wankel, Scott D.; Dähnke, Kirstin
2017-04-01
The supply of bioavailable nitrogen is crucial to primary production in the world's oceans. Especially in estuaries, which act as a nutrient filter for coastal waters, microbial nitrogen turnover and removal has a particular significance. Nitrification as well as other nitrogen-based processes changes the natural abundance of the stable isotope, which can be used as proxies for sources and sinks as well as for process identification. The eutrophic Elbe estuary in northern Germany is loaded with fertilizer-derived nitrogen, but management efforts have started to reduce this load effectively. However, an internal nitrate source in turn gained in importance and the estuary changed from a sink to a source of dissolved inorganic nitrogen: Nitrification is responsible for significant estuarine nutrient regeneration, especially in the Hamburg Port. In our study, we aimed to quantify sources and sinks of nitrogen based on a mass and stable isotope budget in the Elbe estuary. A model was developed reproduce internal N-cycling and associated isotope changes. For that approach we measured dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN), particulate nitrogen and their stable isotopes in a case study in July 2013. We found an almost closed mass balance of nitrogen, with only low lost or gains which we attribute to sediment resuspension. The isotope values of different DIN components and the model approach both support a high fractionation of up to -25‰ during nitrification. However, the nitrogen balance and nitrogen stable isotopes suggest that most important processes are remineralization of organic matter to ammonium and further on the oxidation to nitrate. Denitrification and nitrate assimilation play a subordinate role in the Elbe Estuary.
Macroinvertebrates are commonly used as biomonitors to detect pollution impacts in estuaries. The goal of this research was to identify estuarine benthic invertebrates that could be used as indicator species to detect presence or absence of pollution in the Virginian Biogeograph...
Estuary-ocean connectivity: fast physics, slow biology.
Raimonet, Mélanie; Cloern, James E
2017-06-01
Estuaries are connected to both land and ocean so their physical, chemical, and biological dynamics are influenced by climate patterns over watersheds and ocean basins. We explored climate-driven oceanic variability as a source of estuarine variability by comparing monthly time series of temperature and chlorophyll-a inside San Francisco Bay with those in adjacent shelf waters of the California Current System (CCS) that are strongly responsive to wind-driven upwelling. Monthly temperature fluctuations inside and outside the Bay were synchronous, but their correlations weakened with distance from the ocean. These results illustrate how variability of coastal water temperature (and associated properties such as nitrate and oxygen) propagates into estuaries through fast water exchanges that dissipate along the estuary. Unexpectedly, there was no correlation between monthly chlorophyll-a variability inside and outside the Bay. However, at the annual scale Bay chlorophyll-a was significantly correlated with the Spring Transition Index (STI) that sets biological production supporting fish recruitment in the CCS. Wind forcing of the CCS shifted in the late 1990s when the STI advanced 40 days. This shift was followed, with lags of 1-3 years, by 3- to 19-fold increased abundances of five ocean-produced demersal fish and crustaceans and 2.5-fold increase of summer chlorophyll-a in the Bay. These changes reflect a slow biological process of estuary-ocean connectivity operating through the immigration of fish and crustaceans that prey on bivalves, reduce their grazing pressure, and allow phytoplankton biomass to build. We identified clear signals of climate-mediated oceanic variability in this estuary and discovered that the response patterns vary with the process of connectivity and the timescale of ocean variability. This result has important implications for managing nutrient inputs to estuaries connected to upwelling systems, and for assessing their responses to changing
Dipson, P T; Chithra, S V; Amarnath, A; Smitha, S V; Harindranathan Nair, M V; Shahin, Adhem
2015-01-15
The study area, located in the western side of Kerala State, South India, is a part of Vembanad-Kol wetlands - the largest estuary in India's western coastal wetland system and one of the Ramsar Sites of Kerala. Major portion of this estuary comes under the Ernakulam district which includes the Cochin City - the business and Industrial hub of Kerala, which has seen fast urbanization since independence (1947). Recently, this region is subjected to a characteristic fast urban sprawl, whereas, the estuarine zone is subjected to tremendous land use/land cover changes (LULC). Periodic monitoring of the estuary is essential for the formulation of viable management options for the sustainable utilization of this vital environmental resource. Remote sensing coupled with GIS applications has proved to be a useful tool in monitoring wetland changes. In the present study, the changes this estuarine region have undergone from 1944 to 2009 have been monitored with the help of multi-temporal satellite data. Estuarine areas were mapped with the help of Landsat MSS (1973), Landsat ETM (1990) and IRS LISS-III (1998 and 2009) using visual interpretation and digitization techniques in ArcGIS 9.3 Environment. The study shows a progressive decrease in the estuarine area, the reasons of which are identified chronologically. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Caeiro, Sandra; Goovaerts, Pierre; Painho, Marco; Costa, M Helena
2003-09-15
The Sado Estuary is a coastal zone located in the south of Portugal where conflicts between conservation and development exist because of its location near industrialized urban zones and its designation as a natural reserve. The aim of this paper is to evaluate a set of multivariate geostatistical approaches to delineate spatially contiguous regions of sediment structure for Sado Estuary. These areas will be the supporting infrastructure of an environmental management system for this estuary. The boundaries of each homogeneous area were derived from three sediment characterization attributes through three different approaches: (1) cluster analysis of dissimilarity matrix function of geographical separation followed by indicator kriging of the cluster data, (2) discriminant analysis of kriged values of the three sediment attributes, and (3) a combination of methods 1 and 2. Final maximum likelihood classification was integrated into a geographical information system. All methods generated fairly spatially contiguous management areas that reproduce well the environment of the estuary. Map comparison techniques based on kappa statistics showed thatthe resultant three maps are similar, supporting the choice of any of the methods as appropriate for management of the Sado Estuary. However, the results of method 1 seem to be in better agreement with estuary behavior, assessment of contamination sources, and previous work conducted at this site.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Costa, Patrícia; Dórea, Antônio; Mariano-Neto, Eduardo; Barros, Francisco
2015-12-01
Species distribution and structural patterns of mangrove fringe forests along three tropical estuaries were evaluated in northeast of Brazil. Interstitial water salinity, percentage of fine sediments and organic matter content were investigated as explanatory variables. In all estuaries (Jaguaripe, Paraguaçu and Subaé estuaries), it was observed similar distribution patterns of four mangrove species and these patterns were mostly related with interstitial water salinity. Rhizophora mangle and Avicennia schaueriana tended to dominate sites under greater marine influence (lower estuary), while Avicennia germinans and Laguncularia racemosa dominated areas under greater freshwater influence (upper estuary), although the latter showed a wider distribution over these tropical estuarine gradients. Organic matter best explained canopy height and mean height. At higher salinities, there was practically no correlation between organic matter and density, but at lower salinity, organic matter was related to decreases in abundances. The described patterns can be related to interspecific differences in salt tolerance and competitive abilities and they are likely to be found at other tropical Atlantic estuaries. Future studies should investigate anthropic influences and causal processes in order to further improve the design of monitoring and restoration projects.
The impacts of the Samarco mine tailing spill on the Rio Doce estuary, Eastern Brazil.
Gomes, Luiz Eduardo de Oliveira; Correa, Lucas Barreto; Sá, Fabian; Neto, Renato Rodrigues; Bernardino, Angelo Fraga
2017-07-15
Over 50 million cubic meters of mining tailings were released in the Rio Doce basin after the collapse of the Fundão dam (Samarco) in November 2015. Predicting significant impacts on the Rio Doce estuary, we sampled sediments to investigate short-term impacts on the benthic assemblages and trace metal accumulation on estuarine sediments. With the arrival of the tailing plumes in the estuary, we detected a predominance of clay particles and increased trace metal concentrations of up to 5 times in some areas. The rapid sedimentation after the impact also impacted estuarine macrofaunal assemblages through loss surface-dwelling taxa. As expected, the impacts on benthic assemblages observed up to 3days after the arrival of tailings were not clearly associated with trace metal concentrations, but long-term effects need to be studied. We recommend that the high spatial variability within the estuary be considered in future impact assessment studies. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Why are there so few freshwater fish species in most estuaries?
Whitfield, A K
2015-04-01
The freshwater fish assemblage in most estuaries is not as species rich as the marine assemblage in the same systems. Coupled with this differential richness is an apparent inability by most freshwater fish species to penetrate estuarine zones that are mesohaline (salinity: 5·0-17·9), polyhaline (salinity: 18·0-29·9) or euhaline (salinity: 30·0-39·9). The reason why mesohaline waters are avoided by most freshwater fishes is difficult to explain from a physiological perspective as many of these species would be isosmotic within this salinity range. Perhaps, a key to the poor penetration of estuarine waters by freshwater taxa is an inability to develop chloride cells in gill filament epithelia, as well as a lack of other osmoregulatory adaptations present in euryhaline fishes. Only a few freshwater fish species, especially some of those belonging to the family Cichlidae, have become fully euryhaline and have successfully occupied a wide range of estuaries, sometimes even dominating in hyperhaline systems (salinity 40+). Indeed, this review found that there are few fish species that can be termed holohaline (i.e. capable of occupying waters with a salinity range of 0-100+) and, of these taxa, there is a disproportionally high number of freshwater species (e.g. Cyprinodon variegatus, Oreochromis mossambicus and Sarotherodon melanotheron). Factors such as increased competition for food and higher predation rates by piscivorous fishes and birds may also play an important role in the low species richness and abundance of freshwater taxa in estuaries. Added to this is the relatively low species richness of freshwater fishes in river catchments when compared with the normally higher diversity of marine fish species for potential estuarine colonization from the adjacent coastal waters. The almost complete absence of freshwater fish larvae from the estuarine ichthyoplankton further reinforces the poor representation of this guild within these systems. An explanation as
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Sampath, D. M. R.; Boski, T.
2018-05-01
Large-scale geomorphological evolution of an estuarine system was simulated by means of a hybrid estuarine sedimentation model (HESM) applied to the Guadiana Estuary, in Southwest Iberia. The model simulates the decadal-scale morphodynamics of the system under environmental forcing, using a set of analytical solutions to simplified equations of tidal wave propagation in shallow waters, constrained by empirical knowledge of estuarine sedimentary dynamics and topography. The key controlling parameters of the model are bed friction (f), current velocity power of the erosion rate function (N), and sea-level rise rate. An assessment of sensitivity of the simulated sediment surface elevation (SSE) change to these controlling parameters was performed. The model predicted the spatial differentiation of accretion and erosion, the latter especially marked in the mudflats within mean sea level and low tide level and accretion was mainly in a subtidal channel. The average SSE change mutually depended on both the friction coefficient and power of the current velocity. Analysis of the average annual SSE change suggests that the state of intertidal and subtidal compartments of the estuarine system vary differently according to the dominant processes (erosion and accretion). As the Guadiana estuarine system shows dominant erosional behaviour in the context of sea-level rise and sediment supply reduction after the closure of the Alqueva Dam, the most plausible sets of parameter values for the Guadiana Estuary are N = 1.8 and f = 0.8f0, or N = 2 and f = f0, where f0 is the empirically estimated value. For these sets of parameter values, the relative errors in SSE change did not exceed ±20% in 73% of simulation cells in the studied area. Such a limit of accuracy can be acceptable for an idealized modelling of coastal evolution in response to uncertain sea-level rise scenarios in the context of reduced sediment supply due to flow regulation. Therefore, the idealized but cost
Sea-level Rise Impacts on Oregon Estuaries: Biology and Hydrology
Estuaries are transitional ecosystems located at the margin of the land and ocean and as a result they are particularly sensitive to sea level rise and other climate drivers. In this presentation, we summarize the potential impacts of sea level rise on key estuarine habitats inc...
Sun, Xueshi; Fan, Dejiang; Liu, Ming; Tian, Yuan; Pang, Yue; Liao, Huijie
2018-06-18
Sediment samples, including 40 surface samples and 12 sediment cores, were collected from 52 stations of the Yangtze River Estuary (YRE) in 2015 and 2016. The 95% linear prediction intervals (LPI) and principal components analysis (PCA), were conducted to evaluate the metal sources and grain-size effect (GSE). The in situ physico-chemical properties of pH, Eh, DO, salinity, temperature and turbidity were combined to elucidate the relationships between environmental factors and the fate of heavy metals in the river-estuary-shelf system. This study indicates a decreasing trend of metals in sediments from the estuary towards the adjacent shelf and the river channel and that Zn, Cu and Cr are mainly derived from natural processes throughout the catchment, whereas Pb appears to have anthropogenic inputs via atmospheric deposition. Furthermore, considering the best fit regression lines between the concentrations of Al and heavy metals as well as the deficiencies of the conventional C elements /C Al method, we introduce an approach (Al-SN: Al-scope normalization) that can eliminate the GSE on heavy metals and be applied to other estuaries. After Al-scope normalization, the relatively constant levels of Zn, Cu and Cr that remain in sediments from the river channel to the estuary and shelf confirmed that the variation of grain size in sediments almost entirely explained the distribution patterns of sediment toxicity in the YRE, while the enrichment of Pb in estuarine sediments could be attributed to its chemical species and physico-chemical properties. The results further suggest that the relationship between grain size and spatial behavior of sediment pollutants should be given priority over the contamination assessment and provenance discrimination in estuarine or similar environments with complex sediment compositions. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Samanta, Saumik; Dalai, Tarun K.
2018-05-01
The Ganga River System is a major contributor to the global sediment and water discharge to the oceans. The estuary of Ganga (Hooghly) River in India is under increasing influence of anthropogenic contributions via discharge of the industrial and urban effluents. Here we document, based on the investigation of water and suspended sediment samples collected during six periods over two years, that there is extensive production of heavy metals (Co, Ni and Cu) in the estuary such that the annual dissolved fluxes of metals from the Hooghly River are enhanced by up to 230-1770%. Furthermore, the estuarine dissolved metal fluxes, when normalized with water fluxes, are the highest among estuaries of the major rivers in the world. Our simultaneous data on the dissolved, suspended particulate and exchangeable phases allow us to identify the ion-exchange process (coupled adsorption and desorption) as the dominant contributor to the generation of heavy metals in the middle and lower estuary where the estimated anthropogenic contribution is negligible. The estimated contributions from the groundwater are also insufficient to explain the measured metal concentrations in the estuary. A strong positive correlation that is observed between the dissolved heavy metal fluxes and the suspended particulate matter (SPM) fluxes, after normalizing them with the water fluxes, for estuaries of the major global rivers imply that the solute-particle interaction is a globally significant process in the estuarine production of metals. Based on this correlation that is observed for major estuaries around the world, we demonstrate that the South Asian Rivers which supply only ∼9% of the global river water discharge but carry elevated SPM load, contribute a far more significant proportion (∼40 ± 2% Ni and 15 ± 1% Cu) to the global supply of the dissolved metals from the rivers.
Populations of burrowing shrimp (Neotrypaea californiensis and Upogebia p;ugettensis) are the dominant invertebrate fauna on Pacific estuarine tide flats, occupying >80% of intertidal area in some estuaries. Burrowing shrimp are renowned for their bioturbation of intertidal sedi...
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Teixeira, Catarina; Magalhães, Catarina; Joye, Samantha B.; Bordalo, Adriano A.
2014-04-01
Studies of anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) continue to show the significance of this metabolic pathway for the removal of nitrogen (N) in several natural environments, including estuaries. However, the seasonal dynamics of the anammox process and related environmental controls within estuarine systems remains poorly explored. We evaluated the seasonal anammox activity along a salinity gradient in two temperate Atlantic estuaries, the Ave and the Douro (NW Portugal). Anammox potential rates were measured in anaerobic sediment slurries using 15N-labeled NO3- and NH4+ amendments. Production of 29N2 and 30N2 in the slurries was quantified using membrane inlet mass spectrometry (MIMS). Environmental characteristics of the sediment and water column were also monitored. Anammox potentials in the Ave and Douro estuarine sediments varied between 0.8-8.4, and 0-2.9 nmol cm-3 wet sediment h-1, respectively, with high seasonal and spatial fluctuations. Inorganic nitrogen availability emerged as the primary environmental control of anammox activity, while water temperature appeared to modulate seasonal variations. The contribution of anammox to overall N2 production averaged over 20%, suggesting that the role of anammox in removing fixed N from these two systems cannot be neglected.
Anderson, O Roger
2016-05-01
Estuaries are among the most productive and economically important marine ecosystems at the land-ocean interface and contribute significantly to exchange of CO2 with the atmosphere. Estuarine microbial communities are major links in the biogeochemical C cycle and flow of C in food webs from primary producers to higher consumers. Considerable attention has been given to bacteria and autotrophic eukaryotes in estuarine ecosystems, but less research has been devoted to the role of heterotrophic eukaryotic microbes. Current research is reviewed here on the role of heterotrophic eukaryotic microbes in C biogeochemistry and ecology of estuaries, with particular attention to C budgets, trophodynamics, and the metabolic fate of C in microbial communities. Some attention is given to the importance of these processes in climate change and global warming, especially in relation to sources and sinks of atmospheric CO2 , while also documenting the current paucity of research on the role of eukaryotic microbes that contribute to this larger question of C biogeochemistry and the environment. Some recommendations are made for future directions of research and opportunities of applying newer technologies and analytical approaches to a more refined analysis of the role of C in estuarine microbial community processes and the biogeochemical C cycle. © 2015 The Author Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology © 2015 International Society of Protistologists.
Primary Productivity Regime and Nutrient Removal in the Danube Estuary
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Humborg, C.
1997-11-01
The primary productivity regime, as well as the distribution of dissolved inorganic nutrients and particulate organic matter in the Danube estuary, were investigated during several cruises at different discharge regimes of the Danube River. The shallowness of the upper surface layer due to insignificant tidal mixing and strong stratification of the Danube estuary, as well as the high nutrient concentrations, are favourable for elevated primary production. The incident light levels at the bottom of the upper surface layer of the water column (0·5-3·0 m) were generally higher than 20% of the surface irradiance. Elevated chlorophyll (Chl) aconcentrations with maxima at mid salinities were found during each survey. Within the upper mixed layer estimated primary production of 0·2-4·4 g m-2day-1is very high compared with estuaries of other major world rivers. Mixing diagrams of dissolved inorganic nutrients reveal removal of significant quantities of nutrients during estuarine mixing. These observations were consistent with the distribution of particular organic matter, which was negatively correlated to the nutrient distribution during each survey. C:Chl aratios, as well as the elevated estimated production, indicate that biological transformation processes govern the nutrient distribution in this estuary.
Geographic signatures of North American West Coast estuaries
Emmett, Robert; Llansó, Roberto; Newton, Jan; Thom, Ron; Hornberger, Michelle; Morgan, Cheryl; Levings, Colin; Copping, Andrea; Fishman, Paul
2000-01-01
West Coast estuaries are geologically young and composed of a variety of geomorphological types. These estuaries range from large fjords to shallow lagoons; from large to low freshwater flows. Natural hazards include E1 Niños, strong Pacific storms, and active tectonic activity. West Coast estuaries support a wide range of living resources: five salmon species, harvestable shellfish, waterfowl and marine birds, marine mammals, and a variety of algae and plants. Although populations of many of these living resources have declined (salmonids), others have increased (marine mammals). West Coast estuaries are also centers of commerce and increasingly large shipping traffic. The West Coast human population is rising faster than most other areas of the U.S. and Canada, and is distributed heavily in southern California, the San Francisco Bay area, around Puget Sound, and the Fraser River estuary. While water pollution is a problem in many of the urbanized estuaries, most estuaries do not suffer from poor water quality. Primary estuarine problems include habitat alterations, degradation, and loss; diverted freshwater flows; marine sediment contamination; and exotic species introductions. The growing West Coast economy and population are in part related to the quality of life, which is dependent on the use and enjoyment of abundant coastal natural resources.
Chaudhuri, Kaberi; Manna, Suman; Sarma, Kakoli Sen; Naskar, Pankaj; Bhattacharyya, Somenath; Bhattacharyya, Maitree
2012-10-19
Sundarbans is the single largest deltaic mangrove forest in the world, formed at estuarine phase of the Ganges - Brahmaputra river system. Primary productivity of marine and coastal phytoplankton contributes to 15% of global oceanic production. But unfortunately estuarine dynamics of tropical and subtropical estuaries have not yet received proper attention in spite of the fact that they experience considerable anthropogenic interventions and a baseline data is required for any future comparison. This study is an endeavor to this end to estimate the primary productivity (gross and net), community respiration and nitrification rates in different rivers and tidal creeks around Jharkhali island, a part of Sundarbans estuary surrounded by the mangrove forest during a period of three years starting from November'08 to October'11. Various physical and chemical parameters of water column like pH, temperature, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, suspended particulate matter, secchi disc index, tidal fluctuation and tidal current velocity, standing crop and nutrients were measured along with water column productivity. Relationship of net water column productivity with algal biomass (standing crop), nutrient loading and turbidity were determined experimentally. Correlations of bacterial abundance with community respiration and nitrification rates were also explored. Annual integrated phytoplankton production rate of this tidal estuary was estimated to be 151.07 gC m-2 y-1. Gross primary productivity showed marked inter annual variation being lowest in monsoon and highest in postmonsoon period. Average primary production was a function of nutrient loading and light penetration in the water column. High aquatic turbidity, conductivity and suspended particulate matter were the limiting factors to attenuate light penetration with negative influence on primary production. Community respiration and nitrification rates of the estuary were influenced by the bacterial abundance
2012-01-01
Background Sundarbans is the single largest deltaic mangrove forest in the world, formed at estuarine phase of the Ganges - Brahmaputra river system. Primary productivity of marine and coastal phytoplankton contributes to 15% of global oceanic production. But unfortunately estuarine dynamics of tropical and subtropical estuaries have not yet received proper attention in spite of the fact that they experience considerable anthropogenic interventions and a baseline data is required for any future comparison. This study is an endeavor to this end to estimate the primary productivity (gross and net), community respiration and nitrification rates in different rivers and tidal creeks around Jharkhali island, a part of Sundarbans estuary surrounded by the mangrove forest during a period of three years starting from November’08 to October’11. Results Various physical and chemical parameters of water column like pH, temperature, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, suspended particulate matter, secchi disc index, tidal fluctuation and tidal current velocity, standing crop and nutrients were measured along with water column productivity. Relationship of net water column productivity with algal biomass (standing crop), nutrient loading and turbidity were determined experimentally. Correlations of bacterial abundance with community respiration and nitrification rates were also explored. Annual integrated phytoplankton production rate of this tidal estuary was estimated to be 151.07 gC m-2 y-1. Gross primary productivity showed marked inter annual variation being lowest in monsoon and highest in postmonsoon period. Conclusion Average primary production was a function of nutrient loading and light penetration in the water column. High aquatic turbidity, conductivity and suspended particulate matter were the limiting factors to attenuate light penetration with negative influence on primary production. Community respiration and nitrification rates of the estuary were
Impacts of flocculation on the distribution and diagenesis of iron in boreal estuarine sediments
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Jilbert, Tom; Asmala, Eero; Schröder, Christian; Tiihonen, Rosa; Myllykangas, Jukka-Pekka; Virtasalo, Joonas J.; Kotilainen, Aarno; Peltola, Pasi; Ekholm, Päivi; Hietanen, Susanna
2018-03-01
Iron (Fe) plays a key role in sedimentary diagenetic processes in coastal systems, participating in various redox reactions and influencing the burial of organic carbon. Large amounts of Fe enter the marine environment from boreal river catchments associated with dissolved organic matter (DOM) and as colloidal Fe oxyhydroxides, principally ferrihydrite. However, the fate of this Fe pool in estuarine sediments has not been extensively studied. Here we show that flocculation processes along a salinity gradient in an estuary of the northern Baltic Sea efficiently transfer Fe and OM from the dissolved phase into particulate material that accumulates in the sediments. Flocculation of Fe and OM is partially decoupled. This is likely due to the presence of discrete colloidal ferrihydrite in the freshwater Fe pool, which responds differently from DOM to estuarine mixing. Further decoupling of Fe from OM occurs during sedimentation. While we observe a clear decline with distance offshore in the proportion of terrestrial material in the sedimentary particulate organic matter (POM) pool, the distribution of flocculated Fe in sediments is modulated by focusing effects. Labile Fe phases are most abundant at a deep site in the inner basin of the estuary, consistent with input from flocculation and subsequent focusing. The majority of the labile Fe pool is present as Fe (II), including both acid-volatile sulfur (AVS)-bound Fe and unsulfidized phases. The ubiquitous presence of unsulfidized Fe (II) throughout the sediment column suggests Fe (II)-OM complexes derived from reduction of flocculated Fe (III)-OM, while other Fe (II) phases are likely derived from the reduction of flocculated ferrihydrite. Depth-integrated rates of Fe (II) accumulation (AVS-Fe + unsulfidized Fe (II) + pyrite) for the period 1970-2015 are greater in the inner basin of the estuary with respect to a site further offshore, confirming higher rates of Fe reduction in near-shore areas. Mössbauer 57Fe
Estuarine habitat utilization by birds in Yaquina Estuary, Oregon
A wide variety of bird species are highly dependent on intertidal wetland habitats. Because of this dependency, birds are viewed as important indicators of wetland structure and function. Wetlands in Yaquina Bay along with the tidal wetlands in other Pacific coastal estuaries r...
Abstract and oral presentation for the Estuarine Research Federation Conference.
Estuarine retention of watershed nutrient loads, system-wide nutrient biogeochemical fluxes, and net ecosystem metabolism (NEM) were determined in three estuaries exhibiting differing magnitud...
2004 AND 2006 COHO SMOLT MOVEMENT IN THE YAQUINA RIVER AND ESTUARY
Migratory fish passage is an important designated use for many Oregon estuaries. Acoustic transmitters were implanted in coho smolts in 2004 and 2006 to evaluate how estuarine habitat, and habitat loss, might affect population health. Acoustic receivers that identified individu...
Intertidal Eelgrass Response to Benthic Macroalgal Accumulation in a Pacific Northwest Estuary
High accumulations of benthic macroalgae from excessive nutrient inputs to estuaries is commonly cited as a major cause of seagrass decline. Two measures of macroalgal abundance, biomass and percent cover, have been used in an assessment framework for estuarine condition propose...
Assessment of the trophic status of four coastal lagoons and one estuarine delta, eastern Brazil.
Cotovicz Junior, Luiz Carlos; Brandini, Nilva; Knoppers, Bastiaan Adriaan; Mizerkowski, Byanka Damian; Sterza, José Mauro; Ovalle, Alvaro Ramon Coelho; Medeiros, Paulo Ricardo Petter
2013-04-01
Anthropogenic eutrophication of aquatic ecosystems continues to be one of the major environmental issues worldwide and also of Brazil. Over the last five decades, several approaches have been proposed to discern the trophic state and the natural and cultural processes involved in eutrophication, including the multi-parameter Assessment of Estuarine Trophic Status (ASSETS) index model. This study applies ASSETS to four Brazilian lagoons (Mundaú, Manguaba, Guarapina, and Piratininga) and one estuarine delta (Paraíba do Sul River), set along the eastern Brazilian coast. The model combines three indices based on the pressure-state-response (PSR) approach to rank the trophic status and forecast the potential eutrophication of a system, to which a final ASSETS grade is established. The lagoons were classified as being eutrophic and highly susceptible to eutrophication, due primarily to their longer residence times but also their high nutrient input index. ASSETS classified the estuary of the Paraíba do Sul river with a low to moderate trophic state (e.g., largely mesotrophic) and low susceptibility to eutrophication. Its nutrient input index was high, but the natural high dilution and flushing potential driven by river flow mitigated the susceptibility to eutrophication. Eutrophication forecasting provided more favorable trends for the Mundaú and Manguaba lagoons and the Paraíba do Sul estuary, in view of the larger investments in wastewater treatment and remediation plans. The final ASSETS ranking system established the lagoons of Mundaú as "moderate," Manguaba as "bad," Guarapina as "poor," and Piratininga as "bad," whereas the Paraíba do Sul River Estuary was "good."
Granek, Elise F.; Conn, Kathleen E.; Nilsen, Elena B.; Pillsbury, Lori; Strecker, Angela L.; Rumrill, Steve; Fish, William
2016-01-01
Chemical contaminants can be introduced into estuarine and marine ecosystems from a variety of sources including wastewater, agriculture and forestry practices, point and non-point discharges, runoff from industrial, municipal, and urban lands, accidental spills, and atmospheric deposition. The diversity of potential sources contributes to the likelihood of contaminated marine waters and sediments and increases the probability of uptake by marine organisms. Despite widespread recognition of direct and indirect pathways for contaminant deposition and organismal exposure in coastal systems, spatial and temporal variability in contaminant composition, deposition, and uptake patterns are still poorly known. We investigated these patterns for a suite of persistent legacy contaminants including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and chemicals of emerging concern including pharmaceuticals within two Oregon coastal estuaries (Coos and Netarts Bays). In the more urbanized Coos Bay, native Olympia oyster (Ostrea lurida) tissue had approximately twice the number of PCB congeners at over seven times the total concentration, yet fewer PBDEs at one-tenth the concentration as compared to the more rural Netarts Bay. Different pharmaceutical suites were detected during each sampling season. Variability in contaminant types and concentrations across seasons and between species and media (organisms versus sediment) indicates the limitation of using indicator species and/or sampling annually to determine contaminant loads at a site or for specific species. The results indicate the prevalence of legacy contaminants and CECs in relatively undeveloped coastal environments highlighting the need to improve policy and management actions to reduce contaminant releases into estuarine and marine waters and to deal with legacy compounds that remain long after prohibition of use. Our results point to the need for better understanding of the ecological and
Gao, Jinjuan; Shi, Huahong; Dai, Zhijun; Mei, Xuefei
2015-06-01
Sediments in estuaries, especially those containing a large reservoir of contaminants released from urban and industrial activities, have had great impacts on benthic fauna and associated species. A better understanding of the toxicity of contaminants in estuarine sediments is of great significance to ecological assessments. Here, based on the collected sediments from neap to spring tides in the South Passage, Changjiang Estuary, the toxicity of the sediments was first studied using the frog embryo teratogenesis assay-Xenopus (FETAX). The results showed that the extracts of estuarine sediments induced multiple malformations in the embryos and that the phenotypes of malformation had two distinct patterns of variations corresponding to the tidal cycles. The phenotypes in the first pattern were dominated by hypopigmentation and edema of the heart, and the pattern was mainly controlled by fine-grained fractions. The phenotypes in the second pattern were dominated by edema of the heart and enlarged proctodeum, and it was mostly controlled by coarse-grain fractions. The sediment toxicity was higher during the spring and flood tides, which may be influenced by the grain size and sediment resuspension. Furthermore, obvious periodicities existed in the changes of the percentages of hatching (14-16 h and 6 h), enlarged proctodeum (15-18 h), and bent tail (5-7 h) due to the influence of tidal cycles. Moreover, our results also suggested that FETAX is an appropriate cost-effective biological monitoring tool to assess estuarine ecological health in contaminated sediments. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Discontinuous Galerkin modeling of the Columbia River's coupled estuary-plume dynamics
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Vallaeys, Valentin; Kärnä, Tuomas; Delandmeter, Philippe; Lambrechts, Jonathan; Baptista, António M.; Deleersnijder, Eric; Hanert, Emmanuel
2018-04-01
The Columbia River (CR) estuary is characterized by high river discharge and strong tides that generate high velocity flows and sharp density gradients. Its dynamics strongly affects the coastal ocean circulation. Tidal straining in turn modulates the stratification in the estuary. Simulating the hydrodynamics of the CR estuary and plume therefore requires a multi-scale model as both shelf and estuarine circulations are coupled. Such a model has to keep numerical dissipation as low as possible in order to correctly represent the plume propagation and the salinity intrusion in the estuary. Here, we show that the 3D baroclinic discontinuous Galerkin finite element model SLIM 3D is able to reproduce the main features of the CR estuary-to-ocean continuum. We introduce new vertical discretization and mode splitting that allow us to model a region characterized by complex bathymetry and sharp density and velocity gradients. Our model takes into account the major forcings, i.e. tides, surface wind stress and river discharge, on a single multi-scale grid. The simulation period covers the end of spring-early summer of 2006, a period of high river flow and strong changes in the wind regime. SLIM 3D is validated with in-situ data on the shelf and at multiple locations in the estuary and compared with an operational implementation of SELFE. The model skill in the estuary and on the shelf indicate that SLIM 3D is able to reproduce the key processes driving the river plume dynamics, such as the occurrence of bidirectional plumes or reversals of the inner shelf coastal currents.
Late Wisconsinan-Holocene paleogeography of Delaware Bay; a large coastal plain estuary
Knebel, H.J.; Fletcher, C. H.; Kraft, J.C.
1988-01-01
mouths of tributaries and small marginal embayments. As the fetch and tidal prism of the estuary increased, narrow barrier and headland beaches, composed of fine to coarse sands, were formed locally along the bay shorelines. In the later stages of development, sediment scour, reworking and transport became the dominant processes within the open estuary. Data from this study demonstrate the great temporal and spatial variability of sedimentary deposits within large drowned river-valley estuaries and outline a model that can be used to interpret ancient estuarine strata. ?? 1988.
Building Regional Threat-Based Networks for Estuaries in the Western United States
Merrifield, Matthew S.; Hines, Ellen; Liu, Xiaohang; Beck, Michael W.
2011-01-01
Estuaries are ecologically and economically valuable and have been highly degraded from both land and sea. Estuarine habitats in the coastal zone are under pressure from a range of human activities. In the United States and elsewhere, very few conservation plans focused on estuaries are regional in scope; fewer still address threats to estuary long term viability.We have compiled basic information about the spatial extent of threats to identify commonalities. To do this we classify estuaries into hierarchical networks that share similar threat characteristics using a spatial database (geodatabase) of threats to estuaries from land and sea in the western U.S.Our results show that very few estuaries in this region (16%) have no or minimal stresses from anthropogenic activity. Additionally, one quarter (25%) of all estuaries in this study have moderate levels of all threats. The small number of un-threatened estuaries is likely not representative of the ecological variability in the region and will require working to abate threats at others. We think the identification of these estuary groups can foster sharing best practices and coordination of conservation activities amongst estuaries in any geography. PMID:21387006
Geophysical mapping of oyster habitats in a shallow estuary; Apalachicola Bay, Florida
Twichell, David C.; Andrews, Brian D.; Edmiston, H. Lee; Stevenson, William R.
2007-01-01
This report presents high-resolution geophysical data, interpretive maps, and a preliminary discussion about the oyster habitat and estuary-floor geology within Apalachicola Bay, Florida (fig. 1). During two research cruises, conducted in 2005 and 2006, approximately 230 km² of the bay floor were surveyed using interferometric-bathymetry, sidescan-sonar, and chirp seismic-reflection techniques. The research was conducted as part of a cooperative program between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Coastal Services Center (CSC), and the Apalachicola Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. The Apalachicola Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve was established in 1979 to provide opportunities for long-term monitoring and research to provide a basis for more informed coastal management decisions for this estuary. Apalachicola Bay is the largest oyster fishery in Florida (Whitfield and Beaumariage, 1977), and the primary objective of this program is to develop a suite of maps that define oyster habitat distribution and estuary-floor geology within the bay. The resulting maps will assist in effective management of oyster resources and provide a reference geologic framework for future scientific and applied research.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lee, G. H.; Park, H. B.
2014-12-01
Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP), designed for measuring velocity profile, is now widely used for the estimation of suspended sediment concentration from acoustic backscatter intensity, but its application to estuarine environments has not been vigorously tested. In this study, we examined the inversion capability of two ADCPs with 600 and 1200 kHz at three Korean estuaries: macrotidal Han river estuary (HRE), microtidal Nakdong river estuary (NRE), and anthropogenically altered macrotidal Yeongsan river estuary (YRE). In particular, we examined the relative importance of the sound attenuations due to water (aw) and sediment (as) in response to sediment characteristics (size and concentration) as well as changing salinity and temperature. The inverted concentration was compared with reference concentrations obtained either water samples or Optical Backscatter Sensors. In NRE and YRE, where suspended sediment concentrations were smaller than 0.2 kg/m3, the acoustic inversion performed poorly only with as (R2 = 0.05 and 0.39 for NRE and YRE, respectively), but well with aw (R2 = 0.70 and 0.64 for NRE and YRE, respectively). Thus, it is important to accurately constrain aw in low-concentration estuarine environments. However, we did not find that the varying aw performed considerably better than the constant aw. On the other hand, the acoustic inversion was poorest at HRE regardless of aw and as (R2 = 0.58 and mean relative error =45%). The large discrepancy appears to result from the poorly constrained, spatially and temporally varying sediment characteristics (grain size, density and concentration) due to non-local sediment transport at macrotidal HRE.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lee, Guan-hong; Park, Hyo-Bong
2015-04-01
Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP), designed for measuring velocity profile, is now widely used for the estimation of suspended sediment concentration from acoustic backscatter strength, but its application to estuarine environments has still room for improvement. In this study, we examinedthe inversion capability of two ADCPs with 600 and 1200 kHz at three Korean estuaries: macrotidalHan river estuary (HRE), microtidalNakdong river estuary (NRE), and anthropogenically altered macrotidalYeongsan river estuary (YRE). In particular, we examined the relative importance of the sound attenuations due to water (αw) and sediment (αs) in response to sediment characteristics (size and concentration) as well as changing salinity and temperature. The inverted concentration was compared with reference concentrations obtained either water samples or Optical Backscatter Sensors. In NRE and YRE, where suspended sediment concentrations were smaller than 0.2 g/l, the acoustic inversion performed poorly only with αs (r = 0.20and 0.38for NRE and YRE, respectively), but well with αw (r = 0.66and 0.42 for NREand YRE, respectively). Thus, it is important to accurately constrain αw in low-concentration estuarine environments. However, we did not find that the varying αw performed considerably better than the constant αw. On the other hand, the acoustic inversion was poorest at HRE regardless of αw and αs (r = 0.71 and mean relative error =45%). The large discrepancy appears to result from the poorly constrained, spatially and temporally varying sediment characteristics (grain size, density and concentration) due to non-local sediment transport at macrotidal HRE.
The dependence of estuarine turbidity on tidal intrusion length, tidal range and residence time
Uncles, R.J.; Stephens, J.A.; Smith, R.E.
2002-01-01
It is shown that there is a marked tendency for long, strongly tidal estuaries to have greater suspended particulate matter (SPM) concentrations within their high-turbidity regions than shorter estuaries with comparable tidal ranges at their mouths, or weakly tidal estuaries. Using consistently derived data from 44 estuaries in Europe and the Americas, contours of the logarithm of maximum estuarine SPM concentration are shown to be reasonably smooth when plotted against the logarithm of mean spring tidal range (at the estuary mouth) and the logarithm of estuarine tidal length. Predictions from the plot are compared with published observations made in the Delaware, Scheldt, Rio de la Plata, Gironde, Bay of Fundy, Changjiang (Yangtze), Amazon, Paros Lagoon and the Hawkesbury Estuary and it is shown that, qualitatively, there are no serious discrepancies. Short, weakly tidal estuaries are predicted to have very low 'intrinsic' SPM concentrations. High SPM concentrations in these estuaries would most likely be the result of either locally generated wave resuspension, high freshwater sediment loads due to freshets, or intruding seawater carrying suspended sediments derived from wave activity in the coastal zone. Application of a generic tidal model demonstrates that longer estuaries possess faster tidal currents for a given tidal range at their mouth and, in the presence of a supply of erodable fine sediment, therefore (by implication) produce greater concentrations of SPM that can be accumulated within a turbidity maximum. The same is true if the tidal range is increased for estuaries of a given length. These features are illustrated by comparing surveys of SPM data from two large estuaries possessing greatly different tidal ranges (the microtidal, medium turbidity Potomac and the macrotidal, highly turbid Humber-Ouse) and a third, much smaller but strongly tidal estuary (the low-turbidity Tweed). It is demonstrated that longer estuaries tend to have longer flushing
The dependence of estuarine turbidity on tidal intrusion length, tidal range and residence time
Uncles, R.J.; Stephens, J.A.; Smith, R.E.
2002-01-01
It is shown that there is a marked tendency for long, strongly tidal estuaries to have greater suspended particulate matter (SPM) concentrations within their high-turbidity regions than shorter estuaries with comparable tidal ranges at their mouths, or weakly tidal estuaries. Using consistently derived data from 44 estuaries in Europe and the Americas, contours of the logarithm of maximum estuarine SPM concentration are shown to be reasonably smooth when plotted against the logarithm of mean spring tidal range (at the estuary mouth) and the logarithm of estuarine tidal length. Predictions from the plot are compared with published observations made in the Delaware, Scheldt, Rio de la Plata, Gironde, Bay of Fundy, Changjiang (Yangtze), Amazon, Patos Lagoon and the Hawkesbury Estuary and it is shown that, qualitatively, there are no serious discrepancies. Short, weakly tidal estuaries are predicted to have very low ‘intrinsic’ SPM concentrations. High SPM concentrations in these estuaries would most likely be the result of either locally generated wave resuspension, high freshwater sediment loads due to freshets, or intruding seawater carrying suspended sediments derived from wave activity in the coastal zone. Application of a generic tidal model demonstrates that longer estuaries possess faster tidal currents for a given tidal range at their mouth and, in the presence of a supply of erodable fine sediment, therefore (by implication) produce greater concentrations of SPM that can be accumulated within a turbidity maximum. The same is true if the tidal range is increased for estuaries of a given length. These features are illustrated by comparing surveys of SPM data from two large estuaries possessing greatly different tidal ranges (the microtidal, medium turbidity Potomac and the macrotidal, highly turbid Humber-Ouse) and a third, much smaller but strongly tidal estuary (the low-turbidity Tweed). It is demonstrated that longer estuaries tend to have longer
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Little, S.; Wood, P. J.; Elliott, M.
2017-11-01
Coastal and estuarine systems worldwide are under threat from global climate change, with potential consequences including an increase in salinities and incursion of saltwater into areas currently subject to tidal and non-tidal freshwater regimes. It is commonly assumed that climate-driven increases in estuarine salinities and saline incursion will be directly reflected in an upstream shift in species distributions and patterns of community composition based on salinity tolerance. This study examined the responses of benthos to medium-term salinity changes in two macrotidal river-estuary systems in SE England to test whether these responses may be representative of climate-induced salinity changes over the long-term. The study reinforced the effect of salinity, related to tidal incursion, as the primary environmental driver of benthic species distribution and community composition. Salinity, however, acted within a hierarchy of factors followed by substratum type, with biotic competition and predator-prey relationships superimposed on these. The assumption that increasing salinities will be directly reflected in a shift in species distributions and patterns of community composition upstream over the long-term was shown to be over simplistic and not representative of a complex and highly variable system. Relative Sea Level Rise (RSLR) projections were predicted to increase estuarine salinities and saline incursion in the study estuaries, which together with projected reductions in river flow will have important consequences for estuarine structure and function, particularly in tidal limnetic zones, despite estuarine communities being pre-adapted to cope with fluctuating salinities. The study identified, however, that limnic-derived fauna inhabiting these zones may demonstrate greater tolerance to salinity change than is currently recognised, and may persist where salinity increases are gradual and zones unbounded.
Co-existence of freshwater and marine T4-like myoviruses in a typical subtropical estuary.
Liu, Lu; Cai, Lanlan; Zhang, Rui
2017-11-01
Viruses are the most abundant biological entities on Earth and play an important role in microbial community dynamics and biogeochemical cycling, yet their ecological characteristics in estuarine ecosystems are unclear. Here, virioplankton communities in a typical subtropical estuary, the Jiulong River estuary (JRE) in China, were investigated. The abundance of virioplankton ranged from 1.01 ± 0.05 × 107 to 1.62 ± 0.09 × 107 particles mL-1 in JRE, and the population size of viruses was correlated with temperature and nutrient levels. Three tailed viral morphotypes (myovirus, siphovirus and podovirus) were observed. Phylogenetic analysis showed that most of the g23 sequences in the JRE fell into three previously established groups (Marine, Paddy and Lake Groups) and two potential Estuary Groups. This demonstrates the co-existence of typical freshwater and marine T4-like myoviruses in the estuarine ecosystem, suggesting the movement of viruses and their hosts among biomes. Additionally, the spatial variation of g23 sequences suggests a geographic distribution pattern of T4-like myoviruses in the JRE, which might be shaped by the environmental gradient and/or their host distribution. These results provide valuable insights into the abundance, diversity and distribution patterns of virioplankton, as well as the factors influencing them, in subtropical estuarine ecosystems. © FEMS 2017. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.
Stratification and salt-wedge in the Seomjin river estuary under the idealized tidal influence
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hwang, Jin Hwan; Jang, Dongmin; Kim, Yong Hoon
2017-12-01
Advection, straining, and vertical mixing play primary roles in the process of estuarine stratification. Estuaries can be classified as salt-wedge, partially-mixed or well-mixed depending on the vertical density structure determined by the balancing of advection, mixing and straining. In particular, straining plays a major role in the stratification of the estuarine water body along the estuarine channel. Also, the behavior of a salt wedge with a halocline shape in a stratified channel can be controlled by the competition between straining and mixing induced by buoyancy from the riverine source and tidal forcing. The present study uses Finite Volume Coastal Ocean Model (FVCOM) to show that straining and vertical mixing play major roles in controlling along-channel flow and stratification structures in the Seomjin river estuary (SRE) under idealized conditions. The Potential Energy Anomaly (PEA) dynamic equation quantifies the governing processes thereby enabling the determination of the stratification type. By comparing terms in the equation, we examined how the relative strengths of straining and mixing alter the stratification types in the SRE due to changes in river discharge and the depth resulting from dredging activities. SRE under idealized tidal forcing tends to be partially-mixed based on an analysis of the balance between terms and the vertical structure of salinity, and the morphological and hydrological change in SRE results in the shift of stratification type. While the depth affects the mixing, the freshwater discharge mainly controls the straining, and the balance between mixing and straining determines the final state of the stratification in an estuarine channel. As a result, the development and location of a salt wedge along the channel in a partially mixed and highly stratified condition is also determined by the ratio of straining to mixing. Finally, our findings confirm that the contributions of mixing and straining can be assessed by using the
Nicastro, Andrea; Bishop, Melanie J.
2013-01-01
Among the impacts of coastal settlements to estuaries, nutrient pollution is often singled out as a leading cause of modification to the ecological communities of soft sediments. Through sampling of 48 sites, distributed among 16 estuaries of New South Wales, Australia, we tested the hypotheses that (1) anthropogenic nutrient loads would be a better predictor of macrofaunal communities than estuarine geomorphology or local sediment characteristics; and (2) local environmental context, as determined largely by sediment characteristics, would modify the relationship between nutrient loading and community composition. Contrary to the hypothesis, multivariate multiple regression analyses revealed that sediment grain size was the best predictor of macrofaunal assemblage composition. When samples were stratified according to median grain size, relationships between faunal communities and nitrogen loading and latitude emerged, but only among estuaries with sandier sediments. In these estuaries, capitellid and nereid polychaetes and chironomid larvae were the taxa that showed the strongest correlations with nutrient loading. Overall, this study failed to provide evidence of a differential relationship between diffuse nutrient enrichment and benthic macrofauna across a gradient of 7° of latitude and 4°C temperature. Nevertheless, as human population growth continues to place increasing pressure on southeast Australian estuaries, manipulative field studies examining when and where nutrient loading will lead to significant changes in estuarine community structure are needed. PMID:23799037
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Matcher, G. F.; Froneman, P. W.; Meiklejohn, I.; Dorrington, R. A.
2018-01-01
Worldwide, estuaries are regarded as amongst the most ecologically threatened ecosystems and are increasingly being impacted by urban development, agricultural activities and reduced freshwater inflow. In this study, we examined the influence of different human activities on the diversity and structure of bacterial communities in the water column and sediment in three distinct, temperate permanently open estuarine systems within the same geographic region of southern Africa. The Kariega system is freshwater-deprived and is considered to be relatively pristine; the Kowie estuary is marine-dominated and impacted by urban development, while the Sundays system is fresh-water dominated and impacted by agricultural activity in its catchment. The bacterial communities in all three systems comprise predominantly heterotrophic species belonging to the Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria phyla with little overlap between bacterioplankton and benthic bacterial communities at the species level. There was overlap between the operational taxonomic units (OTUs) of the Kowie and Kariega, both marine-influenced estuaries. However, lower species richness in the Kowie, likely reflects the impact of human settlements along the estuary. The dominant OTUs in the Sundays River system were distinct from those of the Kariega and Kowie estuaries with an overall decrease in species richness and evenness. This study provides an important snapshot into the microbial population structures of permanently open temperate estuarine systems and the influence of anthropogenic impacts on bacterial diversity and community structure.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Sun, Detong; Wan, Yongshan; Qiu, Chelsea
2016-05-01
Numerical hydrodynamic modeling provides quantitative understanding of how physical alterations of an estuary may alter the waterbody hydrodynamics and the rate of mixing with the ocean. In this study, a three dimensional hydrodynamic model (CH3D) was used to compare simulated salinities between the existing condition and five historical cases representing varying physical alterations of the Caloosahatchee Estuary involving (1) removal of the headwater structure (S-79); (2) removal of the downstream causeway to Sanibel Island; (3) backfilling an oyster bar near the estuary month; (4) refilling the navigation channel; and (5) the pre-development bathymetric condition. The results suggested that some alterations including the Sanibel Causeway, backfilling the oyster bar and the S-79 structure may have some local effects but did not change estuarine salinity structure significantly. Refilling the navigation channel had a more profound effect, resulting in a dry season salinity reduction of about 5 when compared with the existing condition. The reduced salt transport was more pronounced with the pre-development bathymetry because the estuary as a whole was much shallower than today. The significant system-wide increase in salt transport caused by the historic dredging of the navigation channel in the Caloosahatchee Estuary has significant implications in the development of attainable environmental flow targets for protecting the estuarine ecosystem.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Jay, David A.; Borde, Amy B.; Diefenderfer, Heida L.
Spatially varying water-level regimes are a factor controlling estuarine and tidal-fluvial wetland vegetation patterns. As described in Part I, water levels in the Lower Columbia River and estuary (LCRE) are influenced by tides, river flow, hydropower operations, and coastal processes. In Part II, regression models based on tidal theory are used to quantify the role of these processes in determining water levels in the mainstem river and floodplain wetlands, and to provide 21-year inundation hindcasts. Analyses are conducted at 19 LCRE mainstem channel stations and 23 tidally exposed floodplain wetland stations. Sum exceedance values (SEVs) are used to compare wetlandmore » hydrologic regimes at different locations on the river floodplain. A new predictive tool is introduced and validated, the potential SEV (pSEV), which can reduce the need for extensive new data collection in wetland restoration planning. Models of water levels and inundation frequency distinguish four zones encompassing eight reaches. The system zones are the wave- and current-dominated Entrance to river kilometer (rkm) 5; the Estuary (rkm-5 to 87), comprised of a lower reach with salinity, the energy minimum (where the turbidity maximum normally occurs), and an upper estuary reach without salinity; the Tidal River (rkm-87 to 229), with lower, middle, and upper reaches in which river flow becomes increasingly dominant over tides in determining water levels; and the steep and weakly tidal Cascade (rkm-229 to 234) immediately downstream from Bonneville Dam. The same zonation is seen in the water levels of floodplain stations, with considerable modification of tidal properties. The system zones and reaches defined here reflect geological features and their boundaries are congruent with five wetland vegetation zones« less
Selenium biogeochemistry in the San Francisco Bay estuary: changes in water column behavior
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Cutter, Gregory A.; Cutter, Lynda S.
2004-11-01
The cycling of dissolved selenium was examined in the North San Francisco Bay estuary using 5 surface water transects from the Pacific Ocean (Golden Gate) to the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, monthly river sampling, and three collections of oil refinery effluents during 1997-2000. By combining these data with earlier results from the mid-1980s, a nearly 16-year record of riverine fluxes, estuarine processes, and anthropogenic inputs was obtained. The Sacramento River concentrations and speciation have remained unchanged over the period, and while the speciation of selenium in the San Joaquin is similar, its dissolved selenium concentrations have decreased by almost one half. More significantly, the concentration of selenium from oil refinery discharges to the mid-estuary has decreased 66% and its speciation changed from one dominated by selenite (66%) to one that is only 14% selenite. This change in refinery effluents occurred while our study was underway, with the result being a pronounced decrease in selenite concentrations (82%), and hence total dissolved selenium, in the mid-estuary. A companion study found that sediment/water exchange is a minor flux to the estuary, and hence selenium inputs from the Sacramento River, as well as refineries during low flow (summer, fall) periods exert major controls on the dissolved selenium behavior in this estuary. Nevertheless, in situ processes associated with organic matter cycling (photosynthesis and respiration) still modify the distributions and internal transformations of dissolved selenium, notably organic selenide.
Changes in a temperate estuary during the filling of the biggest European dam.
Morais, Pedro; Chícharo, Maria Alexandra; Chícharo, Luís
2009-03-15
This study aimed to determine whether and how the disruption of river flow, during the filling of the Alqueva dam, influenced the variability of abiotic and biotic factors in the Guadiana estuary, particularly the abundance and distribution of anchovy eggs. River inflow was found to be the most important factor in determining abiotic and biotic variability in the Guadiana estuary. Seasonal patterns were obscured by long periods of low inflow (mid April to early December 2002), which caused marked changes in the estuary. The estuarine turbidity maximum zone was displaced towards the upper estuary, to at least 38 km from the river mouth, 8 to 16 km upstream from previous records. The dynamics of nutrient stoichiometry was also affected. In the upper and middle estuary, P was more potential limiting than N and potential Si limitation was only frequent on the coast, with direct and/or indirect influence in changing phytoplankton dynamics and composition. Previously, the upper estuary alternated between potential P limitation during winter, Si limitation during spring and mid summer and N limitation during mid summer and autumn. The flooding of vast areas in the catchment of the dam probably caused the increase of DSi concentrations, as well as maximal N and P loadings. The abundance of larval stages of anchovy decreased, putatively because estuarine productivity has also decreased. In April 2002 there was an uncontrolled discharge from the Alqueva dam, which reduced the abundance of anchovy eggs by 99.99%. It is suggested that dam managers should mimic, as much as possible, the natural river flow, in order to minimize the impact on downstream ecosystems. Management efforts should not be restricted to the areas upstream of the dam, but should also encompass the estuary and adjacent coastal area.
Cachot, Jérôme; Cherel, Yan; Larcher, Thibaut; Pfohl-Leszkowicz, Annie; Laroche, Jean; Quiniou, Louis; Morin, Jocelyne; Schmitz, Julien; Burgeot, Thierry; Pottier, Didier
2013-02-01
. Flounders from the Bay of Veys had relatively few liver lesions as compared to flounders from the two other estuaries. Flounders from the Ster estuary exhibited the highest prevalence of parasites (37.2 %) and inflammations (51.1 %). Finally, FCA and liver tumors occurred at very similar levels in both flounder populations from the Seine and the Ster estuaries. Group 0 flounders inhabiting the upper Seine estuary were more prone to parasitic and pre-neoplastic hepatic lesions and had higher levels of liver DNA adducts than the older ones living downstream. It was postulated that group 0 European flounders may serve as valuable bioindicators for assessing the quality of estuarine waters and the health status of euryhaline fish populations.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Jouanneau, J. M.; Pujos, M.
As part of a study carried out on the major rivers in French Guiana to identify and estimate the respective share of local rivers in the sedimentation of estuaries and the inshore continental shelf, results are reported on the Mahury after 2 periods of fieldwork carried out during one dry and one rainy season. The specific characteristics of the whole Mahury fluvio-estuarine system can be summed up as follows: the sands have invariable annual characteristics; they show evidence of a long history, first marine, then continental and finally fluviatile. They play little part in sedimentation on the continental shelf, and what part they do play is limited to the beaches. The fine sediments too have invariable annual characteristics. They fall, if we consider their mineralogical and elemental composition, on either side of a limit separating the fluviatile and estuarine zones. Here, the sediment stocks are respectively authigenic and allothogenic, while the clay association and elemental composition in the latter zone are evidence of an Amazonian origin. The contribution of the Mahury (Comté-Orapu) to fine estuarine sedimentation thus appears at present to be a very limited one, the Amazon being predominant over vast coastal areas, including the French Guiana estuaries.
Climate Change, Precipitation and Impacts on an Estuarine Refuge from Disease
Levinton, Jeffrey; Doall, Michael; Ralston, David; Starke, Adam; Allam, Bassem
2011-01-01
Background Oysters play important roles in estuarine ecosystems but have suffered recently due to overfishing, pollution, and habitat loss. A tradeoff between growth rate and disease prevalence as a function of salinity makes the estuarine salinity transition of special concern for oyster survival and restoration. Estuarine salinity varies with discharge, so increases or decreases in precipitation with climate change may shift regions of low salinity and disease refuge away from optimal oyster bottom habitat, negatively impacting reproduction and survival. Temperature is an additional factor for oyster survival, and recent temperature increases have increased vulnerability to disease in higher salinity regions. Methodology/Principal Findings We examined growth, reproduction, and survival of oysters in the New York Harbor-Hudson River region, focusing on a low-salinity refuge in the estuary. Observations were during two years when rainfall was above average and comparable to projected future increases in precipitation in the region and a past period of about 15 years with high precipitation. We found a clear tradeoff between oyster growth and vulnerability to disease. Oysters survived well when exposed to intermediate salinities during two summers (2008, 2010) with moderate discharge conditions. However, increased precipitation and discharge in 2009 reduced salinities in the region with suitable benthic habitat, greatly increasing oyster mortality. To evaluate the estuarine conditions over longer periods, we applied a numerical model of the Hudson to simulate salinities over the past century. Model results suggest that much of the region with suitable benthic habitat that historically had been a low salinity refuge region may be vulnerable to higher mortality under projected increases in precipitation and discharge. Conclusions/Significance Predicted increases in precipitation in the northeastern United States due to climate change may lower salinities past
Effects of climate change on water quality in the Yaquina Estuary, Oregon
As part of a larger study to examine the effect of climate change (CC) on estuarine resources, we simulated the effect of rising sea level, alterations in river discharge, and increasing atmospheric temperatures on water quality in the Yaquina Estuary. Due to uncertainty in the ...
CONDITION OF ESTUARIES AND BAYS OF HAWAII FOR 2002: A STATISTICAL SUMMARY
The National Coastal Assessment (NCA) of US EPA conducted the first probabilistic assessment of the condition of estuarine resources of the main islands of Hawaii in 2002. The study provided condition estimates for both the estuaries and bays of the Hawaiian Island chain, as wel...
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Wainger, Lisa; Yu, Hao; Gazenski, Kim; Boynton, Walter
2016-09-01
A major question in restoring estuarine water quality is whether local actions to manage excess nutrients can be effective, given that estuaries are also responding to tidal inputs from adjacent water bodies. Several types of statistical analysis were used to examine spatially-detailed and long-term water quality monitoring data in eight sub-estuaries of Chesapeake Bay. These sub-estuaries are likely to be similar to other shallow systems with moderate to long water residence times. Statistical cluster analysis of spatial water quality data suggested that estuaries had spatially distinct water quality zones and that the peak algal biomass (as measured by chlorophyll-a) was most often controlled by local watershed inputs in all but one estuary, although mainstem inputs affected most estuaries at some times and places. An elasticity indicator that compared inter-annual changes in sub-estuaries to parallel changes in the mainstem Chesapeake Bay supported the idea that water quality in sub-estuaries was not strongly coupled to the mainstem. A cross-channel zonation of water quality observed near the mouth of estuaries suggested that Bay influences were stronger on the right side of the lower channel (looking up estuary) at times in all estuaries, and was most common in small estuaries closest to the mouth of the primary water source to the estuary. Where Bay influences were strong, estuarine water quality would be expected to be less responsive to nutrient reductions made in the local watershed. Regression analysis was used to evaluate hypothesized relationships between environmental driver variables and average chlorophyll-a (chl-a) concentrations. Chl-a values were calculated from unusually detailed levels of spatial sampling, potentially providing a more comprehensive view of system conditions than that provided by traditional sparse sampling networks. The univariate models with the best data support to explain variability in averaged chl-a concentration were those
Minimal incorporation of Deepwater Horizon oil by estuarine filter feeders.
Fry, Brian; Anderson, Laurie C
2014-03-15
Natural abundance carbon isotope analyses are sensitive tracers for fates and use of oil in aquatic environments. Use of oil carbon in estuarine food webs should lead to isotope values approaching those of oil itself, -27‰ for stable carbon isotopes reflecting oil origins and -1000‰ for carbon-14 reflecting oil age. To test for transfer of oil from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill into estuarine food webs, filter-feeding barnacles (Balanus sp.) and marsh mussels (Geukensia demissa) were collected from Louisiana estuaries near the site of the oil spill. Carbon-14 analyses of these animals from open waters and oiled marshes showed that oil use was <1% and near detection limits estimated at 0.3% oil incorporation. Respiration studies showed no evidence for enhanced microbial activity in bay waters. Results are consistent with low dietary impacts of oil for filter feeders and little overall impact on respiration in the productive Louisiana estuarine systems. Copyright © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.
Temporal dynamics of estuarine phytoplankton: A case study of San Francisco Bay
Cloern, J.E.; Cole, B.E.; Wong, R.L.J.; Alpine, A.E.
1985-01-01
Detailed surveys throughout San Francisco Bay over an annual cycle (1980) show that seasonal variations of phytoplankton biomass, community composition, and productivity can differ markedly among estuarine habitat types. For example, in the river-dominated northern reach (Suisun Bay) phytoplankton seasonality is characterized by a prolonged summer bloom of netplanktonic diatoms that results from the accumulation of suspended particulates at the convergence of nontidal currents (i.e. where residence time is long). Here turbidity is persistently high such that phytoplankton growth and productivity are severely limited by light availability, the phytoplankton population turns over slowly, and biological processes appear to be less important mechanisms of temporal change than physical processes associated with freshwater inflow and turbulent mixing. The South Bay, in contrast, is a lagoon-type estuary less directly coupled to the influence of river discharge. Residence time is long (months) in this estuary, turbidity is lower and estimated rates of population growth are high (up to 1-2 doublings d-1), but the rapid production of phytoplankton biomass is presumably balanced by grazing losses to benthic herbivores. Exceptions occur for brief intervals (days to weeks) during spring when the water column stratifies so that algae retained in the surface layer are uncoupled from benthic grazing, and phytoplankton blooms develop. The degree of stratification varies over the neap-spring tidal cycle, so the South Bay represents an estuary where (1) biological processes (growth, grazing) and a physical process (vertical mixing) interact to cause temporal variability of phytoplankton biomass, and (2) temporal variability is highly dynamic because of the short-term variability of tides. Other mechanisms of temporal variability in estuarine phytoplankton include: zooplankton grazing, exchanges of microalgae between the sediment and water column, and horizontal dispersion which
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Muhling, B.; Gaitan, C. F.; Tommasi, D.; Saba, V. S.; Stock, C. A.; Dixon, K. W.
2016-02-01
Estuaries of the northeastern United States provide essential habitat for many anadromous fishes, across a range of life stages. Climate change is likely to impact estuarine environments and habitats through multiple pathways. Increasing air temperatures will result in a warming water column, and potentially increased stratification. In addition, changes to precipitation patterns may alter freshwater inflow dynamics, leading to altered seasonal salinity regimes. However, the spatial resolution of global climate models is generally insufficient to resolve these processes at the scale of individual estuaries. Global models can be downscaled to a regional resolution using a variety of dynamical and statistical methods. In this study, we examined projections of estuarine conditions, and future habitat extent, for several anadromous fishes in the Chesapeake Bay using different statistical downscaling methods. Sources of error from physical and biological models were quantified, and key areas of uncertainty were highlighted. Results suggested that future projections of the distribution and recruitment of species most strongly linked to freshwater flow dynamics had the highest levels of uncertainty. The sensitivity of different life stages to environmental conditions, and the population-level responses of anadromous species to climate change, were identified as important areas for further research.
Estuary-ocean connectivity: Fast physics, slow biology
Raimonet, Mélanie; Cloern, James E.
2017-01-01
Estuaries are connected to both land and ocean so their physical, chemical, and biological dynamics are influenced by climate patterns over watersheds and ocean basins. We explored climate-driven oceanic variability as a source of estuarine variability by comparing monthly time series of temperature and chlorophyll-a inside San Francisco Bay with those in adjacent shelf waters of the California Current System (CCS) that are strongly responsive to wind-driven upwelling. Monthly temperature fluctuations inside and outside the Bay were synchronous, but their correlations weakened with distance from the ocean. These results illustrate how variability of coastal water temperature (and associated properties such as nitrate and oxygen) propagates into estuaries through fast water exchanges that dissipate along the estuary. Unexpectedly, there was no correlation between monthly chlorophyll-a variability inside and outside the Bay. However, at the annual scale Bay chlorophyll-a was significantly correlated with the Spring Transition Index (STI) that sets biological production supporting fish recruitment in the CCS. Wind forcing of the CCS shifted in the late 1990s when the STI advanced 40 days. This shift was followed, with lags of 1–3 years, by 3- to 19-fold increased abundances of five ocean-produced demersal fish and crustaceans and 2.5-fold increase of summer chlorophyll-a in the Bay. These changes reflect a slow biological process of estuary–ocean connectivity operating through the immigration of fish and crustaceans that prey on bivalves, reduce their grazing pressure, and allow phytoplankton biomass to build. We identified clear signals of climate-mediated oceanic variability in this estuary and discovered that the response patterns vary with the process of connectivity and the timescale of ocean variability. This result has important implications for managing nutrient inputs to estuaries connected to upwelling systems, and for assessing their responses to
Kopprio, Germán A; Biancalana, Florencia; Fricke, Anna; Garzón Cardona, John E; Martínez, Ana; Lara, Rubén J
2015-02-28
The aims of this work are to provide an overview of the current stresses of estuaries in Argentina and to propose adaptation strategies from an ecohydrological approach. Several Argentinian estuaries are impacted by pollutants, derived mainly from sewage discharge and agricultural or industrial activities. Anthropogenic impacts are expected to rise with increasing human population. Climate-driven warmer temperature and hydrological changes will alter stratification, residence time, oxygen content, salinity, pollutant distribution, organism physiology and ecology, and nutrient dynamics. Good water quality is essential in enhancing estuarine ecological resilience to disturbances brought on by global change. The preservation, restoration, and creation of wetlands will help to protect the coast from erosion, increase sediment accretion rates, and improve water quality by removing excess nutrients and pollutants. The capacity of hydrologic basin ecosystems to absorb human and natural impacts can be improved through holistic management, which should consider social vulnerability in complex human-natural systems. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Leakey, Chris D. B.; Attrill, Martin J.; Jennings, Simon; Fitzsimons, Mark F.
2008-04-01
Estuaries are regarded as valuable nursery habitats for many commercially important marine fishes, potentially providing a thermal resource, refuge from predators and a source of abundant prey. Stable isotope analysis may be used to assess relative resource use from isotopically distinct sources. This study comprised two major components: (1) development of a spatial map and discriminant function model of stable isotope variation in selected invertebrate groups inhabiting the Thames Estuary and adjacent coastal regions; and (2) analysis of stable isotope signatures of juvenile bass ( Dicentrarchus labrax), sole ( Solea solea) and whiting ( Merlangius merlangus) for assessment of resource use and feeding strategies. The data were also used to consider anthropogenic enrichment of the estuary and potential energetic benefits of feeding in estuarine nursery habitat. Analysis of carbon (δ 13C), nitrogen (δ 15N) and sulphur (δ 34S) isotope data identified significant differences in the 'baseline' isotopic signatures between estuarine and coastal invertebrates, and discriminant function analysis allowed samples to be re-classified to estuarine and coastal regions with 98.8% accuracy. Using invertebrate signatures as source indicators, stable isotope data classified juvenile fishes to the region in which they fed. Feeding signals appear to reflect physiological (freshwater tolerance) and functional (mobility) differences between species. Juvenile sole were found to exist as two isotopically-discrete sub-populations, with no evidence of mixing between the two. An apparent energetic benefit of estuarine feeding was only found for sole.
Spatiotemporal variation of Van der Burgh's coefficient in a salt plug estuary
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Shaha, Dinesh Chandra; Cho, Yang-Ki; Kim, Bong Guk; Rafi Afruz Sony, M.; Rani Kundu, Sampa; Faruqul Islam, M.
2017-09-01
Salt water intrusion in estuaries is expected to become a serious global issue due to climate change. Van der Burgh's coefficient, K, is a good proxy for describing the relative contribution of tide-driven and gravitational (discharge-driven and density-driven) components of salt transport in estuaries. However, debate continues over the use of the K value for an estuary where K should be a constant, spatially varying, or time-independent factor for different river discharge conditions. In this study, we determined K during spring and neap tides in the dry (< 30 m-3 s-1) and wet (> 750 m-3 s-1) seasons in a salt plug estuary with an exponentially varying width and depth, to examine the relative contributions of tidal versus density-driven salt transport mechanisms. High-resolution salinity data were used to determine K. Discharge-driven gravitational circulation (K ˜ 0.8) was entirely dominant over tidal dispersion during spring and neap tides in the wet season, to the extent that salt transport upstream was effectively reduced, resulting in the estuary remaining in a relatively fresh state. In contrast, K increased gradually seaward (K ˜ 0.74) and landward (K ˜ 0.74) from the salt plug area (K ˜ 0.65) during the dry season, similar to an inverse and positive estuary, respectively. As a result, density-driven inverse gravitational circulation between the salt plug and the sea facilitates inverse estuarine circulation. On the other hand, positive estuarine circulation between the salt plug and the river arose due to density-driven positive gravitational circulation during the dry season, causing the upstream intrusion of high-salinity bottom water. Our results explicitly show that K varies spatially and depends on the river discharge. This result provides a better understanding of the distribution of hydrographic properties.
SWMPr: An R Package for Retrieving, Organizing, and Analyzing Environmental Data for Estuaries
The System-Wide Monitoring Program (SWMP) was implemented in 1995 by the US National Estuarine Research Reserve System. This program has provided two decades of continuous monitoring data at over 140 fixed stations in 28 estuaries. However, the increasing quantity of data provide...
Silver behaviour along the salinity gradient of the Gironde Estuary.
Lanceleur, Laurent; Schäfer, Jörg; Blanc, Gérard; Coynel, Alexandra; Bossy, Cécile; Baudrimont, Magalie; Glé, Corine; Larrose, Aurélie; Renault, Sophie; Strady, Emilie
2013-03-01
Dissolved and particulate Ag concentrations (Ag(D) and Ag(P), respectively) were measured in surface water and suspended particulate matter (SPM) along the salinity gradient of the Gironde Estuary, South West France, during three cruises (2008-2009) covering contrasting hydrological conditions, i.e. two cruises during intermediate and one during high freshwater discharge (~740 and ~2,300 m(3)/s). Silver distribution reflected non-conservative behaviour with 60-70 % of Ag(P) in freshwater particles being desorbed by chlorocomplexation. The amount of Ag(P) desorbed was similar to the so-called reactive, potentially bioavailable Ag(P) fraction (60 ± 4 %) extracted from river SPM by 1 M HCl. Both Ag(P) (0.22 ± 0.05 mg/kg) and Ag(P)/Th(P) (0.025-0.028) in the residual fraction of fluvial and estuarine SPM were similar to those in SPM from the estuary mouth and in coastal sediments from the shelf off the Gironde Estuary, indicating that chlorocomplexation desorbs the reactive Ag(P). The data show that desorption of reactive Ag(P) mainly occurs inside the estuary during low and intermediate discharge, whereas expulsion of partially Ag(P)-depleted SPM (Ag(P)/Th(P) ~0.040) during the flood implies ongoing desorption in the coastal ocean, e.g. in the nearby oyster production areas (Marennes-Oléron Bay). The highest Ag(D) levels (6-8 ng/L) occurred in the mid-salinity range (15-20) of the Gironde Estuary and were decoupled from freshwater discharge. In the maximum turbidity zone, Ag(D) were at minimum, showing that high SPM concentrations (a) induce Ag(D) adsorption in estuarine freshwater and (b) counterbalance Ag(P) desorption in the low salinity range (1-3). Accordingly, Ag behaviour in turbid estuaries appears to be controlled by the balance between salinity and SPM levels. The first estimates of daily Ag(D) net fluxes for the Gironde Estuary (Boyle's method) showed relatively stable theoretical Ag(D) at zero salinity (Ag (D) (0) = 25-30 ng/L) for the contrasting
Assessment of eutrophication in estuaries: Pressure-state-response and source apportionment
David Whitall; Suzanne Bricker
2006-01-01
The National Estuarine Eutrophication Assessment (NEEA) Update Program is a management oriented program designed to improve monitoring and assessment efforts through the development of type specific classification of estuaries that will allow improved assessment methods and development of analytical and research models and tools for managers which will help guide and...
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Park, Hyo-Bong; Lee, Guan-hong
2016-03-01
Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCP), designed for measuring velocity profiles, are widely used for the estimation of suspended sediment concentration from acoustic backscatter strength, but its application to estuarine environments requires further refinement. In this study, we examined the inversion capability of two ADCPs with 600 and 1200 kHz in three Korean estuaries: the supra-macrotidal Han River Estuary (HRE), microtidal Nakdong River Estuary (NRE), and anthropogenically altered macrotidal Yeongsan River Estuary (YRE). In particular, we examined the relative importance of the sound attenuations due to water (αw) and sediment (αs) in response to sediment characteristics (size and concentration) as well as changing salinity and temperature. The inverted concentration was compared with reference concentrations obtained either from water samples or Optical Backscatter Sensors. In NRE and YRE, where suspended sediment concentrations were less than 0.2 g/l, the acoustic inversion performed poorly only with αs (r = 0.20 and 0.38 for NRE and YRE, respectively), but well with αw (r = 0.66 and 0.42 for NRE and YRE, respectively). Thus, it is important to accurately constrain αw in low-concentration estuarine environments. However, we did not find that the varying αw performed considerably better than the constant αw. On the other hand, the acoustic inversion was poorest at HRE regardless of αw and αs (r = 0.71 and mean relative error = 45%). The large discrepancy appears to result from the poorly constrained, spatially and temporally varying sediment characteristics (grain size, density and concentration) due to non-local sediment transport in the macrotidal HRE.
Secondary Circulation Asymmetry in a Meandering, Partially Stratified Estuary
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Pein, J.; Valle-Levinson, A.; Stanev, E. V.
2018-03-01
Numerical model experiments are used to study the effects of multiple channel bends on estuarine dynamics and, in particular, on secondary flows. These effects are demonstrated by comparing experiments with two different idealized trumpet-shaped estuaries, one straight and another one with a ˜8 km meandering section in the middle of the estuary. Meanders complicate the flow field by introducing secondary processes. For instance, meanders increase turbulence and associated mixing locally within the water column, as well as outside the meandering portion. Furthermore, meanders transform up to 30% of the along-channel momentum into secondary circulation. Production of turbulence and secondary currents is different at flood and ebb tidal phases. At flood, meanders lead to unstable stratification and increased turbulence. At ebb, the flow develops a helical pattern and adjusts to the channel curvature with minimal decrease in density stability. The secondary circulation asymmetry is caused by an interplay between the across-channel baroclinic pressure gradient force and the centrifugal force. During ebb both forces enhance each other, whereas they oppose during flood. As a consequence of this interaction between baroclinic forcing and curving morphology, ebb flows and horizontal buoyancy fluxes increase relative to flood. The enhanced ebb dominance shifts a density front toward the mouth of the estuary, thus reducing salt intrusion.
Land-use/land-cover drives variation in the specific inherent optical properties of estuaries
Changes in land-use/land-cover (LULC) can impact the exports of optically and biogeochemically active constituents to estuaries. Specific inherent optical properties (SIOPs) of estuarine optically active constituents (OACs) are directly related to the composition of the OACs, and...
Benthic infaunal community structuring in an acidified tropical estuarine system.
Hossain, M Belal; Marshall, David J
2014-01-01
Recent studies suggest that increasing ocean acidification (OA) should have strong direct and indirect influences on marine invertebrates. While most theory and application for OA is based on relatively physically-stable oceanic ecological systems, less is known about the effects of acidification on nearshore and estuarine systems. Here, we investigated the structuring of a benthic infaunal community in a tropical estuarine system, along a steep salinity and pH gradient, arising largely from acid-sulphate groundwater inflows (Sungai Brunei Estuary, Borneo, July 2011- June 2012). Preliminary data indicate that sediment pore-water salinity (range: 8.07 - 29.6 psu) declined towards the mainland in correspondence with the above-sediment estuarine water salinity (range: 3.58 - 31.2 psu), whereas the pore-water pH (range: 6.47- 7.72) was generally lower and less variable than the estuarine water pH (range: 5.78- 8.3), along the estuary. Of the thirty six species (taxa) recorded, the polychaetes Neanthes sp., Onuphis conchylega, Nereididae sp. and the amphipod Corophiidae sp., were numerically dominant. Calcified microcrustaceans (e.g., Cyclopoida sp. and Corophiidae sp.) were abundant at all stations and there was no clear distinction in distribution pattern along the estuarine between calcified and non-calcified groups. Species richness increased seawards, though abundance (density) showed no distinct directional trend. Diversity indices were generally positively correlated (Spearman's rank correlation) with salinity and pH (p <0.05) and negatively with clay and organic matter, except for evenness values (p >0.05). Three faunistic assemblages were distinguished: (1) nereid-cyclopoid-sabellid, (2) corophiid-capitellid and (3) onuphid- nereid-capitellid. These respectively associated with lower salinity/pH and a muddy bottom, low salinity/pH and a sandy bottom, and high salinity/pH and a sandy bottom. However, CCA suggested that species distribution and community
Mai, Bi-Xian; Fu, Jia-Mo; Sheng, Guo-Ying; Kang, Yue-Hui; Lin, Zheng; Zhang, Gan; Min, Yu-Shuan; Zeng, Eddy Y
2002-01-01
Spatial distribution of chlorinated hydrocarbons [chlorinated pesticides (CPs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)] and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was measured in riverine and estuarine sediment samples from Pearl River Delta, China, collected in 1997. Concentrations of CPs of the riverine sediment samples range from 12 to 158 ng/g, dry weight, while those of PCBs range from 11 to 486 ng/g. The CPs concentrations of the estuarine sediment samples are in the range 6-1658 ng/g, while concentrations of PCBs are in the range 10-339 ng/g. Total PAH concentration ranges from 1168 to 21,329 ng/g in the riverine sediment samples, whereas the PAH concentration ranges from 323 to 14,812 ng/g in the sediment samples of the Estuary. Sediment samples of the Zhujiang River and Macao harbor around the Estuary show the highest concentrations of CPs, PCBs, and PAHs. Possible factors affecting the distribution patterns are also discussed based on the usage history of the chemicals, hydrologic condition, and land erosion due to urbanization processes. The composition of PAHs is investigated and used to assess petrogenic, combustion and naturally derived PAHs of the sediment samples of the Pearl River Delta. In addition, the concentrations of a number of organic compounds of the Pearl River Delta samples indicate that sediments of the Zhujiang river and Macao harbor are most likely to pose biological impairment.
Detection of multiple potentially pathogenic bacteria in Matang mangrove estuaries, Malaysia.
Ghaderpour, Aziz; Mohd Nasori, Khairul Nazrin; Chew, Li Lee; Chong, Ving Ching; Thong, Kwai Lin; Chai, Lay Ching
2014-06-15
The deltaic estuarine system of the Matang Mangrove Forest Reserve of Malaysia is a site where several human settlements and brackish water aquaculture have been established. Here, we evaluated the level of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) and the presence of potentially pathogenic bacteria in the surface water and sediments. Higher levels of FIB were detected at downstream sampling sites from the fishing village, indicating it as a possible source of anthropogenic pollution to the estuary. Enterococci levels in the estuarine sediments were higher than in the surface water, while total coliforms and E. coli in the estuarine sediments were not detected in all samples. Also, various types of potentially pathogenic bacteria, including Klebsiella pneumoniae, Serratia marcescens and Enterobacter cloacae were isolated. The results indicate that the Matang estuarine system is contaminated with various types of potential human bacterial pathogens which might pose a health risk to the public. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kumar, Prem; Ankit, Yadav; Mishra, Praveen K.; Jha, Deepak Kumar; Anoop, Ambili
2017-04-01
In the present study we have focussed on the surface sediments of Ashtamudi Estuary (southern India) to understand (i) the fate and sources of organic matter by investigating lipid biomarker (n-alkanes) distribution in modern sediments and vegetation samples and (ii) the processes controlling the sediment distribution into the lake basin using end-member modelling approach. The sediment n-alkanes from the Ashtamudi Estuary exhibit a pronounced odd over even predominance with maxima at C29 and C31 chain length indicative of a dominant terrestrial contribution. A number of n-alkane indices have been calculated to illustrate the variability in space by considering separately the river dominated northern reaches and tidal influenced southern part of Ashtamudi Estuary. The highest terrigenous organic contents were found in sediments from the river and upper bay sites, with smaller contributions to the lower parts of the estuary. The Paq and TAR (terrigenous/aquatic ratio) indices demonstrate maximum aquatic productivity (plankton growth and submerged macrophytes) in the tidal dominated region of the Ashtamudi Estuary. The carbon preference index (CPI) and average chain length (ACL) provide evidence for high petrogenic organic inputs in the tidal zone, whereas dominant biogenic contribution have been observed in the riverine zone. In addition, the end member modeling of the grain size distribution of the surface sediment samples enabled us to decipher significant sedimentological processes affecting the sediment distribution in the estuarine settings. The end-member distribution showing highest loading with the coarser fraction is maximum where estuary debouches into the sea. However, the samples near the mouth of the river shows finer fraction of the end-member.
Effects of climate change on temperature and salinity in the Yaquina Estuary, Oregon
As part of a larger study to examine the effect of climate change (CC) on estuarine resources, we simulated the effect of rising sea level, alterations in river discharge, and increasing atmospheric temperatures on water properties in estuaries along the Pacific coast of the Unit...
Shoreline Erosion in the Albemarle-Pamlico Estuarine System, Northeastern North Carolina
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Murphy, M. A.; Riggs, S. R.
2002-12-01
Computer analysis of aerial photographic series demonstrates that the estuarine shorelines within the North Carolina Albemarle-Pamlico coastal system are eroding at 2-3 times greater rates than previous studies reported. Specific rates and amounts of shoreline recession vary tremendously depending upon local variables including: 1) shoreline type, geometry, and composition; 2) geographic location, size, and shape of associated estuary; 3) frequency, intensity, and fetch of storms; 4) type and abundance of associated vegetation; and locally 5) boat wakes. Organic or wetland shorelines (marsh and swamp forest) comprise approximately 62% of the estuarine margins in NE NC, whereas sediment banks (low, high, and bluff) constitute about 38%. The goals of this study were to determine the rates of recession for different shoreline types and the role of local variables in the erosion process. Shorelines were mapped using high precision GPS mapping techniques, digital orthographic quarter quadrangles, and other georeferenced aerial photographs from the early 1950's to 2001. Shoreline change was then calculated for 20 estuarine study sites. Field mapping of each site provided data on shoreline characteristics and erosional processes. Data synthesis suggests mean annual shoreline erosion rates are significantly different for shoreline types as follows: 1) marshes = 7.4 ft/yr (range 2.7-17.0 ft/yr), low sediment banks = 5.0 ft/yr (range 1.0-12.0 ft/yr), bluff sediment banks = 5.0 ft/yr (range = 3.9-6.0 ft/yr), swamp forests = 3.0 ft/yr (range = 1.7-4.0 ft/yr), high sediment banks = 2.8 ft/yr (range = 2.7-2.9 ft/yr). Modified shorelines continue to erode, however at lower mean annual rates that range from 0.9-2.7 ft/yr. Locally, specific marsh shorelines have eroded at rates up to 100 ft/yr during particularly stormy periods. Thus, about 1166 acres of land are lost each year along the 1593 miles of mapped estuarine shoreline in NE NC. If these erosion rates are representative of
Padilla Bay: The Estuary Guide. Level 1. Publication No. 93-108.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Friesem, Judy
Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Washington is managed by the Washington State Department of Ecology, Shorelands and Coastal Zone management Program. This guide is designed for primary teachers to complement a visit to the reserve and is a useful resource to teach about estuaries, shorelands, and coastal resources. Activities are…
Cloern, J.E.; Jassby, A.D.
2012-01-01
Poised at the interface of rivers, ocean, atmosphere and dense human settlement, estuaries are driven by a large array of natural and anthropogenic forces. San Francisco Bay exemplifies the fast-paced change occurring in many of the world's estuaries, bays and inland seas in response to these diverse forces. We use observations from this particularly well-studied estuary to illustrate responses to six drivers that are common agents of change where land and sea meet: water consumption and diversion; human modification of sediment supply; introduction of non-native species; sewage input; environmental policy; and climate shifts. In San Francisco Bay, responses to these drivers include, respectively, shifts in the timing and extent of freshwater inflow and salinity intrusion; decreasing turbidity; restructuring of plankton communities; nutrient enrichment; elimination of hypoxia and reduced metal contamination of biota; and food web changes that decrease resistance of the estuary to nutrient pollution. Detection of these changes and discovery of their causes through environmental monitoring have been essential for establishing and measuring outcomes of environmental policies that aim to maintain high water quality and sustain services provided by estuarine-coastal ecosystems. The wide range of variability time scales and the multiplicity of interacting drivers place heavy demands on estuarine monitoring programs. But the San Francisco Bay case study illustrates why the imperative for monitoring has never been greater.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Cloern, James E.; Jassby, Alan D.
2012-12-01
Poised at the interface of rivers, ocean, atmosphere and dense human settlement, estuaries are driven by a large array of natural and anthropogenic forces. San Francisco Bay exemplifies the fast-paced change occurring in many of the world's estuaries, bays, and inland seas in response to these diverse forces. We use observations from this particularly well-studied estuary to illustrate responses to six drivers that are common agents of change where land and sea meet: water consumption and diversion, human modification of sediment supply, introduction of nonnative species, sewage input, environmental policy, and climate shifts. In San Francisco Bay, responses to these drivers include, respectively, shifts in the timing and extent of freshwater inflow and salinity intrusion, decreasing turbidity, restructuring of plankton communities, nutrient enrichment, elimination of hypoxia and reduced metal contamination of biota, and food web changes that decrease resistance of the estuary to nutrient pollution. Detection of these changes and discovery of their causes through environmental monitoring have been essential for establishing and measuring outcomes of environmental policies that aim to maintain high water quality and sustain services provided by estuarine-coastal ecosystems. The many time scales of variability and the multiplicity of interacting drivers place heavy demands on estuarine monitoring programs, but the San Francisco Bay case study illustrates why the imperative for monitoring has never been greater.
Community structure of elasmobranchs in estuaries along the northwest Gulf of Mexico
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Plumlee, Jeffrey D.; Dance, Kaylan M.; Matich, Philip; Mohan, John A.; Richards, Travis M.; TinHan, Thomas C.; Fisher, Mark R.; Wells, R. J. David
2018-05-01
Estuaries promote high levels of productivity and biodiversity by providing habitat for many biological communities due to their wide range of environmental conditions. Estuarine systems serve as nurseries, areas for parturition, and feeding grounds for elasmobranchs. However, estuaries face an array of anthropogenic pressures, including overfishing, altered flow regimes, pollution, and habitat destruction. Given the vulnerability of estuarine ecosystems, observing long-term changes in community structure is essential to understanding the effects of anthropogenic stressors. Elasmobranch community structure was analyzed among eight estuaries in the northwest Gulf of Mexico to evaluate spatial and temporal variability in species abundance and diversity using bi-annual fisheries independent gillnet survey data over three decades (1985-2014). Ten species comprised 99.4% of elasmobranchs caught which included 35.3% bull sharks (Carcharhinus leucas), 18.1% bonnetheads (Sphyrna tiburo), 17.0% cownose rays (Rhinoptera bonasus), 13.4% blacktip sharks (Carcharhinus limbatus), 5.9% Atlantic stingrays (Dasyatis sabina), 3.1% Atlantic sharpnose sharks (Rhizoprionodon terraenovae), 2.7% spinner sharks (Carcharhinus brevipinna), 2.1% scalloped hammerheads (Sphyrna lewini), 1.7% finetooth sharks (Carcharhinus isodon), and 0.7% lemon sharks (Negaprion brevirostris). During the study period, elasmobranch community structure changed among estuaries and among decades. Bull sharks, bonnetheads, cownose rays, blacktip sharks, and spinner sharks all increased in abundance during the study period, whereas finetooth sharks and lemon sharks decreased over time. Higher latitude estuaries were dominated by bull sharks while lower latitude estuaries were dominated by cownose rays. Salinity was the most important environmental variable in predicting individual elasmobranch species abundance (deviance explained: 14.4 ± 6.5 SD), while temperature and depth also played a role in shaping community
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Bravo, M. E.; Aliotta, S.; Fiori, S.; Ginsberg, S.
2018-03-01
There has been a growing interest in the study of shallow gas due its importance in relation to the marine environment, climate change and human activities. In Bahía Blanca estuary, Argentina, shallow gas has a wide distribution. Acoustic turbidity and blanking are the main seismic evidence for the presence of shallow gas in the estuary. The former prevails in the inner sector of the estuary where gas is either near or in contact with the seabed. Gas deposits are generally associated with paleochannels corresponding to the Holocene paleodeltaic environment. Distribution studies of shallow gas in this estuary are necessary because its presence implies not only a geological risk for harbor activities but also because it may have noxious effects on the marine ecosystem, mainly on benthic communities. The comparison of benthic communities at a gas site (GS) with those at a control site (CS) indicated that gas could generate impoverishment in terms of individuals' abundance (GS: N = 357; CS: N = 724). Also, diversity indices showed great differences in the community structure at each site. This indicates that methane gas may act as a natural disturbance agent in estuarine ecosystems. The presence of gas in seabed sediments must therefore be taken into account when distribution studies are conducted of estuarine benthic communities.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Jilbert, Tom; Tiihonen, Rosa; Myllykangas, Jukka-Pekka; Asmala, Eero; Hietanen, Susanna
2016-04-01
Iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn) play important roles in sedimentary carbon cycling in both freshwater and marine systems. Dissimilatory reduction of Fe and Mn oxides is known to be a major pathway of suboxic organic matter remineralization in surface sediments, while recent studies have shown that Fe and Mn oxides may be involved in the anaerobic oxidation of methane deeper in the sediment column (e.g., Egger et al., 2015). Estuaries are transitional environments, characterized by gradients of salinity and redox conditions which impact on the mobility of Fe and Mn. In turn, the distribution of Fe and Mn in estuarine sediments, and the role of the two metals in carbon cycling, is expected to be spatially heterogeneous. However, few studies have attempted to describe the sedimentary distribution of Fe and Mn in the context of processes occurring in the estuarine water column. In particular, salinity-driven flocculation and redox shuttling are two key processes whose relative impacts on sedimentary Fe and Mn have not been clearly demonstrated. In this study we investigated the coupled water column and sedimentary cycling of Fe and Mn along a 60km non-tidal estuarine transect in the Gulf of Finland, Baltic Sea. We show that riverine Fe entering the estuary as colloidal oxides associated with dissolved organic matter (DOM) is quickly flocculated and sedimented within 5 km of the river mouth, despite the shallow lateral salinity gradient. Sediments within this range are enriched in Fe (up to twice the regional average), principally in the form of crystalline Fe oxides as determined by sequential extractions. The high crystallinity implies relative maturity of the oxide mineralogy, likely due to sustained oxic conditions and long residence time in the river catchment. Despite the reducing conditions below the sediment-water interface, Fe is largely retained in the sediments close to the river mouth. In contrast, sedimentary Mn concentrations are highest in a deep silled
Turning the tide: estuarine bars and mutually evasive ebb- and flood-dominated channels
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kleinhans, M. G.; Leuven, J.; van der Vegt, M.; Baar, A. W.; Braat, L.; Bergsma, L.; Weisscher, S.
2015-12-01
Estuaries have perpetually changing and interacting channels and shoals formed by ebb and flood currents, but we lack a descriptive taxonomy and forecasting model. We explore the hypotheses that the great variation of bar and shoal morphologies are explained by similar factors as river bars, namely channel aspect ratio, sediment mobility and limits on bar erosion and chute cutoff caused by cohesive sediment. Here we use remote sensing data and a novel tidal flume setup, the Metronome, to create estuaries or short estuarine reaches from idealized initial conditions, with and without mud supply at the fluvial boundary. Bar width-depth ratios in estuaries are similar to those in braided rivers. In unconfined (cohesionless) experimental estuaries, bar- and channel dynamics increase with increasing river discharge. Ebb- and flood-dominated channels are ubiquitous even in entirely straight sections. The apparent stability of ebb- and flood channels is partly explained by the inherent instability of symmetrical channel bifurcations as in rivers.
Triclosan alterations of estuarine phytoplankton community structure.
Pinckney, James L; Thompson, Laura; Hylton, Sarah
2017-06-15
Antimicrobial additives in pharmaceutical and personal care products are a major environmental concern due to their potential ecological impacts on aquatic ecosystems. Triclosan (TCS) has been used as an antiseptic, disinfectant, and preservative in various media. The sublethal and lethal effects of TCS on estuarine phytoplankton community composition were investigated using bioassays of natural phytoplankton communities to measure phytoplankton responses to different concentrations of TCS ranging from 1 to 200μgl -1 . The EC 50 (the concentration of an inhibitor where the growth is reduced by half) for phytoplankton groups (diatoms, chlorophytes, cryptophytes) examined in this ranged from 10.7 to 113.8μg TCS l -1 . Exposures resulted in major shifts in phytoplankton community composition at concentrations as low as 1.0μg TCS l -1 . This study demonstrates estuarine ecosystem sensitivity to TCS exposure and highlights potential alterations in phytoplankton community composition at what are typically environmental concentrations of TCS in urbanized estuaries. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Effects of mud supply on large-scale estuary morphology and development over centuries to millennia
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Braat, Lisanne; van Kessel, Thijs; Leuven, Jasper R. F. W.; Kleinhans, Maarten G.
2017-10-01
Alluvial river estuaries consist largely of sand but are typically flanked by mudflats and salt marshes. The analogy with meandering rivers that are kept narrower than braided rivers by cohesive floodplain formation raises the question of how large-scale estuarine morphology and the late Holocene development of estuaries are affected by cohesive sediment. In this study we combine sand and mud transport processes and study their interaction effects on morphologically modelled estuaries on centennial to millennial timescales. The numerical modelling package Delft3D was applied in 2-DH starting from an idealised convergent estuary. The mixed sediment was modelled with an active layer and storage module with fluxes predicted by the Partheniades-Krone relations for mud and Engelund-Hansen for sand. The model was subjected to a range of idealised boundary conditions of tidal range, river discharge, waves and mud input. The model results show that mud is predominantly stored in mudflats on the side of the estuary. Marine mud supply only influences the mouth of the estuary, whereas fluvial mud is distributed along the whole estuary. Coastal waves stir up mud and remove the tendency to form muddy coastlines and the formation of mudflats in the downstream part of the estuary. Widening continues in estuaries with only sand, while mud supply leads to a narrower constant width and reduced channel and bar dynamics. This self-confinement eventually leads to a dynamic equilibrium in which lateral channel migration and mudflat expansion are balanced on average. However, for higher mud concentrations, higher discharge and low tidal amplitude, the estuary narrows and fills to become a tidal delta.
Bolliet, Valérie; Claveau, Julie; Jarry, Marc; Gonzalez, Patrice; Baudrimont, Magalie; Monperrus, Mathilde
2017-02-01
The relationships between the migratory behavior, methylmercury (MeHg) concentrations, oxidative stress response and detoxification processes were investigated in glass eels collected in marine (Molliets) and estuarine (Urt) waters (Adour estuary, South West France) at the end of the fishing season (April). Glass eel migratory behavior was investigated in an experimental flume according to their response to dusk. Fish responding to the decrease in light intensity by ascending in the water column and moving with or against the flow were considered as having a high propensity to migrate (migrant). Glass eels still sheltering at the end of the 24h catching period were considered as having a low propensity to migrate and were called non-migrant. Our results provide some evidence that estuarine glass eels were bigger, presented a higher propensity to migrate and a lower oxidative stress response than marine glass eels. This might reflect a selection process, some marine glass eels progressively settling or dying before reaching Urt and/or a change in feeding behavior. In April, glass eels restart feeding in the Adour estuary which might decrease the oxidative stress possibly related to starvation, and enhance migration. MeHg concentrations was significantly higher in non-migrant than in migrant glass eels and it is suggested that non-migrant glass eels might present a higher vulnerability to stress (at least contamination and/or starvation), although the underlying mechanisms remain to be elucidated. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
A variety of human symptoms have been associated with exposure to the dinoflagellate
Pfiesteria and have been grouped together into a syndrome termed "possible estuary-associated
syndrome," Prospective cohort studies of health effects associated with exposure to estuarine w...
Donahue, B.T.; Hine, A.C.; Tebbens, S.; Locker, S.D.; Twichell, D.C.
2003-01-01
The purpose of this study was to determine if and how a large, modern estuarine system, situated in the middle of an ancient carbonate platform, has affected its adjacent inner shelf both in the past during the last, post-glacial sea-level rise and during the present. An additional purpose was to determine if and how this inner shelf seaward of a major estuary differed from the inner shelves located just to the north and south but seaward of barrier-island shorelines. Through side-scan sonar mosaicking, bathymetric studies, and ground-truthing using surface grab samples as well as diver observations, two large submarine sand plains were mapped - one being the modern ebb-tidal delta and the other interpreted to be a relict ebb-tidal delta formed earlier in the Holocene. The most seaward portion of the inner shelf studied consists of a field of lobate, bathymetrically elevated, fine-sand accumulations, which were interpreted to be sediment-starved 3D dunes surrounded by small 2D dunes composed of coarse molluscan shell gravel. Additionally, exposed limestone hardbottoms supporting living benthic communities were found as well. This modern shelf sedimentary environment is situated on a large, buried shelf valley, which extends eastward beneath the modern Tampa Bay estuary. These observations plus the absence of an incised shelf valley having surficial bathymetric expression, and the absence of sand bodies normally associated with back-tracking estuarine systems indicate that there was no cross-shelf estuarine retreat path formed during the last rise in sea level. Instead, the modern Tampa Bay formed within a mid-platform, low-relief depression, which was flooded by rising marine waters late in the Holocene. With continued sea-level rise in the late Holocene, this early embayment was translated eastward or landward to its present position, whereby a larger ebb-tidal delta prograded out onto the inner shelf. Extensive linear sand ridges, common to the inner shelves to
Sources of nitrogen and phosphorus to estuaries and estuarine watersheds of the coterminous United States have been compiled from a variety of publically available data sources (1985 – 2015). Atmospheric loading was obtained from two sources. Modelled and interpolated meas...
The presentation provides an introduction to the Yaquina Estuary Nutrient Case Study which includes considerations for development of estuarine nutrient criteria in the Pacific Northwest. As part of this effort, a database of historic and recent data has been assembled consistin...
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Petit, Jérôme C. J.; Schäfer, Jörg; Coynel, Alexandra; Blanc, Gérard; Chiffoleau, Jean-François; Auger, Dominique; Bossy, Cécile; Derriennic, Hervé; Mikolaczyk, Mathilde; Dutruch, Lionel; Mattielli, Nadine
2015-12-01
Zinc stable isotopes measurements by MC-ICP-MS, validated by laboratory intercalibrations, were performed on wild oysters, suspended particles and filtered river/estuarine water samples to provide new constraints for the use of Zn isotopes as environmental tracers. The samples selected were representative of the long range (400 km) transport of metal (Zn, Cd, etc.) contamination from former Zn-refining activities at Decazeville (i.e. δ66Zn > 1‰) and its phasing out, recorded during 30 years in wild oysters from the Gironde Estuary mouth (RNO/ROCCH sample bank). The study also addresses additional anthropogenic sources (urban and viticulture) and focuses on geochemical reactivity of Zn in the turbidity gradient and the maximum turbidity zone (MTZ) of the fluvial Gironde Estuary. In this area, dissolved Zn showed a strong removal onto suspended particulate matter (SPM) and progressive enrichment in heavy isotopes with increasing SPM concentrations varying from δ66Zn = -0.02‰ at 2 mg/L to +0.90‰ at 1310 mg/L. These signatures were attributed to kinetically driven adsorption due to strongly increasing sorption sites in the turbidity gradient and MTZ of the estuary. Oysters from the estuary mouth, contaminated sediments from the Lot River and SPM entering the estuary showed parallel historical evolutions (1979-2010) for Zn/Cd ratios but not for δ66Zn values. Oysters had signatures varying from δ66Zn = 1.43‰ in 1983 to 1.18‰ in 2010 and were offset by δ66Zn = 0.6-0.7‰ compared to past (1988) and present SPM from the salinity gradient. Isotopic signatures in river-borne particles entering the Gironde Estuary under contrasting freshwater discharge regimes during 2003-2011 showed similar values (δ66Zn ≈ 0.35 ± 0.03‰; 1SD, n = 15), i.e. they were neither related to former metal refining activities at least for the past decade nor clearly affected by other anthropogenic sources. Therefore, the Zn isotopic signatures in Gironde oysters reflect the
Lu, Xiao-Ming; Chen, Chang; Zheng, Tian-Ling
2017-05-01
Pyrosequencing and metagenomic profiling were used to assess the phylogenetic and functional characteristics of microbial communities residing in sediments collected from the estuaries of Rivers Oujiang (OS) and Jiaojiang (JS) in the western region of the East China Sea. Another sediment sample was obtained from near the shore far from estuaries, used for contrast (CS). Characterization of estuary sediment bacterial communities showed that toxic chemicals potentially reduced the natural variability in microbial communities, while they increased the microbial metabolic enzymes and pathways. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and nitrobenzene were negatively correlated with the bacterial community variation. The dominant class in the sediments was Gammaproteobacteria. According to Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enzyme profiles, dominant enzymes were found in estuarine sediments, which increased greatly, such as 2-oxoglutarate synthase, acetolactate synthase, inorganic diphosphatase, and aconitate hydratase. In KEGG pathway profiles, most of the pathways were also dominated by specific metabolism in these sediments and showed a marked increase, for instance alanine, aspartate, and glutamate metabolism, carbon fixation pathways in prokaryotes, and aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis. The estuarine sediment bacterial diversity varied with the polluted river water inputs. In the estuary receiving river water from the more seriously polluted River Oujiang, the sediment bacterial community function was more severely affected.
Mercury bioaccumulation in estuarine fishes: Novel insights from sulfur stable isotopes
Willacker, James J.; Eagles-Smith, Collin A.; Ackerman, Joshua T.
2017-01-01
Estuaries are transitional habitats characterized by complex biogeochemical and ecological gradients that result in substantial variation in fish total mercury concentrations (THg). We leveraged these gradients and used carbon (δ13C), nitrogen (δ15N), and sulfur (δ34S) stable isotopes to examine the ecological and biogeochemical processes underlying THg bioaccumulation in fishes from the San Francisco Bay Estuary. We employed a tiered approach that first examined processes influencing variation in fish THg among wetlands, and subsequently examined the roles of habitat and within-wetland processes in generating larger-scale patterns in fish THg. We found that δ34S, an indicator of sulfate reduction and habitat specific-foraging, was correlated with fish THg at all three spatial scales. Over the observed ranges of δ34S, THg concentrations in fish increased by up to 860% within wetlands, 560% among wetlands, and 291% within specific impounded wetland habitats. In contrast, δ13C and δ15N were not correlated with THg among wetlands and were only important in low salinity impounded wetlands, possibly reflecting more diverse food webs in this habitat. Together, our results highlight the key roles of sulfur biogeochemistry and ecology in influencing estuarine fish THg, as well as the importance of fish ecology and habitat in modulating the relationships between biogeochemical processes and Hg bioaccumulation.
Mercury Bioaccumulation in Estuarine Fishes: Novel Insights from Sulfur Stable Isotopes.
Willacker, James J; Eagles-Smith, Collin A; Ackerman, Joshua T
2017-02-21
Estuaries are transitional habitats characterized by complex biogeochemical and ecological gradients that result in substantial variation in fish total mercury concentrations (THg). We leveraged these gradients and used carbon (δ 13 C), nitrogen (δ 15 N), and sulfur (δ 34 S) stable isotopes to examine the ecological and biogeochemical processes underlying THg bioaccumulation in fishes from the San Francisco Bay Estuary. We employed a tiered approach that first examined processes influencing variation in fish THg among wetlands, and subsequently examined the roles of habitat and within-wetland processes in generating larger-scale patterns in fish THg. We found that δ 34 S, an indicator of sulfate reduction and habitat specific-foraging, was correlated with fish THg at all three spatial scales. Over the observed ranges of δ 34 S, THg concentrations in fish increased by up to 860% within wetlands, 560% among wetlands, and 291% within specific impounded wetland habitats. In contrast, δ 13 C and δ 15 N were not correlated with THg among wetlands and were only important in low salinity impounded wetlands, possibly reflecting more diverse food webs in this habitat. Together, our results highlight the key roles of sulfur biogeochemistry and ecology in influencing estuarine fish THg, as well as the importance of fish ecology and habitat in modulating the relationships between biogeochemical processes and Hg bioaccumulation.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Dunn, Paul H.; Young, Craig M.
2013-12-01
Parasites can significantly impact ecosystems by altering the distributions and population sizes of their host organisms. Some hosts are thought to find refuge from parasitism by entering habitats where their parasites cannot survive. The nemertean worm Carcinonemertes errans is an egg predator that infects the Dungeness crab, Cancer magister, throughout the host's range. To determine if C. magister experiences a refuge from C. errans within estuarine environments, we examined the distribution of C. errans on Dungeness crabs within Oregon's Coos Bay Estuary. Year-round sampling over a three-year period also allowed us to test for temporal variation in the parasite's distribution. We found that parasite prevalence, mean intensity, and parasite density of C. errans infecting C. magister varied along a clear estuarine gradient, with crabs nearest the ocean carrying the heaviest parasite loads. Larger crabs were more heavily infected with worms, and seasonal infection patterns were observed at some sites within the bay. Crabs sampled from coastal waters near the estuary carried significantly more worms than did crabs from the bay, suggesting that the estuary is acting as a spatiotemporal parasite refuge for this important fishery species.
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Grin, E. A.; Cabrol, N. A.
1998-01-01
The debouche of Ma'adim Vallis in the Elysium Basin generated a transitional transported sediment structure, which planimetric shape is controlled by the enclosing topography of a deep reentrant gulf of the Basin into the highland. We defined it as an estuarine delta. The location and the importance of this estuarine delta is supported by the theoretical model of graded profile constructed for Ma'adim Vallis, and by two approaches: (i) the reconstruction of Ma'adim Vallis downstream course from Gusev to Elysium Basin, and (ii) the survey of the sediment deposit in the alleged estuary. The longitudinal graded profile of Ma'adim Vallis finds its base-level in the Elysium Basin, at a about 1000 m elevation, which is in agreement with the observed Basin shoreline. This model is supported by observational evidence of flow between the northern rim of Gusev crater, and the Elysium Basin shoreline. This downstream course of Ma'adim Vallis can be divided into three hydrogeologic regions. into three hydrogeologic regions. (a) The first region is a flooded plain (Zephiria Mensae), consisting in chaotic terrain formed by highland rocks, and disintegrated lava of the western flank of Apollinaris. Morphologic indicators of the flood process are: (1) the sediment deposit over the Gusev crater northern rim that reflects the overspilling of the crater-lake water through a 40-km wide gap provided by an ancient impact crater, (2) the tear-drop shaped feature on the northeastern flank of Apollinaris Patera, and (3) the chaotic terrain that suggest the emergence of ground water generated by the seepage of the crater lake through high-permeable broken rampart material. This underground water circulation sustained by the hydrostatic pressure of the crater-lake has likely generated a hydrothermal system in the volcanic environment of Apollinaris Patera. The stratigraphy of the flooded area is identified as Hesperian age, with occurrences of Noachian hilly individual features, and as
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Ruiz, J.; Macías, D.; Navarro, G.
2017-09-01
A three year-long quasi continuum sampling dataset on the Guadalquivir estuary water quality was used to assess the role of light availability on its biological production. We found that inorganic nutrients within the estuary are very high (with mean values for inorganic nitrogen and phosphorous of 285 and 2.4 μM respectively) while phytoplankton biomass remains low most of the time (with a mean value of 2.6 mg/m3). A strong relationship between phytoplankton biomass and water turbidity was found indicating that, indeed, light availability is the major constraint of primary production in this system. Most of the time this limitation of primary production is not associated to enhanced turbidity connected to fresh water inputs. Instead, our data indicate that, independently of freshwater inputs, the photosynthesis is restricted by tidal forcings enhancing turbidity in an estuary that has been highly modified. Our results match with classical theories on the functioning of well-mixed, estuarine ecosystems as well as with recent modeling exercises. We also discuss the potential impacts of this particular characteristic of some estuarine systems for their management and regulatory control.
Ragunathan, M G
2017-03-15
The primary objective of this study was to understand the impact of monsoon and summer seasons on the Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB's) and petroleum hydrocarbon compounds (PHC's) load in Ennore estuary and how the physiological response of estuarine Scylla serrata inhabiting in this estuary changed with reference to antioxidant defense. Seasonal levels of PCB's and PHC's were assessed in the water along with their bioaccumulation in gills, hemolymph, hepatopancreas and ovary of S. serrata. Concentration of PCB's and PHC's in water and their bioaccumulation was found to be higher in summer season when compared to monsoon season. Enzymic antioxidant assays [superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPX), glutathione reductase (GR), glutathione-S-transferase (GST)]; non-enzymic antioxidant assays [glutathione (GSH), vitamin C, vitamin E] and macromolecular alterations [membrane lipid peroxidation (LPO), and DNA Damage (strand breaks)] were assessed in the gills, hemolymph and hepatopancreas of S. serrata. There was a significant (p<0.05) upregulation in lipid peroxidation activity and DNA damage activity collected during the summer season when compared to the pre- and post-monsoon seasons. On the contrary, the enzymic and non-enzymic antioxidants exhibited significant (p<0.05) down regulation in the gills, hemolymph, hepatopancreas and ovary of S. serrata. Oxidative stress biomarkers represented a significant (p<0.05) maximum in gills when compared to hemolymph and hepatopancreas of S. serrata. Present study provided scientific evidences of how the antioxidant defense status of S. serrata responded to PCB's and PAH's stress with reference to seasonal vicissitudes, which indirectly represented the environmental health conditions of the estuary. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Assessing the Impact of Human Activities on British Columbia’s Estuaries
Robb, Carolyn K.
2014-01-01
The world’s marine and coastal ecosystems are under threat and single-sector management efforts have failed to address those threats. Scientific consensus suggests that management should evolve to focus on ecosystems and their human, ecological, and physical components. Estuaries are recognized globally as one of the world’s most productive and most threatened ecosystems and many estuarine areas in British Columbia (BC) have been lost or degraded. To help prioritize activities and areas for regional management efforts, spatial information on human activities that adversely affect BC’s estuaries was compiled. Using statistical analyses, estuaries were assigned to groups facing related threats that could benefit from similar management. The results show that estuaries in the most populated marine ecosections have the highest biological importance but also the highest impacts and the lowest levels of protection. This research is timely, as it will inform ongoing marine planning, land acquisition, and stewardship efforts in BC. PMID:24937486
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Modéran, Julien; David, Valérie; Bouvais, Pierre; Richard, Pierre; Fichet, Denis
2012-02-01
Estuaries are highly dynamic systems where multiple organic matter sources coexist and where complex biogeochemical processes greatly affect their fate. Although zooplankton plays a key role of in the energy fluxes between primary sources and exploited macrofauna, there is still a critical lack of field information concerning the spatio-temporal variability of the trophic pathways supporting its high biomasses in estuaries. From January 2007 to January 2008, suspended matter, microphytobenthos and zooplankton were sampled along the salinity gradient of the Charente estuary to determine their carbon and nitrogen stable isotope composition. The relative homogeneity of the δ 13C values of particulate organic matter (POM) all along the estuary (-23.6 to -26.5‰ except in March and June, ˜ -28.5‰) was attributed to physical mixing of marine and terrestrially derived organic matter with the great load of tidally resuspended particles. The five zooplankton taxa analysed displayed a wide range of δ 13C (from -34.9 to -17.4‰) and δ 15N values (3.4-15.2‰) over the year, providing strong evidence for high selectivity toward different organic matter sources and reinforcing the idea that a spatio-temporal succession of species assemblages lead to multiple trophic pathways and may stabilize the estuarine trophic network. The high δ 15N values of Eurytemora affinis in the maximum turbidity zone were believed to reflect a higher carnivorous tendency as a functional response to the strong decrease of phytoplankton availability. Conversely, Acartia spp. appeared unable to change their diet in the same way and was thus unable to colonize upstream areas. Stable isotope analysis also revealed that Mesopodopsis slabberi mostly relied on fresh phytoplankton and microphytobenthos while Neomysis integer presented a clear carnivorous tendency toward copepods, at least during the warm period. Additionally evidence was provided for passive (downstream advection of freshwater
The Asian clam Corbicula fluminea is one of the most pervasive species in freshwater ecosystems. Our objective was to characterize the trophic interactions of C. fluminea in the Minho river estuary (NW-Iberian Peninsula, Europe), an estuarine ecosystem in which C. fluminea presen...
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Simionato, C. G.; Berasategui, A.; Meccia, V. L.; Acha, M.; Mianzan, H.
2008-01-01
The Río de la Plata Estuary presents a strong bottom salinity front located over a submerged shoal. Apparently favored by retention processes, it is a spawning ground for several coastal fishes. This estuary is very shallow and essentially wind driven and, moreover, in time scales relevant to biota, estuarine circulation is wind dominated and highly variable. Two intriguing questions are, therefore, how this system can favor retention and what the involved mechanisms are. This paper qualitatively explores mechanisms involved in the estuary where retention is favored applying numerical simulations in which neutral particles - simulating fish eggs and early larvae - are released along the bottom frontal zone and tracked for different wind conditions. Results suggest that retentive features can be a consequence of estuarine response to natural wind variability acting over bathymetric features. For winds from most directions, particles either remain trapped near their launching position or move northeastward to southwestward along the shoal. As alternation of winds that favor along-shoal motion is the dominant feature of wind variability in the region, a retentive scenario results from prevailing wind variability. Additionally, winds that tend to export particles with a poor chance of being restored to the front are neither frequent nor persistent. Results show, therefore, that physical forcing alone might generate a retentive scenario at the inner part of this estuary. The physical retention mechanism is more effective for bottom than for surface launched particles. Wind statistics indicate that the proposed mechanism has different implications for retention along the seasons. Spring is the most favorable season, followed by summer, when particles would have a larger propensity to reach the southern area of the estuary (Samborombón Bay). Fall and winter are increasingly less favorable. All these features are consistent with patterns observed in the region in
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Tétard, Stéphane; Feunteun, Eric; Bultel, Elise; Gadais, Romain; Bégout, Marie-Laure; Trancart, Thomas; Lasne, Emilien
2016-02-01
Connectivity in aquatic systems is often related to abundance and permeability of physical barriers, such as dams, which delay or impede movements of biota with important consequences for aquatic biodiversity. Water quality may, however, also control connectivity between essential habitats. In macrotidal estuaries, Estuarine Turbidity Maxima (ETM) have a strong impact on water quality because of the low oxygen concentration occurring as a response to the related high bacterial and low photosynthetic activities. In this study, we assess Allis shad estuarine spawning migration in 2011 and 2012 in the Loire River (France) where the ETM occurs at spring and summer. Using an acoustic telemetry array, we show that trans-estuarine migration is inhibited during hypoxic episodes in the middle part of the estuary. Shad tends to stay in downstream areas, and even at sea, where oxygen conditions are more suitable. Trans-estuarine migration occurs hastily during neap tide when the ETM decreases, both in terms of spatial extent and intensity, inducing a shift in a set of covariates including dissolved oxygen, which increases, and suspended matter, which decreases. In the context of climate warming, ETM are expected to increase with probable adverse implications for shad migration success and doubtless other diadromous populations.
Counting on β-Diversity to Safeguard the Resilience of Estuaries
de Juan, Silvia; Thrush, Simon F.; Hewitt, Judi E.
2013-01-01
Coastal ecosystems are often stressed by non-point source and cumulative effects that can lead to local-scale community homogenisation and a concomitant loss of large-scale ecological connectivity. Here we investigate the use of β-diversity as a measure of both community heterogeneity and ecological connectivity. To understand the consequences of different environmental scenarios on heterogeneity and connectivity, it is necessary to understand the scale at which different environmental factors affect β-diversity. We sampled macrofauna from intertidal sites in nine estuaries from New Zealand’s North Island that represented different degrees of stress derived from land-use. We used multiple regression models to identify relationships between β-diversity and local sediment variables, factors related to the estuarine and catchment hydrodynamics and morphology and land-based stressors. At local scales, we found higher β-diversity at sites with a relatively high total richness. At larger scales, β-diversity was positively related to γ-diversity, suggesting that a large regional species pool was linked with large-scale heterogeneity in these systems. Local environmental heterogeneity influenced β-diversity at both local and regional scales, although variables at the estuarine and catchment scales were both needed to explain large scale connectivity. The estuaries expected a priori to be the most stressed exhibited higher variance in community dissimilarity between sites and connectivity to the estuary species pool. This suggests that connectivity and heterogeneity metrics could be used to generate early warning signals of cumulative stress. PMID:23755252
Relation between inherent optical properties and land use and land cover across Gulf Coast estuaries
Land use and land cover (LULC) can affect the watershed exports of optically active constituents such as suspended particulate matter and colored dissolved organic matter, and in turn affect estuarine optical properties. We collected optical data from six estuaries in the northea...
Beluga whale summer habitat associations in the Nelson River estuary, western Hudson Bay, Canada.
Smith, Alexander J; Higdon, Jeff W; Richard, Pierre; Orr, Jack; Bernhardt, Warren; Ferguson, Steven H
2017-01-01
To understand beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas) estuarine use in the Nelson River estuary, southwest Hudson Bay, we recorded and examined beluga movements and habitat associations for the July through August period in 2002-2005. We compared locations of belugas fitted with satellite transmitters ("tags") (2002-2005) and aerial-surveyed (2003 and 2005) belugas for years of differing freshwater flow from the Nelson River which is influenced by hydroelectric activity. Using the beluga telemetry location data, we estimated an early August behavioral shift in beluga distribution patterns from local estuarine use to a progressively more migratory behavior away from the estuary. The timing of this shift in behavior was also apparent in results of beluga aerial surveys from the 1940s-1960s, despite environmental changes including later freeze-up and warming ocean temperatures. Overall, during the higher than average discharge ("wet") year of 2005, the three tagged belugas ranged farther from the Nelson River but not farther from the nearest shore along southwestern Hudson Bay, compared to the 10 tagged belugas tracked during the "dry" years of 2002-2004 with below average discharges. Aerial survey data for 2003 and 2005 display a similar dry vs. wet year shift in spatial patterns, with no significant change in overall density of belugas within the study area. In the Nelson estuary, proximity to the fresh-salt water mixing area may be more important than the shallow waters of the upper estuary. Killer whales (Orcinus orca) were observed in the Churchill area (200 km northwest) during each year of study, 2002-05, and belugas may benefit from the proximity to shallow estuary waters that provide protection from the larger-bodied predator. Study results contribute to an understanding of the influence of environmental variation on how and why belugas use estuaries although considerable uncertainties exist and additional research is required.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Jalón-Rojas, Isabel; Schmidt, Sabine; Sottolichio, Aldo
2017-11-01
The relative contribution of environmental forcing frequencies on turbidity variability is, for the first time, quantified at seasonal and multiannual time scales in tidal estuarine systems. With a decade of high-frequency, multi-site turbidity monitoring, the two nearby, macrotidal and highly-turbid Gironde and Loire estuaries (west France) are excellent natural laboratories for this purpose. Singular Spectrum Analyses, combined with Lomb-Scargle periodograms and Wavelet Transforms, were applied to the continuous multiannual turbidity time series. Frequencies of the main environmental factors affecting turbidity were identified: hydrological regime (high versus low river discharges), river flow variability, tidal range, tidal cycles, and turbulence. Their relative influences show similar patterns in both estuaries and depend on the estuarine region (lower or upper estuary) and the time scale (multiannual or seasonal). On the multiannual time scale, the relative contribution of tidal frequencies (tidal cycles and range) to turbidity variability decreases up-estuary from 68% to 47%, while the influence of river flow frequencies increases from 3% to 42%. On the seasonal time scale, the relative influence of forcings frequencies remains almost constant in the lower estuary, dominated by tidal frequencies (60% and 30% for tidal cycles and tidal range, respectively); in the upper reaches, it is variable depending on hydrological regime, even if tidal frequencies are responsible for up 50% of turbidity variance. These quantifications show the potential of combined spectral analyses to compare the behavior of suspended sediment in tidal estuaries throughout the world and to evaluate long-term changes in environmental forcings, especially in a context of global change. The relevance of this approach to compare nearby and overseas systems and to support management strategies is discussed (e.g., selection of effective operation frequencies/regions, prediction of the most
Biomass and productivity of fishes in estuaries: a South African case study.
Whitfield, A K
2016-10-01
Estuaries are well known for their role as nutrient and detrital sinks that stimulate high levels of both primary and secondary production which, in turn, support a large biomass of fishes per unit area. This study reviews available information on coastal fish biomasses (g m -2 wet mass) and productivity (g m -2 wet mass year -1 ) in order to place South African data on these topics into a global perspective. Using biogeographic fish productivity estimates, together with estuarine water area, the approximate annual teleost production in South African estuaries was calculated at 585, 1706 and 13 904 t in the cool temperate, warm temperate and subtropical regions, respectively. Total annual fish production in estuaries on the subcontinent is conservatively estimated at 16 195 t, but this figure is likely to fluctuate widely, depending on recruitment success and annual environmental conditions pertaining to these systems. Approximately 2000 t of fish are estimated to be harvested by fishing activities in South African estuaries each year, which represents c. 12% of annual fish production. Although this figure may appear sustainable, the reality is that there are a few heavily targeted estuary-associated marine species at the top of the food chain that are being overexploited by both anglers and subsistence fishermen. Natural mortalities due to piscivorous fish and bird predation has been estimated at c. 3% of total fish biomass per month in the East Kleinemonde Estuary, but this figure will vary considerably depending on bird abundance and foraging patterns along the coast. In contrast to catches made by the fishermen, piscivorous fishes and birds are targeting mainly juvenile marine fish and small estuarine resident species that are very abundant and generally low down in the food web. © 2016 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.
Cira, Emily K; Paerl, Hans W; Wetz, Michael S
2016-01-01
Nitrogen availability and form are important controls on estuarine phytoplankton growth. This study experimentally determined the influence of urea and nitrate additions on phytoplankton growth throughout the growing season (March 2012, June 2011, August 2011) in a temperate, eutrophied estuary (Neuse River Estuary, North Carolina, USA). Photopigments (chlorophyll a and diagnostic photopigments: peridinin, fucoxanthin, alloxanthin, zeaxanthin, chlorophyll b) and microscopy-based cell counts were used as indicators of phytoplankton growth. In March, the phytoplankton community was dominated by Gyrodinium instriatum and only fucoxanthin-based growth rates were stimulated by nitrogen addition. The limited response to nitrogen suggests other factors may control phytoplankton growth and community composition in early spring. In June, inorganic nitrogen concentrations were low and stimulatory effects of both nitrogen forms were observed for chlorophyll a- and diagnostic photopigment-based growth rates. In contrast, cell counts showed that only cryptophyte and dinoflagellate (Heterocapsa rotundata) growth were stimulated. Responses of other photopigments may have been due to an increase in pigment per cell or growth of plankton too small to be counted with the microscopic methods used. Despite high nitrate concentrations in August, growth rates were elevated in response to urea and/or nitrate addition for all photopigments except peridinin. However, this response was not observed in cell counts, again suggesting that pigment-based growth responses may not always be indicative of a true community and/or taxa-specific growth response. This highlights the need to employ targeted microscopy-based cell enumeration concurrent with pigment-based technology to facilitate a more complete understanding of phytoplankton dynamics in estuarine systems. These results are consistent with previous studies showing the seasonal importance of nitrogen availability in estuaries, and also
High porewater exchange in a mangrove-dominated estuary revealed from short-lived radium isotopes
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Sadat-Noori, Mahmood; Santos, Isaac R.; Tait, Douglas R.; Reading, Michael J.; Sanders, Christian J.
2017-10-01
We hypothesise that mangroves play an important role in groundwater exchange processes in sub-tropical and tropical estuarine waters. To investigate this, multiple high resolution time series measurements of radium across a tidal estuary (Coffs Creek, NSW, Australia) were performed as well as a spatial survey in both bottom and surface layers. Results from the spatial survey revealed increasing radium concentrations in parts of the estuary surrounded by mangroves. The average radium concentration in estuary areas lined with mangroves was 2.5 times higher than the average concentration at the mouth of the estuary and 6.5-fold higher than upstream freshwater areas. Additionally, the area enriched in radium coincided with low dissolved oxygen concentrations, implying that porewater exchange may drive anoxia. A radium mass balance model based on 223Ra and 224Ra isotopes at different sections of the estuary confirmed higher porewater exchange rates from areas fringed with mangrove vegetation. Estimated porewater exchange rates were 27.8 ± 5.3 and 13.6 ± 2.1 cm d-1 (0.8 ± 0.1 and 0.4 ± 0.1 m3 s-1) based on 223Ra and 224Ra isotopes, respectively. The average saline porewater exchange was ∼ 10-fold larger than the upstream surface freshwater inputs to the estuary. We suggest that mangrove environments within subtropical estuaries are hotspots for porewater exchange due to the complex belowground structure of crab burrows and the effect of tidal pumping. Because porewater exchange releases carbon and nitrogen from coastal sediments, development and modification of mangrove areas in subtropical estuaries have a significant effect on coastal biogeochemical cycles.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Selakovic, S.; Cozzoli, F.; Leuven, J.; Van Braeckel, A.; Speybroeck, J.; Kleinhans, M. G.; Bouma, T.
2017-12-01
Interactions between organisms and landscape forming processes play an important role in evolution of coastal landscapes. In particular, biota has a strong potential to interact with important geomorphological processes such as sediment dynamics. Although many studies worked towards quantifying the impact of different species groups on sediment dynamics, information has been gathered on an ad hoc base. Depending on species' traits and distribution, functional groups of ecoengineering species may have differential effects on sediment deposition and erosion. We hypothesize that the spatial distributions of sediment-stabilizing and destabilizing species across the channel and along the whole salinity gradient of an estuary partly determine the planform shape and channel-shoal morphology of estuaries. To test this hypothesis, we analyze vegetation and macrobenthic data taking the Scheldt river-estuarine continuum as model ecosystem. We identify species traits with important effects on sediment dynamics and use them to form functional groups. By using linearized mixed modelling, we are able to accurately describe the distributions of the different functional groups. We observe a clear distinction of dominant ecosystem engineering functional groups and their potential effects on the sediment in the river-estuarine continuum. The first results of longitudinal cross section show the highest effects of stabilizing plant species in riverine and sediment bioturbators in weak polyhaline part of continuum. The distribution of functional groups in transverse cross sections shows dominant stabilizing effect in supratidal zone compared to dominant destabilizing effect in the lower intertidal zone. This analysis offers a new and more general conceptualization of distributions of sediment stabilizing and destabilizing functional groups and their potential impacts on sediment dynamics, shoal patterns, and planform shapes in river-estuarine continuum. We intend to test this in future
Small estuarine fishes feed on large trematode cercariae: Lab and field investigations
Kaplan, A.T.; Rebhal, S.; Lafferty, K.D.; Kuris, A.M.
2009-01-01
In aquatic ecosystems, dense populations of snails can shed millions of digenean trematode cercariae every day. These short-lived, free-living larvae are rich in energy and present a potential resource for consumers. We investigated whether estuarine fishes eat cercariae shed by trematodes of the estuarine snail Cerithidea californica. In aquaria we presented cercariae from 10 native trematode species to 6 species of native estuarine fishes. Many of these fishes readily engorged on cercariae. To determine if fishes ate cercariae in the field, we collected the most common fish species, Fundulus parvipinnis (California killifish), from shallow water on rising tides when snails shed cercariae. Of 61 killifish, 3 had recognizable cercariae in their gut. Because cercariae are common in this estuary, they could be frequent sources of energy for small fishes. In turn, predation on cercariae by fishes (and other predators) could also reduce the transmission success of trematodes. ?? 2009 American Society of Parasitologists.
From lake to estuary, the tale of two waters: a study of aquatic continuum biogeochemistry.
Julian, Paul; Osborne, Todd Z
2018-01-25
The balance of fresh and saline water is essential to estuarine ecosystem function. Along the fresh-brackish-saline water gradient within the C-43 canal/Caloosahatchee River Estuary (CRE), the quantity, timing and distribution of water, and associated water quality significantly influence ecosystem function. Long-term trends of water quality and quantity were assessed from Lake Okeechobee to the CRE between May 1978 and April 2016. Significant changes to monthly flow volumes were detected between the lake and the estuary which correspond to changes in upstream management. and climatic events. Across the 37-year period, total phosphorus (TP) flow-weighted mean (FWM) concentration significantly increased at the lake; meanwhile, total nitrogen (TN) FMW concentrations significantly declined at both the lake and estuary headwaters. Between May 1999 and April 2016, TN, TP, and total organic carbon (TOC), ortho-P, and ammonium conditions were assessed within the estuary at several monitoring locations. Generally, nutrient concentrations decreased from upstream to downstream with shifts in TN/TP from values > 20 in the freshwater portion, ~ 20 in the estuarine portion, and < 20 in the marine portion indicating a spatial shift in nutrient limitations along the continuum. Aquatic productivity analysis suggests that the estuary is net heterotrophic with productivity being negatively influenced by TP, TN, and TOC likely due to a combination of effects including shading by high color dissolved organic matter. We conclude that rainfall patterns, land use, and the resulting discharges of runoff drive the ecology of the C-43/CRE aquatic continuum and associated biogeochemistry rather than water management associated with Lake Okeechobee.
Geologic effects on groundwater salinity and discharge into an estuary
Russonielloa, Christopher J.; Fernandeza, Cristina; Bratton, John F.; Banaszakc, Joel F.; Krantzc, David E.; Andresd, Scott; Konikow, Leonard F.; Michaela, Holly A.
2013-01-01
Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) can be an important pathway for transport of nutrients and contaminants to estuaries. A better understanding of the geologic and hydrologic controls on these fluxes is critical for their estimation and management. We examined geologic features, porewater salinity, and SGD rates and patterns at an estuarine study site. Seismic data showed the existence of paleovalleys infilled with estuarine mud and peat that extend hundreds of meters offshore. A low-salinity groundwater plume beneath this low-permeability fill was mapped with continuous resistivity profiling. Extensive direct SGD measurements with seepage meters (n = 551) showed fresh groundwater discharge patterns that correlated well with shallow porewater salinity and the hydrogeophysical framework. Small-scale variability in fresh and saline discharge indicates influence of meter-scale geologic heterogeneity, while site-scale discharge patterns are evidence of the influence of the paleovalley feature. Beneath the paleovalley fill, fresh groundwater flows offshore and mixes with saltwater before discharging along paleovalley flanks. On the adjacent drowned interfluve where low-permeability fill is absent, fresh groundwater discharge is focused at the shoreline. Shallow saltwater exchange was greatest across sandy sediments and where fresh SGD was low. The geologic control of groundwater flowpaths and discharge salinity demonstrated in this work are likely to affect geochemical reactions and the chemical loads delivered by SGD to coastal surface waters. Because similar processes are likely to exist in other estuaries where drowned paleovalleys commonly cross modern shorelines, the existence and implications of complex hydrogeology are important considerations for studies of groundwater fluxes and related management decisions.
Birch, G F; Apostolatos, C
2013-08-01
Filter-feeding bivalves have been used extensively as an indicator of ecosystem condition and in management of estuarine environments. The current study aimed to determine whether sedimentary metals could predict metal concentrations in tissue of filter-feeding mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) and to identify areas of the estuary where mussel consumption posed a human health risk. Mussel tissue Cu and Zn concentrations (wet weight) were below guideline values for human consumption in all parts of the waterway, whereas Pb tissue concentrations exceed these guidelines (2.0 μg g(-1) wet weight) in the upper reaches of some embayments of the estuary. Concentrations of Cu and Pb in the fine fraction (<62.5 μm) of bottom sediment reasonably predicted concentrations (dry weight) of these metals in mussel tissue (r (2) =0.460 and p=0.001 and r (2) =0.669 and p<0.0001, respectively) as these materials are resuspendable and available to filter-feeding estuarine animals, whereas total sediment and mussel tissue were poorly related. Lead concentrations (>350 μg g(-1)) in fine sediments indicated areas of this estuary where human health was at risk due to high tissue concentrations of this metal. These results give encouragement for the use of the metal concentration in fine sediments as an indicator of estuarine condition and risk to human health in this waterway. Mussels were distributed in all parts of the estuary, even in areas where metal concentrations exceeded sediment quality guidelines.
Spatial and temporal dynamics of microbial communities in a human-perturbed estuary of China
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hu, A.; Yu, C. P.; Hou, L.
2015-12-01
Estuaries are responsible for the transport and transformation of nutrients and organic matters from the continent to the adjacent coastal zone, and therefore play critical roles in global biogeochemical cycles. They are under increasing stress from human activities, especially in China, yet we still know little about the responses of microbial communities that mediate biogeochemical processes. Here, we investigated planktonic and benthic microbial communities in the human-perturbed Jiulong River estuary (JRE), southern China by using Illumina 16S ribosomal RNA amplicon sequencing. The results of taxonomic assignments indicated that Beta- (23.32%), Alpha- (22.21%), Gammaproteobacteria (14.83%), Actinobacteria (8.67%), and Flavobacteria (7.56%) were the five most abundant classes in estuarine surface waters, while benthic microbial communities were dominated by Gamma- (20.09%), Delta- (14.68%), Beta- (9.82%), Alphaproteobacteria (7.63%), and Anaerolineae (7.25%). The results of Adnois and ANOSIM tests confirmed that the compositions of microbial communities from waters and sediments of the JRE were significantly different from each other, and then salinity may be the primary factor controlling spatial distributions of planktonic and benthic microbial communities in this estuary. At the temporal scale, planktonic communities showed a more clear variation pattern. Remarkably, the ratios of Thaumarchaeota (putative ammonia-oxidizing archaea) to Nitrosomonadales (ammonia-oxidizing bacteria) either in water or sediments of the JRE increased from freshwater to marine end, suggesting that bacterial and archaeal nitrifiers occupy low-salinity and high-salinity niches, respectively. The nutrient concentrations and salinity might be the most important factors which are responsible for this niche diversification. Overall, this study shed light on our understanding of the biogeographic patterns and its ecological drivers of estuarine microbial communities.
Sea-level Rise Impacts on Oregon Estuaries: Biology and Hydrology - for posting on website
Estuaries are transitional ecosystems located at the margin of the land and ocean and as a result they are particularly sensitive to sea level rise and other climate drivers. In this presentation, we summarize the potential impacts of sea level rise on key estuarine habitats incl...
Lallias, Delphine; Hiddink, Jan G; Fonseca, Vera G; Gaspar, John M; Sung, Way; Neill, Simon P; Barnes, Natalie; Ferrero, Tim; Hall, Neil; Lambshead, P John D; Packer, Margaret; Thomas, W Kelley; Creer, Simon
2015-01-01
Assessing how natural environmental drivers affect biodiversity underpins our understanding of the relationships between complex biotic and ecological factors in natural ecosystems. Of all ecosystems, anthropogenically important estuaries represent a ‘melting pot' of environmental stressors, typified by extreme salinity variations and associated biological complexity. Although existing models attempt to predict macroorganismal diversity over estuarine salinity gradients, attempts to model microbial biodiversity are limited for eukaryotes. Although diatoms commonly feature as bioindicator species, additional microbial eukaryotes represent a huge resource for assessing ecosystem health. Of these, meiofaunal communities may represent the optimal compromise between functional diversity that can be assessed using morphology and phenotype–environment interactions as compared with smaller life fractions. Here, using 454 Roche sequencing of the 18S nSSU barcode we investigate which of the local natural drivers are most strongly associated with microbial metazoan and sampled protist diversity across the full salinity gradient of the estuarine ecosystem. In order to investigate potential variation at the ecosystem scale, we compare two geographically proximate estuaries (Thames and Mersey, UK) with contrasting histories of anthropogenic stress. The data show that although community turnover is likely to be predictable, taxa are likely to respond to different environmental drivers and, in particular, hydrodynamics, salinity range and granulometry, according to varied life-history characteristics. At the ecosystem level, communities exhibited patterns of estuary-specific similarity within different salinity range habitats, highlighting the environmental sequencing biomonitoring potential of meiofauna, dispersal effects or both. PMID:25423027
Climatic Facilitation of the Colonization of an Estuary by Acartia tonsa
Chaalali, Aurélie; Beaugrand, Grégory; Raybaud, Virginie; Goberville, Eric; David, Valérie; Boët, Philippe; Sautour, Benoit
2013-01-01
Global change has become a major driving force of both terrestrial and marine systems. Located at the interface between these two realms, estuarine ecosystems are probably the place where both direct and indirect effects of human activities conspire together to affect biodiversity from phytoplankton to top predators. Among European estuarine systems, the Gironde is the largest estuary of Western Europe and many studies have provided evidence that it has been affected by a variety of anthropogenic stressors such as thermal and chemical pollution, physical alterations and exploitation, especially for maritime traffic. In such a context, species introduction is also a current major issue with the establishment of strong competitive species that could lead to ecosystem reorganization with potential decrease or even disappearance of native species. In the Gironde estuary, this hypothesis was proposed for the invasive shrimp species Palaemon macrodactylus as a decrease in the native species abundance was observed at the same time. Although species introduction often takes place via ballast water, the influence of climate-driven changes on the establishment of new species remains a key issue. The calanoid copepod Acartia tonsa, observed in the Gironde estuary for the first time in 1983, have since colonized most part of the estuary, reaching a level of abundance comparable to the dominant native species Eurytemora affinis. In this study, using both the concept of the ecological niche sensu Hutchinson (fundamental and realized niches) and statistical models, we reveal that the dynamics of the colonization of A. tonsa was facilitated by environmental conditions that have become closer to its environmental optimum with respect to temperature and salinity. PMID:24098656
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Du, Jiabi; Shen, Jian
2017-11-01
Driven by estuarine circulation, material released from lower Chesapeake Bay tributaries has the potential to be transported to the upper Bay. How far and what fraction of the material from tributaries can be carried to the upper estuary have not been quantitatively investigated. For an estuary system with multiple tributaries, the relative contribution from each tributary can provide valuable information for source assessment and fate prediction for riverine materials and passive moving organisms. We conducted long-term numerical simulations using multiple passive tracers that are independently released in the headwater of five main rivers (i.e., Susquehanna, Potomac, Rappahannock, York, and James Rivers) and calculated the relative contribution of each river to the total material in the mainstem. The results show that discharge from Susquehanna River exerts the dominant control on the riverine material throughout the entire mainstem. Despite the smaller contribution from the lower-middle Bay tributaries to the total materials in the mainstem, materials released from these rivers have a high potential to be transported to the middle-upper Bay through the bottom inflow by the persistent estuarine circulation. The fraction of the tributary material transported to the upper Bay depends on the location of the tributary. Materials released near the mouth are subject to a rapid flushing process, small retention time, and strong shelf current. Our results reveal three distinct spatial patterns for materials released from the main river, tributary, and coastal oceans. This study highlights the important control of estuarine circulation over horizontal and vertical distributions of materials in the mainstem.
The Rio Chone estuary in Ecuador has been heavily altered by the conversion of over 90% of the original mangrove forest to shrimp ponds. We carried out computational experiments using both hydrodynamic and shrimp pond models to investigate factors leading to declines in estuarine...
Does boat traffic cause displacement of fish in estuaries?
Becker, Alistair; Whitfield, Alan K; Cowley, Paul D; Järnegren, Johanna; Næsje, Tor F
2013-10-15
Estuaries are increasingly under threat from a variety of human impacts. Recreational and commercial boat traffic in urban areas may represent a significant disturbance to fish populations and have particularly adverse effects in spatially restricted systems such as estuaries. We examined the effects of passing boats on the abundance of different sized fish within the main navigation channel of an estuary using high resolution sonar (DIDSON). Both the smallest (100-300 mm) and largest (>501 mm) size classes had no change in their abundance following the passage of boats. However, a decrease in abundance of mid-sized fish (301-500 mm) occurred following the passage of boats. This displacement may be attributed to a number of factors including noise, bubbles and the rapidly approaching object of the boat itself. In highly urbanised estuarine systems, regular displacement by boat traffic has the potential to have major negative population level effects on fish assemblages. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Guo, Wei-Dong; Huang, Jian-Ping; Hong, Hua-Sheng; Xu, Jing; Deng, Xun
2010-06-01
The distribution and estuarine behavior of fluorescent components of chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) from Jiulong Estuary were determined by fluorescence excitation emission matrix spectroscopy (EEMs) combined with parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC). The feasibility of these components as tracers for organic pollution in estuarine environments was also evaluated. Four separate fluorescent components were identified by PARAFAC, including three humic-like components (C1: 240, 310/382 nm; C2: 230, 250, 340/422 nm; C4: 260, 390/482 nm) and one protein-like components (C3: 225, 275/342 nm). These results indicated that UV humic-like peak A area designated by traditional "peak-picking method" was not a single peak but actually a combination of several fluorescent components, and it also had inherent links to so-called marine humic-like peak M or terrestrial humic-like peak C. Component C2 which include peak M decreased with increase of salinity in Jiulong Estuary, demonstrating that peak M can not be thought as the specific indicator of the "marine" humic-like component. Two humic-like components C1 and C2 showed additional behavior in the turbidity maximum region (salinity < 6) and then conservative mixing behavior for the rest estuarine region, while humic-like components C4 showed conservative mixing behavior for the whole estuarine region. However, the protein-like component C3 showed nonconservative mixing behavior, suggesting it had autochthonous estuarine origin. EEMs-PARAFAC can provide fluorescent fingerprint to differentiate the DOM features for three tributaries of Jiulong River. The observed linear relationships between humic-like components and absorption coefficient a (280) with chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biological oxygen demand (BOD5) suggest that the optical properties of CDOM may provide a fast in-situ way to monitor the variation of the degree of organic pollution in estuarine environments.
Background/Questions/Methods Large-bodied invertebrates (bivalves, polychaetes, burrowing shrimps) are common to infaunal communities of NE Pacific estuaries, but their contribution to estuarine community structure, function and ecosystem services is poorly understood because ...
Long-term Changes in Water Quality and Productivity in the Patuxent River Estuary: 1985 to 2003
We conducted a quantitative assessment of estuarine ecosystem responses to reduced phosphorus and nitrogen loading from sewage treatment facilities and to variability in freshwater flow and non-point nutrient inputs to the Patuxent River estuary. We analyzed a 19-year data set o...
Chen, Celia Y.; Borsuk, Mark E.; Bugge, Deenie M.; Hollweg, Terill; Balcom, Prentiss H.; Ward, Darren M.; Williams, Jason; Mason, Robert P.
2014-01-01
Methylmercury (MeHg) is a contaminant of global concern that bioaccumulates and bioamagnifies in marine food webs. Lower trophic level fauna are important conduits of MeHg from sediment and water to estuarine and coastal fish harvested for human consumption. However, the sources and pathways of MeHg to these coastal fisheries are poorly known particularly the potential for transfer of MeHg from the sediment to biotic compartments. Across a broad gradient of human land impacts, we analyzed MeHg concentrations in food webs at ten estuarine sites in the Northeast US (from the Hackensack Meadowlands, NJ to the Gulf of Maine). MeHg concentrations in water column particulate material, but not in sediments, were predictive of MeHg concentrations in fish (killifish and Atlantic silversides). Moreover, MeHg concentrations were higher in pelagic fauna than in benthic-feeding fauna suggesting that MeHg delivery to the water column from methylation sites from within or outside of the estuary may be an important driver of MeHg bioaccumulation in estuarine pelagic food webs. In contrast, bulk sediment MeHg concentrations were only predictive of concentrations of MeHg in the infaunal worms. Our results across a broad gradient of sites demonstrate that the pathways of MeHg to lower trophic level estuarine organisms are distinctly different between benthic deposit feeders and forage fish. Thus, even in systems with contaminated sediments, transfer of MeHg into estuarine food webs maybe driven more by the efficiency of processes that determine MeHg input and bioavailability in the water column. PMID:24558491
Wang, Menghua; Nim, Carl J; Son, Seunghyun; Shi, Wei
2012-10-15
This paper describes the use of ocean color remote sensing data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) onboard the Aqua satellite to characterize turbidity in Lake Okeechobee and its primary drainage basins, the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie estuaries from 2002 to 2010. Drainage modification and agricultural development in southern Florida transport sediments and nutrients from watershed agricultural areas to Lake Okeechobee. As a result of development around Lake Okeechobee and the estuaries that are connected to Lake Okeechobee, estuarine conditions have also been adversely impacted, resulting in salinity and nutrient fluctuations. The measurement of water turbidity in lacustrine and estuarine ecosystems allows researchers to understand important factors such as light limitation and the potential release of nutrients from re-suspended sediments. Based on a strong correlation between water turbidity and normalized water-leaving radiance at the near-infrared (NIR) band (nL(w)(869)), a new satellite water turbidity algorithm has been developed for Lake Okeechobee. This study has shown important applications with satellite-measured nL(w)(869) data for water quality monitoring and measurements for turbid inland lakes. MODIS-Aqua-measured water property data are derived using the shortwave infrared (SWIR)-based atmospheric correction algorithm in order to remotely obtain synoptic turbidity data in Lake Okeechobee and normalized water-leaving radiance using the red band (nL(w)(645)) in the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie estuaries. We found varied, but distinct seasonal, spatial, and event driven turbidity trends in Lake Okeechobee and the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie estuary regions. Wind waves and hurricanes have the largest influence on turbidity trends in Lake Okeechobee, while tides, currents, wind waves, and hurricanes influence the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie estuarine areas. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Dissolved organic phosphorus speciation in the waters of the Tamar estuary (SW England)
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Monbet, Phil; McKelvie, Ian D.; Worsfold, Paul J.
2009-02-01
The speciation of dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP) in the temperate Tamar estuary of SW England is described. Eight stations from the riverine to marine end-members were sampled during four seasonal campaigns in 2007 and the DOP pool in the water column and sediment porewater was characterized and quantified using a flow injection manifold after sequential enzymatic hydrolysis. This enabled the enzymatically hydrolysable phosphorus (EHP) fraction and its component labile monoester phosphates, diester phosphates and a phytase-hydrolysable fraction that includes myo-inositol hexakisphosphate (phytic acid), to be determined and compared with the total DOP, dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP) and total dissolved phosphorus (TDP) pools. The results showed that the DOP pool in the water column varied temporally and spatially within the estuary (1.1-22 μg L -1) and constituted 6-40% of TDP. The EHP fraction of DOP ranged from 1.1-15 μg L -1 and represented a significant and potentially bioavailable phosphorus fraction. Furthermore the spatial profiles of the three components of the EHP pool generally showed non-conservative behavior along the salinity gradient, with apparent internal estuarine sources. Porewater profiles followed broadly similar trends but were notably higher at the marine station throughout the year. In contrast to soil organic phosphorus profiles, the labile monoester phosphate fraction was the largest component, with diester phosphates also prevalent. Phytic acid concentrations were higher in the lower estuary, possibly due to salinity induced desorption processes. The EHP fraction is not commonly determined in aquatic systems due to the lack of a suitable measurement technique and the Tamar results reported here have important implications for phosphorus biogeochemistry, estuarine ecology and the development of efficient strategies for limiting the effects of phosphorus on water quality.
Transport of persistent organic pollutants by microplastics in estuarine conditions
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Bakir, Adil; Rowland, Steven J.; Thompson, Richard C.
2014-03-01
Microplastics represent an increasing source of anthropogenic contamination in aquatic environments, where they may also act as scavengers and transporters of persistent organic pollutants. As estuaries are amongst the most productive aquatic systems, it is important to understand sorption behaviour and transport of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) by microplastics along estuarine gradients. The effects of salinity sorption equilibrium kinetics on the distribution coefficients (Kd) of phenanthrene (Phe) and 4,4‧-DDT, onto polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and onto polyethylene (PE) were therefore investigated. A salinity gradient representing freshwater, estuarine and marine conditions, with salinities corresponding to 0 (MilliQ water, 690 μS/cm), 8.8, 17.5, 26.3 and 35 was used. Salinity had no significant effect on the time required to reach equilibrium onto PVC or PE and neither did it affect desorption rates of contaminants from plastics. Although salinity had no effect on sorption capacity of Phe onto plastics, a slight decrease in sorption capacity was observed for DDT with salinity. Salinity had little effect on sorption behaviour and POP/plastic combination was shown to be a more important factor. Transport of Phe and DDT from riverine to brackish and marine waters by plastic is therefore likely to be much more dependent on the aqueous POP concentration than on salinity. The physical characteristics of the polymer and local environmental conditions (e.g. plastic density, particle residence time in estuaries) will affect the physical transport of contaminated plastics. A transport model of POPs by microplastics under estuarine conditions is proposed. Transport of Phe and DDT by PVC and PE from fresh and brackish water toward fully marine conditions was the most likely net direction for contaminant transport and followed the order: Phe-PE >> DDT-PVC = DDT-PE >> Phe-PVC.
Cifuentes, L.A.; Schemel, L.E.; Sharp, J.H.
1990-01-01
The effects of river inflow variations on alkalinity/salinity distributions in San Francisco Bay and nitrate/salinity distributions in Delaware Bay are described. One-dimensional, advective-dispersion equations for salinity and the dissolved constituents are solved numerically and are used to simulate mixing in the estuaries. These simulations account for time-varying river inflow, variations in estuarine cross-sectional area, and longitudinally varying dispersion coefficients. The model simulates field observations better than models that use constant hydrodynamic coefficients and uniform estuarine geometry. Furthermore, field observations and model simulations are consistent with theoretical 'predictions' that the curvature of propery-salinity distributions depends on the relation between the estuarine residence time and the period of river concentration variation. ?? 1990.
Environmental and human health risk indicators for agricultural pesticides in estuaries.
Rodrigues, Elsa Teresa; Alpendurada, Maria Fátima; Ramos, Fernando; Pardal, Miguel Ângelo
2018-04-15
The present study aims to contribute to a better assessment of pesticide environmental and human health (here evaluated in the context of human exposure via food items) risks for the estuarine system by comprehensively studying the spatial and temporal occurrence of the pesticides atrazine, azoxystrobin, bentazon, λ-cyhalothrin, penoxsulam and terbuthylazine in the River Mondego estuary (Portugal). Pesticide quantification was performed in surface water, sediment, macroalgae (Ulva spp., Gracilaria gracilis, Fucus vesiculosus), aquatic plants (Zostera noltii, Spartina maritime, Scirpus maritimus) and bivalves (Scrobicularia plana). Since intense precipitation could promote the runoff of pesticides from the surrounding agricultural fields, a single long-duration flood event was also studied in this estuarine system. Under normal flow conditions, quantified concentrations were determined mostly during summer in agreement with the pesticide application period. Azoxystrobin presented the highest detection frequency and atrazine (an herbicide used globally but banned in the EU) presented the second highest frequency, thus highlighting the need to include legacy pesticides in monitoring programmes. Pesticide concentrations in surface water determined in the present study suggest low risk to estuarine organisms. However, all the pesticides were bioaccumulated by S. plana, leading us to consider that pesticides may not only cause adverse effects on the aquatic organism itself, but should also be an alert for human exposure, for this is an edible species and is considered of economic interest. Concern is also expressed about edible seaweeds, since s-triazine pesticides were found in Ulva spp. and G. gracilis. Acknowledging these concerns, developing and establishing allowable pesticide safety values for edible seaweeds and bivalves is recommended, as well as monitoring bivalve pesticide levels, using the whole animal, as a human health exposure indicator for estuarine
Decleyre, Helen; Heylen, Kim; Van Colen, Carl; Willems, Anne
2015-01-01
The estuarine nitrogen cycle can be substantially altered due to anthropogenic activities resulting in increased amounts of inorganic nitrogen (mainly nitrate). In the past, denitrification was considered to be the main ecosystem process removing reactive nitrogen from the estuarine ecosystem. However, recent reports on the contribution of dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA) to nitrogen removal in these systems indicated a similar or higher importance, although the ratio between both processes remains ambiguous. Compared to denitrification, DNRA has been underexplored for the last decades and the key organisms carrying out the process in marine environments are largely unknown. Hence, as a first step to better understand the interplay between denitrification, DNRA and reduction of nitrate to nitrite in estuarine sediments, nitrogen reduction potentials were determined in sediments of the Paulina polder mudflat (Westerschelde estuary). We observed high variability in dominant nitrogen removing processes over a short distance (1.6 m), with nitrous oxide, ammonium and nitrite production rates differing significantly between all sampling sites. Denitrification occurred at all sites, DNRA was either the dominant process (two out of five sites) or absent, while nitrate reduction to nitrite was observed in most sites but never dominant. In addition, novel nitrate-to-ammonium reducers assigned to Thalassospira, Celeribacter, and Halomonas, for which DNRA was thus far unreported, were isolated, with DNRA phenotype reconfirmed through nrfA gene amplification. This study demonstrates high small scale heterogeneity among dissimilatory nitrate reduction processes in estuarine sediments and provides novel marine DNRA organisms that represent valuable alternatives to the current model organisms.
Decleyre, Helen; Heylen, Kim; Van Colen, Carl; Willems, Anne
2015-01-01
The estuarine nitrogen cycle can be substantially altered due to anthropogenic activities resulting in increased amounts of inorganic nitrogen (mainly nitrate). In the past, denitrification was considered to be the main ecosystem process removing reactive nitrogen from the estuarine ecosystem. However, recent reports on the contribution of dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA) to nitrogen removal in these systems indicated a similar or higher importance, although the ratio between both processes remains ambiguous. Compared to denitrification, DNRA has been underexplored for the last decades and the key organisms carrying out the process in marine environments are largely unknown. Hence, as a first step to better understand the interplay between denitrification, DNRA and reduction of nitrate to nitrite in estuarine sediments, nitrogen reduction potentials were determined in sediments of the Paulina polder mudflat (Westerschelde estuary). We observed high variability in dominant nitrogen removing processes over a short distance (1.6 m), with nitrous oxide, ammonium and nitrite production rates differing significantly between all sampling sites. Denitrification occurred at all sites, DNRA was either the dominant process (two out of five sites) or absent, while nitrate reduction to nitrite was observed in most sites but never dominant. In addition, novel nitrate-to-ammonium reducers assigned to Thalassospira, Celeribacter, and Halomonas, for which DNRA was thus far unreported, were isolated, with DNRA phenotype reconfirmed through nrfA gene amplification. This study demonstrates high small scale heterogeneity among dissimilatory nitrate reduction processes in estuarine sediments and provides novel marine DNRA organisms that represent valuable alternatives to the current model organisms. PMID:26528270
Moisander, Pia H; Paerl, Hans W
2000-08-26
Nodularia is a halotolerant, filamentous, dinitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium that forms massive blooms in some coastal oceans, estuaries, and saline lakes worldwide. Although the genus is globally distributed, its blooms are sporadic and appear to be confined to certain water bodies. Blooms are frequently associated with phosphorus enrichment; therefore Nodularia may benefit from increased anthropogenic nutrient loading to coastal waters. We studied the potential for Nodularia to grow in the nitrogen-limited Neuse River Estuary (North Carolina, U.S.A.) with laboratory growth experiments in Neuse River Estuary water and by examining physico-chemical data from the estuary. Analysis of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus), salinity, and temperature data from the Neuse River Estuary between 1994 and 1998 revealed that suitable conditions for Nodularia prevailed during the summer of each of these years for time spans ranging from 1.5 to 5 months. Growth of two laboratory strains in Neuse River Estuary water was as fast or slightly slower than in artificial growth medium, as long as the culture inoculum had phosphorus reserves. Phosphorus addition did not stimulate growth of already phosphorus-sufficient inocula. Phosphorus starvation of the inoculum before the experiment decreased growth rates in the estuarine water unless additional phosphorus was supplied. Although phosphorus addition had a stimulatory effect on dinitrogen fixation and productivity, the effect differed for the two Nodularia strains. Results suggest that growth of Nodularia in North Carolinian estuaries is possible, and that such growth would be phosphorus-limited at times. Phosphorus availability may determine the times and locations for potential establishment of Nodularia in this and similar estuarine ecosystems.
Coleman, Melinda A
2013-01-01
With marine protected areas being established worldwide there is a pressing need to understand how the physical setting in which these areas are placed influences patterns of dispersal and connectivity of important marine organisms. This is particularly critical for dynamic and complex nearshore marine environments where patterns of genetic structure of organisms are often chaotic and uncoupled from broad scale physical processes. This study determines the influence of habitat heterogeneity (presence of estuaries) on patterns of genetic structure and connectivity of the common kelp, Ecklonia radiata. There was no genetic differentiation of kelp between estuaries and the open coast and the presence of estuaries did not increase genetic differentiation among open coast populations. Similarly, there were no differences in level of inbreeding or genetic diversity between estuarine and open coast populations. The presence of large estuaries along rocky coastlines does not appear to influence genetic structure of this kelp and factors other than physical heterogeneity of habitat are likely more important determinants of regional connectivity. Marine reserves are currently lacking in this bioregion and may be designated in the future. Knowledge of the factors that influence important habitat forming organisms such as kelp contribute to informed and effective marine protected area design and conservation initiatives to maintain resilience of important marine habitats.
Fernandino, Gerson; Elliff, Carla Isobel; Frutuoso, Gabriela Amado; Silva, Eric Vinícius Nascimento Malaquias da; Gama, Guilherme Santiago; Sousa, João Henrique de Oliveira; Silva, Iracema Reimão
2016-09-15
Floating litter in the estuarine system of Santos-São Vicente is common and is part of day-to-day activities of various users of the area. The objective of the present study was to carry out a quali-quantitative evaluation of the occurrence of floating litter, to infer their sources, and to identify environmental factors that are likely to control occurrence and distribution, with particular emphasis on the effects of tidal regimes. Six sampling stations were selected along the aforementioned estuary and visited monthly between July 2010 and January 2012. Floating litter was counted from a fixed sampling station. Plastics prevailed (89.64%) and their main source was domestic activities (55.41%). More litter was found during ebb spring tides, with higher concentrations obeying confluence patterns of the estuary's channels. Results indicated that occurrence can be attributed to the deficiency in basic sewage system in the area and the deliberate disposal into the estuary by the local population. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Circulation and physical processes within the San Gabriel River Estuary during summer 2005
Rosenberger, Kurt J.; Xu, Jingping; Stein, Eric D.; Noble, Marlene A.; Gartner, Anne L.
2007-01-01
The Southern California Coastal Water Research Project (SCCWRP) is developing a hydrodynamic model of the SGR estuary, which is part of the comprehensive water-quality model of the SGR estuary and watershed investigated by SCCWRP and other local agencies. The hydrodynamic model will help understanding of 1) the exchange processes between the estuary and coastal ocean; 2) the circulation patterns in the estuary; 3) upstream natural runoff and the cooling discharge from PGS. Like all models, the SGR hydrodynamic model is only useful after it is fully calibrated and validated. In May 2005, SCCWRP requested the assistance of the U.S. geological Survey (USGS) Coastal and Marine Geology team (CMG) in collecting data on the hydrodynamic conditions in the estuary during the summer dry season. The summer was chosen for field data collection as this was assumed to be the season with the greatest potential for chronic degraded water quality due to low river flow and high thermal stratification within the estuary (due to both higher average air temperature and PGS output). Water quality can be degraded in winter as well, when higher river discharge events bring large volumes of water from the Los Angeles basin into the estuary. The objectives of this project were to 1) collect hydrodynamic data along the SGR estuary; 2) study exchange processes within the estuary through analysis of the hydrodynamic data; and 3) provide field data for model calibration and validation. As the data only exist for the summer season, the results herein only apply to summer conditions.
Modeling lateral circulation and its influence on the along-channel flow in a branched estuary
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Zhu, Lei; He, Qing; Shen, Jian
2018-02-01
A numerical modeling study of the influence of the lateral flow on the estuarine exchange flow was conducted in the north passage of the Changjiang estuary. The lateral flows show substantial variabilities within a flood-ebb tidal cycle. The strong lateral flow occurring during flood tide is caused primarily by the unique cross-shoal flow that induces a strong northward (looking upstream) barotropic force near the surface and advects saltier water toward the northern part of the channel, resulting in a southward baroclinic force caused by the lateral density gradient. Thus, a two-layer structure of lateral flows is produced during the flood tide. The lateral flows are vigorous near the flood slack and the magnitude can exceed that of the along-channel tidal flow during that period. The strong vertical shear of the lateral flows and the salinity gradient in lateral direction generate lateral tidal straining, which are out of phase with the along-channel tidal straining. Consequently, stratification is enhanced at the early stage of the ebb tide. In contrast, strong along-channel straining is apparent during the late ebb tide. The vertical mixing disrupts the vertical density gradient, thus suppressing stratification. The impact of lateral straining on stratification during spring tide is more pronounced than that of along-channel straining during late flood and early ebb tides. The momentum balance along the estuary suggests that lateral flow can augment the residual exchange flow. The advection of lateral flows brings low-energy water from the shoal to the deep channel during the flood tide, whereas the energetic water is moved to the shoal via lateral advection during the ebb tide. The impact of lateral flow on estuarine circulation of this multiple-channel estuary is different from single-channel estuary. A model simulation by blocking the cross-shoal flow shows that the magnitudes of lateral flows and tidal straining are reduced. Moreover, the reduced lateral
Benthic macrofaunal dynamics and environmental stress across a salt wedge Mediterranean estuary.
Nebra, Alfonso; Alcaraz, Carles; Caiola, Nuno; Muñoz-Camarillo, Gloria; Ibáñez, Carles
2016-06-01
The spatial distribution of benthic macroinvertebrate community in relation to environmental factors was studied along the Ebro Estuary (NE Iberian Peninsula), a salt wedge Mediterranean estuary. Both ordination methods and generalized additive models were performed to identify the different benthic assemblages and their relationship to abiotic factors. Our results showed a strong relationship between macrofaunal assemblages and the predominant environmental gradients (e.g. salinity); thus revealing spatial differences in their structure and composition. Two different stretches were identified, namely the upper (UE) and the lower Ebro Estuary (LE). UE showed riverine characteristics and hence was colonized by a freshwater community; whereas LE was influenced by marine intrusion and sustained a complex marine-origin community. However, within each stretch, water and sediment characteristics played an important role in explaining species composition differences among sampling stations. Moreover, outcomes suggested a total species replacement pattern, instead of the nestedness pattern usually associated with well-mixed temperate estuaries. The sharp species turnover together with the estuarine stratification point out that the Ebro Estuary is working, in terms of ecological boundaries, under an ecotone model. Finally, despite obvious differences with well mixed estuaries (i.e. lack of tidal influence, stratification and species turnover), the Ebro Estuary shares important ecological attributes with well-mixed temperate estuaries. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Schoellhamer, D.H.
2002-01-01
Suspended sediment concentration (SSC) data from San Pablo Bay, California, were analyzed to compare the basin-scale effect of dredging and disposal of dredged material (dredging operations) and natural estuarine processes. The analysis used twelve 3-wk to 5-wk periods of mid-depth and near-bottom SSC data collected at Point San Pablo every 15 min from 1993-1998. Point San Pablo is within a tidal excursion of a dredged-material disposal site. The SSC data were compared to dredging volume, Julian day, and hydrodynamic and meteorological variables that could affect SSC. Kendall's ??, Spearman's ??, and weighted (by the fraction of valid data in each period) Spearman's ??w correlation coefficients of the variables indicated which variables were significantly correlated with SSC. Wind-wave resuspension had the greatest effect on SSC. Median water-surface elevation was the primary factor affecting mid-depth SSC. Greater depths inhibit wind-wave resuspension of bottom sediment and indicate greater influence of less turbid water from down estuary. Seasonal variability in the supply of erodible sediment is the primary factor affecting near-bottom SSC. Natural physical processes in San Pablo Bay are more areally extensive, of equal or longer duration, and as frequent as dredging operations (when occurring), and they affect SSC at the tidal time scale. Natural processes control SSC at Point San Pablo even when dredging operations are occurring.
Deycard, Victoria N; Schäfer, Jörg; Petit, Jérôme C J; Coynel, Alexandra; Lanceleur, Laurent; Dutruch, Lionel; Bossy, Cécile; Ventura, Alexandre; Blanc, Gérard
2017-01-01
Although silver (Ag) has been listed as a priority pollutant for the aquatic environment by the European Union (Directive 2006/11/EC), the use of Ag-based products with antimicrobial effects is increasing in Europe, as well as North America and Asia. This study investigates personal care products (PCP) as a potential source of Ag in wastewater, as well as the dynamics and fate of Ag in the influent and effluent of a major urban wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) located on the fluvial part of the Gironde Estuary. Typical household PCPs marked as using Ag contained concentrations of up to 0.4 mg kg -1 making them likely contributors to urban Ag released into the aquatic environment. Silver concentrations in influent wastewater generally occurred during mid-week working hours and decreased during the night and on weekends clearly indicating the dominance of urban sources. Up to 90% of the total Ag in wastewater was bound to particles and efficiently (>80%) removed by the treatment process, whereas 20% of Ag was released into the fluvial estuary. Silver concentrations in wastewater effluents clearly exceeded estuarine concentrations and may strongly amplify the local Ag concentrations and fluxes, especially during summer rainstorms in low river discharge conditions. Further work should focus on environmental effects and fate of urban Ag release due to immediate localized outfall and/or the adsorption on estuarine particles and subsequent release as dissolved Ag chloro-complexes within the estuarine salinity gradient. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Modelling the morphodynamics and co-evolution of coast and estuarine environments
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Morris, Chloe; Coulthard, Tom; Parsons, Daniel R.; Manson, Susan; Barkwith, Andrew
2017-04-01
The morphodynamics of coast and estuarine environments are known to be sensitive to environmental change and sea-level rise. However, whilst these systems have received considerable individual research attention, how they interact and co-evolve is relatively understudied. These systems are intrinsically linked and it is therefore advantageous to study them holistically in order to build a more comprehensive understanding of their behaviour and to inform sustainable management over the long term. Complex environments such as these are often studied using numerical modelling techniques. Inherent from the limited research in this area, existing models are currently not capable of simulating dynamic coast-estuarine interactions. A new model is being developed through coupling the one-line Coastline Evolution Model (CEM) with CAESAR-Lisflood (C-L), a hydrodynamic Landscape Evolution Model. It is intended that the eventual model be used to advance the understanding of these systems and how they may evolve over the mid to long term in response to climate change. In the UK, the Holderness Coast, Humber Estuary and Spurn Point system offers a diverse and complex case study for this research. Holderness is one of the fastest eroding coastlines in Europe and research suggests that the large volumes of material removed from its cliffs are responsible for the formation of the Spurn Point feature and for the Holocene infilling of the Humber Estuary. Marine, fluvial and coastal processes are continually reshaping this system and over the next century, it is predicted that climate change could lead to increased erosion along the coast and supply of material to the Humber Estuary and Spurn Point. How this manifests will be hugely influential to the future morphology of these systems and the existence of Spurn Point. Progress to date includes a new version of the CEM that has been prepared for integration into C-L and includes an improved graphical user interface and more complex
Estuarine intertidal habitat use by birds in a Pacific Northwest coastal estuary
Results of a year long study of the distribution of birds across five intertidal estuarine habitats reveal that tide level largely controls use of the habitats by birds. A total census of all birds observed from shoreline observation locations was made at five tide levels over s...
Antizar-Ladislao, B; Bhattacharya, B D; Ray Chaudhuri, S; Sarkar, S K
2015-10-15
Little knowledge is available about the potential impact of commercial silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) on estuarine microbial communities. The Hugli river estuary, India, is susceptible to heavy metals pollution through boat traffic, and there is the potential for Ag-NP exposure via effluent discharged from ongoing municipal and industrial activities located in close proximity. This study investigated the effects of commercial Ag-NPs on native microbial communities in estuarine sediments collected from five stations, using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) technique. An increase in the number of bacteria in consortium in sediments was observed following exposure to Ag-NPs. In general microbial communities may be resistant in estuarine systems to the antimicrobial effects of commercial Ag-NPs, but key microorganisms, such as Pelobacter propionicus, disappeared following exposure to Ag-NPs. In conclusion, the T-RFLP analysis indicated that Ag-NPs have the potential to shape estuarine sediment bacterial community structure. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Mangrove clearing impacts on macrofaunal assemblages and benthic food webs in a tropical estuary.
Bernardino, Angelo Fraga; Gomes, Luiz Eduardo de Oliveira; Hadlich, Heliatrice Louise; Andrades, Ryan; Correa, Lucas Barreto
2018-01-01
Despite over 21,000ha of mangrove forests being removed per year in Brazil, ecological changes following mangrove deforestation have been overlooked. Here we evaluated changes in benthic macrofaunal assemblages and food-webs at a mangrove removal and natural sites in a tropical estuary in Eastern Brazil. The impacted site had coarser sediment particle sizes suggesting significant changes in sedimentation processes after forest clearing. Spatial differences in macrofaunal abundance, biomass and diversity were not directly associated with the removal of mangrove forests, supporting recolonization of impacted areas by estuarine fauna. However, benthic assemblage composition, infaunal δ 13 C signatures and food-web diversity markedly differed at the impacted site being strongly related to sedimentary changes. The loss of infaunal trophic diversity that followed mangrove removal suggests that large-scale forest clearing may impact estuarine food webs, with potential consequences to nearby coastal ecosystems given the high clearing rate of mangrove forests in Brazil. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Pollution biomarkers in estuarine animals: critical review and new perspectives.
Monserrat, José M; Martínez, Pablo E; Geracitano, Laura A; Amado, Lílian Lund; Martins, Camila Martinez Gaspar; Pinho, Grasiela Lopes Leães; Chaves, Isabel Soares; Ferreira-Cravo, Marlize; Ventura-Lima, Juliane; Bianchini, Adalto
2007-01-01
In this review, recent developments in monitoring toxicological responses in estuarine animals are analyzed, considering the biomarker responses to different classes of pollutants. The estuarine environment imposes stressful conditions to the organisms that inhabit it, and this situation can alter their sensitivity to many pollutants. The specificity of some biomarkers like metallothionein tissue concentration is discussed in virtue of its dependence on salinity, which is highly variable in estuaries. Examples of cholinesterase activity measurements are also provided and criteria to select sensitive enzymes to detect pesticides and toxins are discussed. Regarding non-specific biomarkers, toxic responses in terms of antioxidant defenses and/or oxidative damage are also considered in this review, focusing on invertebrate species. In addition, the presence of an antioxidant gradient along the body of the estuarine polychaete Laeonereis acuta (Nereididae) and its relationship to different strategies, which deal with the generation of oxidative stress, is reviewed. Also, unusual antioxidant defenses against environmental pro-oxidants are discussed, including the mucus secreted by L. acuta. Disruption of osmoregulation by pollutants is of paramount importance in several estuarine species. In some cases such as in the estuarine crab Chasmagnathus granulatus, there is a trade off between bioavailability of toxicants (e.g. metals) and their interaction with key enzymes such as Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase and carbonic anhydrase. Thus, the metal effect on osmoregulation is also discussed in the present review. Finally, field case studies with fish species like the croaker Micropogonias furnieri (Scianidae) are used to illustrate the application of DNA damage and immunosuppressive responses as potential biomarkers of complex mixture of pollutants.
Marine geophysical data collected in a shallow back-barrier estuary, Barnegat Bay, New Jersey
Andrews, Brian D.; Miselis, Jennifer L.; Danforth, William W.; Irwin, Barry J.; Worley, Charles R.; Bergeron, Emile M.; Blackwood, Dann S.
2015-06-26
In 2011, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, began a multidisciplinary research project to better understand the water quality in Barnegat Bay, New Jersey. This back-barrier estuary is experiencing degraded water quality, algal blooms, loss of seagrass, and increases in oxygen stress, macroalgae, stinging nettles, and brown tide. The spatial scale of the estuary and the scope of challenges within it necessitate a multidisciplinary approach that includes establishing the regional geology and the estuary’s physical characteristics and modeling how the estuary’s morphology interacts to affect its water quality. This report presents the data collected during this project for use in understanding the morphology and the distribution of sea-floor and sub-sea-floor sediments within Barnegat Bay, describes the methods used to collect and process those data, and includes links to the final processed datasets. These data can be used by scientists to understand the links between geomorphology, geologic framework, sediment transport, and estuarine water quality and circulation.
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
The manuscript includes a profile of the ecology and distribution of estuarine wetland vegetation at the Rush Ranch reserve site in the brackish Suisun Marsh reach of San Francisco Estuary The data and analyses will serve as a baseline for future scientific research and conservation management. A ...
Tributyltin-resistant bacteria from estuarine and freshwater sediments.
Wuertz, S; Miller, C E; Pfister, R M; Cooney, J J
1991-01-01
Resistance to tributyltin (TBT) was examined in populations from TBT-polluted sediments and nonpolluted sediments from an estuary and from fresh water as well as in pure cultures isolated from those sediments. The 50% effective concentrations (EC50s) for populations were higher at a TBT-polluted freshwater site than at a site without TBT, suggesting that TBT selected for a TBT-resistant population. In contrast, EC50s were significantly lower for populations from a TBT-contaminated estuarine site than for those from a site without TBT, suggesting that other factors in addition to TBT determine whether populations become resistant. EC50s for populations from TBT-contaminated freshwater sediments were nearly 30 times higher than those for populations from TBT-contaminated estuarine sediments. We defined a TBT-resistant bacterium as one which grows on trypticase soy agar containing 8.4 microM TBT, a concentration which prevented the growth of 90% of the culturable bacteria from these sediments. The toxicity of TBT in laboratory media was influenced markedly by the composition of the medium and whether it was liquid or solid. Ten TBT-resistant isolates from estuarine sediments and 19 from freshwater sediments were identified to the genus level. Two isolates, each a Bacillus sp., may be the first gram-positive bacteria isolated from fresh water in the presence of a high concentration of TBT. There was a high incidence of resistance to heavy metals: metal resistance indices were 0.76 for estuarine isolates and 0.68 for freshwater isolates.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS) PMID:1746939
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Yang, Zhaoqing; Wang, Taiping; Voisin, Nathalie
Understanding the response of river flow and estuarine hydrodynamics to climate change, land-use/land-cover change (LULC), and sea-level rise is essential to managing water resources and stress on living organisms under these changing conditions. This paper presents a modeling study using a watershed hydrology model and an estuarine hydrodynamic model, in a one-way coupling, to investigate the estuarine hydrodynamic response to sea-level rise and change in river flow due to the effect of future climate and LULC changes in the Snohomish River estuary, Washington, USA. A set of hydrodynamic variables, including salinity intrusion points, average water depth, and salinity of themore » inundated area, were used to quantify the estuarine response to river flow and sea-level rise. Model results suggest that salinity intrusion points in the Snohomish River estuary and the average salinity of the inundated areas are a nonlinear function of river flow, although the average water depth in the inundated area is approximately linear with river flow. Future climate changes will shift salinity intrusion points further upstream under low flow conditions and further downstream under high flow conditions. In contrast, under the future LULC change scenario, the salinity intrusion point will shift downstream under both low and high flow conditions, compared to present conditions. The model results also suggest that the average water depth in the inundated areas increases linearly with sea-level rise but at a slower rate, and the average salinity in the inundated areas increases linearly with sea-level rise; however, the response of salinity intrusion points in the river to sea-level rise is strongly nonlinear.« less
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Vincent, Salom Gnana Thanga; Reshmi, R. R.; Hassan, S. Junaid; Nair, K. Deepa; Varma, Ajayakumar
2017-11-01
Anaerobic microbial communities in the anoxic zones degrade organic matter in estuarine sediments. Thermodynamic energy yield for the oxidation reactions with various electron acceptors decreases in the order of O2> NO3- > Mn4+> Fe3+> SO42- > CO2. The predominant terminal electron accepting (TEA) process has an influence on the biogeochemical cycles of nutrients as well as the production of important greenhouse gases such as nitrous oxide and methane from estuarine sediments. The research questions of this study were (1) what are the environmental factors (pH, salinity, organic carbon, sulphate, redox potential) explaining variability in TEA activities such as nitrate reduction rate (NRR), iron reduction rate (IRR), sulphate reduction rate (SRR) and methane production rate (MPR) and (2) which is the predominant TEA process during degradation of organic matter. To determine the TEA activities, sediment samples collected from 13 sampling stations of Ashtamudi estuary during monsoon 2014 and summer 2015 were incubated with sulphate depleted artificial seawater, under anaerobic conditions for 72 h, in microcosms. Spatial variations dominated temporal variations for environmental variables. Nevertheless, biogeochemical processes showed a distinct seasonal variation. Total TEA activity was higher during summer than monsoon, indicating the higher heterotrophic microbial activity favored by high temperature. Individually, SRR was the maximum during summer, while NRR, IRR and MPR were the maximum during monsoon. Sulphate reduction was observed to be the predominant electron accepting process in all sampling stations with cumulative values of 3125.79 and 4046.07 nmol cm-3 day-1 during monsoon and summer respectively. This was followed by NRR, IRR and MPR. Although thermodynamically more favorable, NRR could not predominate due to scarcity of nitrate in sediments. Nevertheless, two-fold and five-fold increase in methanogenesis and denitrification were observed respectively
Nutrient loading and macrophyte growth in Wilson Inlet, a bar-built southwestern Australian estuary
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lukatelich, R. J.; Schofield, N. J.; McComb, A. J.
1987-02-01
Wilson Inlet is a 'bar-built' estuary, open to the ocean only when a sandbar has been breached after river flow. estimates are presented of phosphorus and nitrogen loadings from rivers, losses to the ocean, and amounts present in estuarine components during a particular year. Following bar opening, a volume of water equivalent to 35% of estuarine volume at the time was lost, providing a major loss of dissolved nutrients from the estuary. While the bar was open (51 days) water was displaced through river flow, but there was little tidal exchange. There was net retention of phosphorus (about 60% of river input) and some loss of nitrogen (less than 15%). Much of the nutrient held in the estuary was in surface sediments, but concentrations have shown little change with time and are similar to other southwestern estuaries. In contrast there have been massive increases in the biomass of Ruppia megacarpa Mason in recent years; this constitutes more than 90% of plant biomass. The nutrient bank in this plant is large compared to the water column, and amounts recycled through plant material greatly exceeded riverine loading in the year of the study. Tissue N concentrations were relatively high and constant, tissue P relatively low and seasonally variable, suggesting P limitation of plant biomass. Estimates of nutrient loading from streams showed relatively higher nutrient inputs from catchments cleared for agriculture. These are in higher rainfall areas, have high drainage densities, large proportions of sandy soils and are subjected to phosphatic fertilizer application.
Intertidal estuarine habitat utilization by birds in a Pacific Northwest coastal estuary
Results of a year long study of the distribution of birds across five intertidal estuarine habitats reveal that tide level largely controls use of the habitats by birds. A total census of all birds observed from shoreline locations was made at five tide levels over six, 2-month ...
Liu, Jiwen; Fu, Bingbing; Yang, Hongmei; Zhao, Meixun; He, Biyan; Zhang, Xiao-Hua
2015-01-01
The significance of salinity in shaping bacterial communities dwelling in estuarine areas has been well documented. However, the influences of other environmental factors such as dissolved oxygen and nutrients in determining distribution patterns of both individual taxa and bacterial communities inhabited local estuarine regions remain elusive. Here, bacterioplankton community structures of surface and bottom waters from eight sites along the Pearl Estuary were characterized with 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing. The results showed significant differences of bacterioplankton community between freshwater and saltwater sites, and further between surface and bottom waters of saltwater sites. Synechococcus dominated the surface water of saltwater sites while Oceanospirillales, SAR11 and SAR406 were prevalent in the bottom water. Betaproteobacteria was abundant in freshwater sites, with no significant difference between water layers. Occurrence of phylogenetic shifts in taxa affiliated to the same clade was also detected. Dissolved oxygen explained most of the bacterial community variation in the redundancy analysis targeting only freshwater sites, whereas nutrients and salinity explained most of the variation across all samples in the Pearl Estuary. Methylophilales (mainly PE2 clade) was positively correlated to dissolved oxygen, whereas Rhodocyclales (mainly R.12up clade) was negatively correlated. Moreover, high nutrient inputs to the freshwater area of the Pearl Estuary have shifted the bacterial communities toward copiotrophic groups, such as Sphingomonadales. The present study demonstrated that the overall nutrients and freshwater hypoxia play important roles in determining bacterioplankton compositions and provided insights into the potential ecological roles of specific taxa in estuarine environments. PMID:25713564
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Eulie, Devon O.; Corbett, D. Reide; Walsh, J. P.
2018-03-01
Estuaries contain vital habitats and it is important to understand how these areas respond to human activities and natural processes such as sea-level rise and wave attack. As estuarine shorelines erode or become modified with hard structures, there is potential for significantly altering the availability of sediment and the filling of coastal systems. This study used a source-to-sink approach and quantified rates of shoreline erosion in the Tar-Pamlico sub-estuary, a tributary of the larger Albemarle-Pamlico Estuarine System (APES). The average shoreline change rate (SCR) determined using an end-point method was -0.5 ± 0.9 m yr-1 for the Tar-Pamlico. Incorporating bulk density estimates, this contributes 0.6 × 105 tons of fine sediment to the system annually, or after accounting for fluvial input, about 40% of the total sediment supply to the sub-estuary. The role of the Tar-Pamlico as a sink for these sediments was addressed using the radionuclide tracers 210Pb and 137Cs. Radionuclide activities and sediment accumulation rates identified several depositional regions, in particular in the middle of the estuary. Linear sediment accumulation rates ranged from 0.10 ± 0.02 to 0.38 ± 0.02 g cm-2 yr-1, and total storage of fine sediment in the system was 1.6 × 105 t yr-1. It was not possible to confidently discern a change in the rate of shoreline erosion or seabed accumulation. A preliminary budget for fine sediments (grain-size <63 μm) was then calculated to compare erosional sources with sedimentary sinks. Almost all (∼93.0%) of the fine sediment entering the system was accumulated and stored, while only about 7.0% was exported to Pamlico Sound.
Occurrence and use of an estuarine habitat by giant manta ray Manta birostris.
Medeiros, A M; Luiz, O J; Domit, C
2015-06-01
Based on the knowledge of local artisanal fishermen and on direct observations, this study presents evidence that the giant manta ray Manta birostris uses the Paranaguá estuarine complex in south Brazil, south-western Atlantic Ocean, in a predictable seasonal pattern. Behavioural observations suggest that the estuary can act as a nursery ground for M. birostris during the summer. © 2015 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.
Romañach, Stephanie S.; Conzelmann, Craig; Daugherty, Adam; Lorenz, Jerome L.; Hunnicutt, Christina; Mazzotti, Frank J.
2011-01-01
Estuarine fish serve as an important prey base in the Greater Everglades ecosystem for key fauna such as wading birds, crocodiles, alligators, and piscivorous fishes. Human-made changes to freshwater flow across the Greater Everglades have resulted in less freshwater flow into the fringing estuaries and coasts. These changes in freshwater input have altered salinity patterns and negatively affected primary production of the estuarine fish prey base. Planned restoration projects should affect salinity and water depth both spatially and temporally and result in an increase in appropriate water conditions in areas occupied by estuarine fish. To assist in restoration planning, an ecological model of estuarine prey fish biomass availability was developed as an evaluation tool to aid in the determination of acceptable ranges of salinity and water depth. Comparisons of model output to field data indicate that the model accurately predicts prey biomass in the estuarine regions of the model domain. This model can be used to compare alternative restoration plans and select those that provide suitable conditions.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Marques, Filipa; Angélico, Maria Manuel; Costa, José Lino; Teodósio, Maria Alexandra; Presado, Patrícia; Fernandes, António; Chainho, Paula; Domingos, Isabel
2017-10-01
The hydrozoan Blackfordia virginica has been reported over a wide geographical area, although it is mainly restricted to scattered records within estuarine areas of temperate and tropical regions. The aim of this study was to understand the spatial and temporal variability of an established population of this non-indigenous species on a temperate estuarine ecosystem, and its impacts over the plankton community. Sampling was conducted from 2011 to 2013 in the Mira estuary (Portugal) and higher densities were observed during the summer of 2013, with a maximum of 1689.3 medusae.m-3. Spatially, higher abundances of medusae were associated with sites of higher abundance of oyster shells and higher percentage of hard substrate in the river bed. Smaller jellyfish were sampled in the vicinity of these hard substrate locations, suggesting these might be habitats for polyp fixation. A higher potential predation impact on the copepod population along the estuary was estimated for the summer of 2013, with a median half life of 6.1 days.
Seasonal variations in suspended-sediment dynamics in the tidal reach of an estuarine tributary
Downing-Kunz, Maureen A.; Schoellhamer, David H.
2013-01-01
Quantifying sediment supply from estuarine tributaries is an important component of developing a sediment budget, and common techniques for estimating supply are based on gages located above tidal influence. However, tidal interactions near tributary mouths can affect the magnitude and direction of sediment supply to the open waters of the estuary. We investigated suspended-sediment dynamics in the tidal reach of Corte Madera Creek, an estuarine tributary of San Francisco Bay, using moored acoustic and optical instruments. Flux of both water and suspended-sediment were calculated from observed water velocity and turbidity for two periods in each of wet and dry seasons during 2010. During wet periods, net suspended-sediment flux was seaward; tidally filtered flux was dominated by the advective component. In contrast, during dry periods, net flux was landward; tidally filtered flux was dominated by the dispersive component. The mechanisms generating this landward flux varied; during summer we attributed wind–wave resuspension in the estuary and subsequent transport on flood tides, whereas during autumn we attributed increased spring tide flood velocity magnitude leading to local resuspension. A quadrant analysis similar to that employed in turbulence studies was developed to summarize flux time series by quantifying the relative importance of sediment transport events. These events are categorized by the direction of velocity (flood vs. ebb) and the magnitude of concentration relative to tidally averaged conditions (relatively turbid vs. relatively clear). During wet periods, suspended-sediment flux was greatest in magnitude during relatively turbid ebbs, whereas during dry periods it was greatest in magnitude during relatively turbid floods. A conceptual model was developed to generalize seasonal differences in suspended-sediment dynamics; model application to this study demonstrated the importance of few, relatively large events on net suspended-sediment flux
Borin, Joshua M.; Moser, Mary L.; Hansen, Adam G.; Beauchamp, David A.; Corbett, Stephen C.; Dumbauld, Brett R.; Pruitt, Casey; Ruesink, Jennifer L.; Donoghue, Cinde
2017-01-01
Habitat use can be complex, as tradeoffs among physiology, resource abundance, and predator avoidance affect the suitability of different environments for different species. Green sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris), an imperiled species along the west coast of North America, undertake extensive coastal migrations and occupy estuaries during the summer and early fall. Warm water and abundant prey in estuaries may afford a growth opportunity. We applied a bioenergetics model to investigate how variation in estuarine temperature, spawning frequency, and duration of estuarine residence affect consumption and growth potential for individual green sturgeon. We assumed that green sturgeon achieve observed annual growth by feeding solely in conditions represented by Willapa Bay, Washington, an estuary annually frequented by green sturgeon and containing extensive tidal flats that harbor a major prey source (burrowing shrimp, Neotrypaea californiensis). Modeled consumption rates increased little with reproductive investment (<0.4%), but responded strongly (10–50%) to water temperature and duration of residence, as higher temperatures and longer residence required greater consumption to achieve equivalent growth. Accordingly, although green sturgeon occupy Willapa Bay from May through September, acoustically-tagged individuals are observed over much shorter durations (34 d + 41 d SD, N = 89). Simulations of <34 d estuarine residence required unrealistically high consumption rates to achieve observed growth, whereas longer durations required sustained feeding, and therefore higher total intake, to compensate for prolonged exposure to warm temperatures. Model results provide a range of per capita consumption rates by green sturgeon feeding in estuaries to inform management decisions regarding resource and habitat protection for this protected species.
Fish community-based measures of estuarine ecological quality and pressure-impact relationships
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Fonseca, Vanessa F.; Vasconcelos, Rita P.; Gamito, Rita; Pasquaud, Stéphanie; Gonçalves, Catarina I.; Costa, José L.; Costa, Maria J.; Cabral, Henrique N.
2013-12-01
Community-based responses of fish fauna to anthropogenic pressures have been extensively used to assess the ecological quality of estuarine ecosystems. Several methodologies have been developed recently combining metrics reflecting community structure and function. A fish community facing significant environmental disturbances will be characterized by a simplified structure, with lower diversity and complexity. However, estuaries are naturally dynamic ecosystems exposed to numerous human pressures, making it difficult to distinguish between natural and anthropogenic-induced changes to the biological community. In the present work, the variability of several fish metrics was assessed in relation to different pressures in estuarine sites. The response of a multimetric index (Estuarine Fish Assessment Index) was also analysed. Overall, fish metrics and the multimetric index signalled anthropogenic stress, particularly environmental chemical pollution. The fish assemblage associated with this type of pressure was characterized by lower species diversity, lower number of functional guilds, lower abundance of marine migrants and of piscivorous individuals, and higher abundance of estuarine resident species. A decreased ecological quality status, based on the EFAI, was also determined for sites associated with this pressure group. Ultimately, the definition of each pressure groups favoured a stressor-specific analysis, evidencing pressure patterns and accounting for multiple factors in a highly dynamic environment.
Improved methods for determining bathymetric distributions of dominant intertidal plants throughout their estuarine range are needed. Zostera marina is a seagrass native to estuaries of the northeastern Pacific and many other sectors of the world ocean. The technique described ...
Food webs of two intermittently open estuaries receiving 15N-enriched sewage effluent
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hadwen, Wade L.; Arthington, Angela H.
2007-01-01
Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope signatures were used to assess the response of food webs to sewage effluent discharged into two small intermittently open estuaries in northern New South Wales, Australia. One of these systems, Tallows Creek, has a history of direct sewage inputs, whilst the other, Belongil Creek, receives wastewater via an extensive wetland treatment system. The food webs of both systems were driven by algal sources of carbon, reflecting high autotrophic productivity in response to the nutrients entering the system from sewage effluent. All aquatic biota collected from Tallows Creek had significantly enriched δ15N signatures relative to their conspecifics from Belongil Creek, indicating that sewage nitrogen had been assimilated and transferred throughout the Tallows Creek food web. These δ15N values were higher than those reported from studies in permanently open estuaries receiving sewage effluent. We suggest that these enriched signatures and the transfer of nitrogen throughout the entire food web reflect differences in hydrology and associated nitrogen cycling processes between permanently open and intermittently open estuaries. Although all organisms in Tallows Creek were generally 15N-enriched, isotopically light (less 15N-enriched) individuals of estuary perchlet ( Ambassis marianus) and sea mullet ( Mugil cephalus) were also collected. These individuals were most likely recent immigrants into Tallows Creek, as this system had only recently been opened to the ocean. This isotopic discrimination between resident (enriched) and immigrant (significantly less enriched) individuals can provide information on fish movement patterns and the role of heavily polluted intermittently open estuaries in supporting commercially and recreationally valuable estuarine species.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Gomes, Ana; Boski, Tomasz; Moura, Delminda; Szkornik, Katie; Witkowski, Andrzej; Connor, Simon; Laut, Lazaro; Sobrinho, Frederico; Oliveira, Sónia
2017-04-01
Diatoms are unicellular algae that live in saline, brackish and freshwater environments, either floating in the water column or associated with various substrates (e.g., muddy and sandy sediments). Diatoms are sensitive to changes in environmental variables such as salinity, sediment texture, nutrient availability, light and temperature. This characteristic, along with their short lifespan, allows diatoms to quickly respond to environmental changes. Since the beginning of the 20th century, diatoms have been widely used to study the Holocene evolution of estuaries worldwide, particularly to reconstruct ecological responses to sea-level and climate changes. However, diatoms have been poorly studied in estuarine intertidal zones, due to the complexity of these environments, which have both fluvial and marine influences. The aim of this study was to understand diatom diversity and spatial distribution in intertidal zones from two geomorphologically and hydrologically distinct estuaries. Sediment samples were collected from within the intertidal zones along the Arade and Guadiana River estuaries in southern Iberia. The sampling points embraced almost all the tidal and salinity gradients of both estuaries, capturing the highest possible environmental variability and hence of diatom assemblages. At each sampling point, the salinity and pH of the sediment interstitial water were measured. The sediment samples were subdivided for diatom identification, textural analysis and organic matter determination. All sampling points were georeferenced by DGPS and the duration of tidal inundation was calculated for each site. Following diatom identification, the data were analysed statistically (i.e. cluster analysis, PCA, DCA and RDA). The present study revealed that there is a great diatom diversity in both estuaries (418 species), with several species new to science. The most important diatom species (with abundances higher or equal to 5%) occur in five ecological groups, which are
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Sheaves, Marcus
2016-03-01
Predicting patterns of abundance and composition of biotic assemblages is essential to our understanding of key ecological processes, and our ability to monitor, evaluate and manage assemblages and ecosystems. Fish assemblages often vary from estuary to estuary in apparently unpredictable ways, making it challenging to develop a general understanding of the processes that determine assemblage composition. This makes it problematic to transfer understanding from one estuary situation to another and therefore difficult to assemble effective management plans or to assess the impacts of natural and anthropogenic disturbance. Although system-to-system variability is a common property of ecological systems, rather than being random it is the product of complex interactions of multiple causes and effects at a variety of spatial and temporal scales. I investigate the drivers of differences in estuary fish assemblages, to develop a simple model explaining the diversity and complexity of observed estuary-to-estuary differences, and explore its implications for management and conservation. The model attributes apparently unpredictable differences in fish assemblage composition from estuary to estuary to the interaction of species-specific, life history-specific and scale-specific processes. In explaining innate faunal differences among estuaries without the need to invoke complex ecological or anthropogenic drivers, the model provides a baseline against which the effects of additional natural and anthropogenic factors can be evaluated.
Guo, Hongyu; Pennings, Steven C
2012-01-01
Understanding of how plant communities are organized and will respond to global changes requires an understanding of how plant species respond to multiple environmental gradients. We examined the mechanisms mediating the distribution patterns of tidal marsh plants along an estuarine gradient in Georgia (USA) using a combination of field transplant experiments and monitoring. Our results could not be fully explained by the "competition-to-stress hypothesis" (the current paradigm explaining plant distributions across estuarine landscapes). This hypothesis states that the upstream limits of plant distributions are determined by competition, and the downstream limits by abiotic stress. We found that competition was generally strong in freshwater and brackish marshes, and that conditions in brackish and salt marshes were stressful to freshwater marsh plants, results consistent with the competition-to-stress hypothesis. Four other aspects of our results, however, were not explained by the competition-to-stress hypothesis. First, several halophytes found the freshwater habitat stressful and performed best (in the absence of competition) in brackish or salt marshes. Second, the upstream distribution of one species was determined by the combination of both abiotic and biotic (competition) factors. Third, marsh productivity (estimated by standing biomass) was a better predictor of relative biotic interaction intensity (RII) than was salinity or flooding, suggesting that productivity is a better indicator of plant stress than salinity or flooding gradients. Fourth, facilitation played a role in mediating the distribution patterns of some plants. Our results illustrate that even apparently simple abiotic gradients can encompass surprisingly complex processes mediating plant distributions.
The Asian clam Corbicula fluminea is one of the most pervasive species in freshwater ecosystems. Our objective was to characterize the food sources fuelling C. fluminea in the Minho river estuary (NW-Iberian Peninsula, Europe), an estuarine ecosystem in which C. fluminea presentl...
Beluga whale summer habitat associations in the Nelson River estuary, western Hudson Bay, Canada
Smith, Alexander J.; Higdon, Jeff W.; Richard, Pierre; Orr, Jack; Bernhardt, Warren
2017-01-01
To understand beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas) estuarine use in the Nelson River estuary, southwest Hudson Bay, we recorded and examined beluga movements and habitat associations for the July through August period in 2002–2005. We compared locations of belugas fitted with satellite transmitters (“tags”) (2002–2005) and aerial-surveyed (2003 and 2005) belugas for years of differing freshwater flow from the Nelson River which is influenced by hydroelectric activity. Using the beluga telemetry location data, we estimated an early August behavioral shift in beluga distribution patterns from local estuarine use to a progressively more migratory behavior away from the estuary. The timing of this shift in behavior was also apparent in results of beluga aerial surveys from the 1940s–1960s, despite environmental changes including later freeze-up and warming ocean temperatures. Overall, during the higher than average discharge (“wet”) year of 2005, the three tagged belugas ranged farther from the Nelson River but not farther from the nearest shore along southwestern Hudson Bay, compared to the 10 tagged belugas tracked during the “dry” years of 2002–2004 with below average discharges. Aerial survey data for 2003 and 2005 display a similar dry vs. wet year shift in spatial patterns, with no significant change in overall density of belugas within the study area. In the Nelson estuary, proximity to the fresh-salt water mixing area may be more important than the shallow waters of the upper estuary. Killer whales (Orcinus orca) were observed in the Churchill area (200 km northwest) during each year of study, 2002–05, and belugas may benefit from the proximity to shallow estuary waters that provide protection from the larger-bodied predator. Study results contribute to an understanding of the influence of environmental variation on how and why belugas use estuaries although considerable uncertainties exist and additional research is required. PMID
Habitat loss and gain: Influence on habitat attractiveness for estuarine fish communities
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Amorim, Eva; Ramos, Sandra; Elliott, Michael; Franco, Anita; Bordalo, Adriano A.
2017-10-01
Habitat structure and complexity influence the structuring and functioning of fish communities. Habitat changes are one of the main pressures affecting estuarine systems worldwide, yet the degree and rate of change and its impact on fish communities is still poorly understood. In order to quantify historical modifications in habitat structure, an ecohydrological classification system using physiotopes, i.e. units with homogenous abiotic characteristics, was developed for the lower Lima estuary (NW Portugal). Field data, aerial imagery, historical maps and interpolation methods were used to map input variables, including bathymetry, substratum (hard/soft), sediment composition, hydrodynamics (current velocity) and vegetation coverage. Physiotopes were then mapped for the years of 1933 and 2013 and the areas lost and gained over the 80 years were quantified. The implications of changes for the benthic and demersal fish communities using the lower estuary were estimated using the attractiveness to those communities of each physiotope, while considering the main estuarine habitat functions for fish, namely spawning, nursery, feeding and refuge areas and migratory routes. The lower estuary was highly affected due to urbanisation and development and, following a port/harbour expansion, its boundary moved seaward causing an increase in total area. Modifications led to the loss of most of its sandy and saltmarsh intertidal physiotopes, which were replaced by deeper subtidal physiotopes. The most attractive physiotopes for fish (defined as the way in which they supported the fish ecological features) decreased in area while less attractive ones increased, producing an overall lower attractiveness of the studied area in 2013 compared to 1933. The implications of habitat alterations for the fish using the estuary include potential changes in the nursery carrying capacity and the functioning of the fish community. The study also highlighted the poor knowledge of the impacts of
Nguyen Van, Thinh; Ozaki, Akinori; Nguyen Tho, Hoang; Nguyen Duc, Anh; Tran Thi, Yen; Kurosawa, Kiyoshi
2016-01-01
Heavy metal contamination of soil and sediment in estuaries warrants study because a healthy estuarine environment, including healthy soil, is important in order to achieve ecological balance and good aquaculture production. The Ba Lat estuary of the Red River is the largest estuary in northern Vietnam and is employed in various land uses. However, the heavy metal contamination of its soil has not yet been reported. The following research was conducted to clarify contamination levels, supply sources, and the effect of land use on heavy metal concentrations in the estuary. Soil samples were collected from the top soil layer of the estuary, and their arsenic (As), chromium (Cr), cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn) concentrations were analyzed, as were other soil properties. Most soils in the estuary were loam, silt loam, or sandy loam. The pH was neutral, and the cation exchange capacity ranged from 3.8 to 20 cmol·kg−1. Manganese and iron concentrations averaged 811 µg·g−1 and 1.79%, respectively. The magnitude of the soil heavy metal concentrations decreased in the order of Zn > Pb > Cr > Cu > As > Cd. The concentrations were higher in the riverbed and mangrove forest than in other land-use areas. Except for As, the mean heavy metal concentrations were lower than the permissible levels for agricultural soils in Vietnam. The principal component analyses suggested that soil As, Pb, Zn, Cd, and Cu were of anthropogenic origin, whereas Cr was of non-anthropogenic origin. The spatial distribution of concentration with land use indicated that mangrove forests play an important role in preventing the spread of heavy metals to other land uses and in maintaining the estuarine environment. PMID:27827965
Nguyen Van, Thinh; Ozaki, Akinori; Nguyen Tho, Hoang; Nguyen Duc, Anh; Tran Thi, Yen; Kurosawa, Kiyoshi
2016-11-05
Heavy metal contamination of soil and sediment in estuaries warrants study because a healthy estuarine environment, including healthy soil, is important in order to achieve ecological balance and good aquaculture production. The Ba Lat estuary of the Red River is the largest estuary in northern Vietnam and is employed in various land uses. However, the heavy metal contamination of its soil has not yet been reported. The following research was conducted to clarify contamination levels, supply sources, and the effect of land use on heavy metal concentrations in the estuary. Soil samples were collected from the top soil layer of the estuary, and their arsenic (As), chromium (Cr), cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn) concentrations were analyzed, as were other soil properties. Most soils in the estuary were loam, silt loam, or sandy loam. The pH was neutral, and the cation exchange capacity ranged from 3.8 to 20 cmol·kg -1 . Manganese and iron concentrations averaged 811 µg·g -1 and 1.79%, respectively. The magnitude of the soil heavy metal concentrations decreased in the order of Zn > Pb > Cr > Cu > As > Cd. The concentrations were higher in the riverbed and mangrove forest than in other land-use areas. Except for As, the mean heavy metal concentrations were lower than the permissible levels for agricultural soils in Vietnam. The principal component analyses suggested that soil As, Pb, Zn, Cd, and Cu were of anthropogenic origin, whereas Cr was of non-anthropogenic origin. The spatial distribution of concentration with land use indicated that mangrove forests play an important role in preventing the spread of heavy metals to other land uses and in maintaining the estuarine environment.
Bratton, J.F.; Böhlke, J.K.; Krantz, D.E.; Tobias, C.R.
2009-01-01
To better understand large-scale interactions between fresh and saline groundwater beneath an Atlantic coastal estuary, an offshore drilling and sampling study was performed in a large barrier-bounded lagoon, Chincoteague Bay, Maryland, USA. Groundwater that was significantly fresher than overlying bay water was found in shallow plumes up to 8??m thick extending more than 1700??m offshore. Groundwater saltier than bay surface water was found locally beneath the lagoon and the barrier island, indicating recharge by saline water concentrated by evaporation prior to infiltration. Steep salinity and nutrient gradients occur within a few meters of the sediment surface in most locations studied, with buried peats and estuarine muds acting as confining units. Groundwater ages were generally more than 50??years in both fresh and brackish waters as deep as 23??m below the bay bottom. Water chemistry and isotopic data indicate that freshened plumes beneath the estuary are mixtures of water originally recharged on land and varying amounts of estuarine surface water that circulated through the bay floor, possibly at some distance from the sampling location. Ammonium is the dominant fixed nitrogen species in saline groundwater beneath the estuary at the locations sampled. Isotopic and dissolved-gas data from one location indicate that denitrification within the subsurface flow system removed terrestrial nitrate from fresh groundwater prior to discharge along the western side of the estuary. Similar situations, with one or more shallow semi-confined flow systems where groundwater geochemistry is strongly influenced by circulation of surface estuary water through organic-rich sediments, may be common on the Atlantic margin and elsewhere.
Foraminifera and Thecamoebians as hydrodynamic indicators for Amazon estuarine system
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Laut, L. L.; Figueiredo, A. G.; Santos, V. F.; Souza-Vieira, S.
2007-05-01
The Amazon mangrove forest in Brazilian territory is one of the most extended in the world. It goes from Ponta do Tubarao (4S e 43W) to Cape Orange (5N e 51W) along 2,250 km of coast line. Because the Amazon River System influence, it can be divided into two regions; one with river influence toward north and the other without river influence. In order to characterize the mangrove environment hydrodynamic on both sides of the Amazon River System, foraminifera and thecamoebians assemblages were investigated in the sediment of two estuaries; Araguari to the North (1 15S - 50 30W) and Caete to the South (0 50S - 46 30W). For both estuaries forams and thecamoebians species distribution are atypical relative to other world regions. In both, there are only few calcareous forams and almost all are small and possible of being transported in suspension. Typical estuarine species were not identified. The typical mangrove forams which are agglutinated species were dominant in both estuaries. However, the Caete estuary has a large number of forams species (29), indicating better efficiency in mixing fresh and salt water in comparison to the Araguari. On the other hand, the Araguari has big richness of thecamoebians species (15) indicating fresh water prevalence. The fresh water predominance is due to the Amazon water plume being diverted to the Amapa coast where the Araguari estuary is located. The foraminifera species was also used to determine the salt water penetration in the estuary. In the Caete estuary, salt water penetrates to about 40 km while in the Araguari it does coincide with the limit of the bore tide wave "pororoca" penetration, 45 km. Based on the species succession (forams to thecamoebians species) the Araguary estuary can be divided into three regions controlled by turbidity: the outer, middle and inner estuary. The Caete species succession is not that clear and only could be divided based on salinity into outer and inner estuary. In both estuaries forams and
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Bendixen, Carina; Boldreel, Lars Ole; Jensen, Jørn Bo; Bennike, Ole; Hübscher, Christian; Clausen, Ole Rønø
2017-12-01
High-resolution shallow seismic data, sediment core information, radiocarbon dating and sequence stratigraphy have been used to interpret the late glacial to early Holocene geological evolution of Hesselø Bay in the southern Kattegat, Denmark. A reconstruction of the early Holocene coastal environment and a description of coastal processes associated with a river outlet into the bay are presented. Weichselian glacial deposits form the lowermost interpreted unit, covered by late glacial (LG) and postglacial (PG, Holocene) sediments. A funnel-shaped estuary existed at the mouth of channels in the period 10.3-9.2 cal. ka BP; the channels drained water from south to north. The early PG is characterised by estuarine and coastal deposits. The early Holocene bars that developed in the estuary are preserved as morphological features on the present-day seabed, possibly as a result of rapid relative sea-level rise. The estuary existed simultaneously with the occurrence and drainage of the Ancylus Lake. The drainage of this lake occurred through the Dana River (palaeo-Great Belt channel) into the southern Kattegat and then into the study area. The level of the Ancylus Lake in the Baltic Sea region dropped significantly at about 10.2 cal. ka BP at the same time as the estuary developed in the Kattegat region. One outcome of the present study is an enhanced understanding of the Ancylus Lake drainage path. No evidence of major erosion is seen, which indicates non-catastrophic continuous water flow from the south without major drainage events of the Ancylus Lake to the southern Kattegat. During the Littorina transgression, coastal estuarine conditions characterized the Hesselø Bay area where elongated ridges formed a bar system. As the Littorina transgression continued, back-stepping of the bar system and coastline occurred. When the transgression breached the Great Belt threshold, flooding caused major erosion throughout the study area.
Epiphytes on seagrass (Zostera marina) growing in the lower intertidal were examined along an estuarine gradient within Yaquina Bay, Oregon over a period of 4 years. The Yaquina Estuary receives high levels of nutrients from the watershed during the wet season and from the ocean...
Inorganic carbon and oxygen dynamics in a marsh‐dominated estuary
Di Iorio, Daniela; Cai, Wei‐Jun; Hopkinson, Charles S.
2017-01-01
Abstract We conducted a free‐water mass balance‐based study to address the rate of metabolism and net carbon exchange for the tidal wetland and estuarine portion of the coastal ocean and the uncertainties associated with this approach were assessed. We measured open water diurnal O2 and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) dynamics seasonally in a salt marsh‐estuary in Georgia, U.S.A. with a focus on the marsh‐estuary linkage associated with tidal flooding. We observed that the overall estuarine system was a net source of CO2 to the atmosphere and coastal ocean and a net sink for oceanic and atmospheric O2. Rates of metabolism were extremely high, with respiration (43 mol m−2 yr−1) greatly exceeding gross primary production (28 mol m−2 yr−1), such that the overall system was net heterotrophic. Metabolism measured with DIC were higher than with O2, which we attribute to high rates of anaerobic respiration and reduced sulfur storage in salt marsh sediments, and we assume substantial levels of anoxygenic photosynthesis. We found gas exchange from a flooded marsh is substantial, accounting for about 28% of total O2 and CO2 air–water exchange. A significant percentage of the overall estuarine aquatic metabolism is attributable to metabolism of marsh organisms during inundation. Our study suggests not rely on oceanographic stoichiometry to convert from O2 to C based measurements when constructing C balances for the coastal ocean. We also suggest eddy covariance measurements of salt marsh net ecosystem exchange underestimate net ecosystem production as they do not account for lateral DIC exchange associated with marsh tidal inundation. PMID:29456267
Nutrient over-enrichment of estuaries is a pervasive issue worldwide that often results in blooms of green macroalgae (GMA; Ulva spp.), which can have disruptive and deleterious effects to estuarine flora and fauna. However, little is known of the effects of GMA blooms on the pr...
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Tweedley, J. R.; Warwick, R. M.; Potter, I. C.
2015-08-01
Because estuaries are naturally stressed, due to variations in salinity, organic loadings, sediment stability and oxygen concentrations over both spatial and temporal scales, it is difficult both to set baseline reference conditions and to distinguish between natural and anthropogenic environmental stresses. This contrasts with the situation in marine coastal and offshore locations. A very large benthic macroinvertebrate dataset and matching concentrations for seven toxic heavy metals (i.e. Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, Hg and Pb), compiled over three years as part of the UK's National Marine Monitoring Programme (NMMP) for 27 subtidal sites in 16 estuaries and 34 coastal marine sites in the United Kingdom, have been analysed. The results demonstrate that species composition and most benthic biotic indicators (number of taxa, overall density, Shannon-Wiener diversity, Simpson's index and AZTI's Marine Biotic Index [AMBI]) for sites in estuarine and coastal areas were significantly different, reflecting natural differences between these two environments. Shannon-Wiener diversity and AMBI were not significantly correlated either with overall heavy metal contaminant loadings or with individual heavy metal concentrations ('normalized' as heavy metal/aluminium ratios) in estuaries. In contrast, average taxonomic distinctness (Δ+) and variation in taxonomic distinctness (Λ+) did not differ significantly between estuarine and coastal environments, i.e. they were unaffected by natural differences between these two environments, but both were significantly correlated with overall heavy metal concentrations. Furthermore, Δ+ was correlated significantly with the Cu, Zn, Cd, Hg and Pb concentrations and Λ+ was correlated significantly with the Cr, Ni, Cu, Cd and Hg concentrations. Thus, one or both of these two taxonomic distinctness indices are significantly correlated with the concentrations for each of these seven heavy metals. These taxonomic distinctness indices are therefore
Asa, Subas Chandra; Rath, Prasanta; Panda, Unmesh Chandra; Parhi, Pankaj Kumar; Bramha, Satyanarayan
2013-08-01
In the present study, concentration of some selected trace metals (Fe, Mn, Ni, Co, Pb, Zn, Cu, Cr and Cd) are measured in Brahmani, Baitarani river complex along with Dhamara estuary and its near shore. Chemical partitioning has been made to establish association of metals into different geochemical phases. The exchangeable fraction is having high environmental risk among non-lithogeneous phases due to greater potential for mobility into pore water. The metals with highest bio-availability being Cd, Zn and Cr. The metals like Mn, Zn, Cd and Cu represent an appreciable portion in carbonate phase. Fe-Mn oxides act as efficient scavenger for most of the metals playing a prime role in controlling their fate and transport. Among non-lithogeneous phases apart from reducible, Cr showed a significant enrichment in organic phase. Risk assessment code values indicate that all metals except Fe fall under medium-risk zone. In estuarine zone Cd, Zn, Pb and Cr are released to 32.43, 26.10, 21.81 and 20 %, respectively, indicating their significant bio-availability pose high ecological risk. A quantitative approach has been made through the use of different risk indices like enrichment factor, geo-accumulation index and pollution load index. Factor analysis indicates that in riverine zone, Fe-Mn oxides/hydroxides seem to play an important role in scavenging metals, in estuarine zone, organic precipitation and adsorption to the fine silt and clay particles while in coastal zone, co-precipitation with Fe could be the mechanism for the same. Canonical discriminant function indicates that it is highly successful in discriminating the groups as predicted.
Lei, Pei; Zhang, Hong; Shan, Baoqing; Lv, Shucong; Tang, Wenzhong
2016-04-01
The Hai River Basin (HRB) is considered to be one of the most polluted areas in China due to the high regional population density and rapid economic development. The estuaries of the HRB, which receive pollutants from terrestrial rivers, may subsequently suffer potential pollution and result in ecological risk of heavy metals. Six heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn) were measured in estuarine surface sediments from 10 estuaries of the HRB to investigate their variation characteristics and ecological risks. The spatial difference of Cr, Ni, Pb, and Zn in sediments was higher than that of the rest two elements. The Yongdingxin Estuary (YDX) and Ziyaxin Estuary (ZYX) in the Northern Hai River System (NHRS) were the most severe in terms of heavy metal contamination. According to the Risk Assessment Code (RAC) classification, Cd associated with the exchangeable and carbonate fraction (the average of 21.3 %) indicated medium risk to high risk. More than 50 % of Cr, Cu, Ni, and Zn on average were associated with the residual fraction. Based on the sum of the first three fractions (exchangeable and carbonate + reducible + oxidizable), the mobility order of these heavy metals was Cd >Pb > Zn ≈ Cu > Ni > Cr. Compared to the background values of cinnamon soil, the potential ecological risk index (RI) values ranged from 25.6 to 168, with an average of 91.2, indicating a low ecological risk in estuarine sites of the HRB. Cd and Pb were the dominant contributors to the toxic-response factor (45.8 and 25.5 %, respectively). The results give insight into the different control measures pertaining to heavy metal pollution and risk for both relatively clean estuaries and urban seriously polluted areas, respectively, for the formation of protect strategies of aquatic environment in the HRB.
Paerl, Hans W.; Wetz, Michael S.
2016-01-01
Nitrogen availability and form are important controls on estuarine phytoplankton growth. This study experimentally determined the influence of urea and nitrate additions on phytoplankton growth throughout the growing season (March 2012, June 2011, August 2011) in a temperate, eutrophied estuary (Neuse River Estuary, North Carolina, USA). Photopigments (chlorophyll a and diagnostic photopigments: peridinin, fucoxanthin, alloxanthin, zeaxanthin, chlorophyll b) and microscopy-based cell counts were used as indicators of phytoplankton growth. In March, the phytoplankton community was dominated by Gyrodinium instriatum and only fucoxanthin-based growth rates were stimulated by nitrogen addition. The limited response to nitrogen suggests other factors may control phytoplankton growth and community composition in early spring. In June, inorganic nitrogen concentrations were low and stimulatory effects of both nitrogen forms were observed for chlorophyll a- and diagnostic photopigment-based growth rates. In contrast, cell counts showed that only cryptophyte and dinoflagellate (Heterocapsa rotundata) growth were stimulated. Responses of other photopigments may have been due to an increase in pigment per cell or growth of plankton too small to be counted with the microscopic methods used. Despite high nitrate concentrations in August, growth rates were elevated in response to urea and/or nitrate addition for all photopigments except peridinin. However, this response was not observed in cell counts, again suggesting that pigment-based growth responses may not always be indicative of a true community and/or taxa-specific growth response. This highlights the need to employ targeted microscopy-based cell enumeration concurrent with pigment-based technology to facilitate a more complete understanding of phytoplankton dynamics in estuarine systems. These results are consistent with previous studies showing the seasonal importance of nitrogen availability in estuaries, and also
Xu, Jie; Sun, Mingming; Shi, Zhen; Harrison, Paul J.; Liu, Hongbin
2014-01-01
A cross-transplant experiment between estuarine water and seawater was conducted to examine the response of bacterial metabolic activity to riverine dissolved organic carbon (DOC) input under virus-rich and virus-free conditions, as well as to exogenous viruses. Riverine DOC input increased bacterial production significantly, but not bacterial respiration (BR) because of its high lability. The bioavailable riverine DOC influenced bulk bacterial respiration in two contrasting ways; it enhanced the bulk BR by stimulating bacterial growth, but simultaneously reduced the cell-specific BR due to its high lability. As a result, there was little stimulation of the bulk BR by riverine DOC. This might be partly responsible for lower CO2 degassing fluxes in estuaries receiving high sewage-DOC that is highly labile. Viruses restricted microbial decomposition of riverine DOC dramatically by repressing the growth of metabolically active bacteria. Bacterial carbon demand in the presence of viruses only accounted for 7–12% of that in the absence of viruses. Consequently, a large fraction of riverine DOC was likely transported offshore to the shelf. In addition, marine bacteria and estuarine bacteria responded distinctly to exogenous viruses. Marine viruses were able to infect estuarine bacteria, but not as efficiently as estuarine viruses, while estuarine viruses infected marine bacteria as efficiently as marine viruses. We speculate that the rapid changes in the viral community due to freshwater input destroyed the existing bacteria-virus relationship, which would change the bacterial community composition and affect the bacterial metabolic activity and carbon cycling in this estuary. PMID:25036641
Xu, Jie; Sun, Mingming; Shi, Zhen; Harrison, Paul J; Liu, Hongbin
2014-01-01
A cross-transplant experiment between estuarine water and seawater was conducted to examine the response of bacterial metabolic activity to riverine dissolved organic carbon (DOC) input under virus-rich and virus-free conditions, as well as to exogenous viruses. Riverine DOC input increased bacterial production significantly, but not bacterial respiration (BR) because of its high lability. The bioavailable riverine DOC influenced bulk bacterial respiration in two contrasting ways; it enhanced the bulk BR by stimulating bacterial growth, but simultaneously reduced the cell-specific BR due to its high lability. As a result, there was little stimulation of the bulk BR by riverine DOC. This might be partly responsible for lower CO2 degassing fluxes in estuaries receiving high sewage-DOC that is highly labile. Viruses restricted microbial decomposition of riverine DOC dramatically by repressing the growth of metabolically active bacteria. Bacterial carbon demand in the presence of viruses only accounted for 7-12% of that in the absence of viruses. Consequently, a large fraction of riverine DOC was likely transported offshore to the shelf. In addition, marine bacteria and estuarine bacteria responded distinctly to exogenous viruses. Marine viruses were able to infect estuarine bacteria, but not as efficiently as estuarine viruses, while estuarine viruses infected marine bacteria as efficiently as marine viruses. We speculate that the rapid changes in the viral community due to freshwater input destroyed the existing bacteria-virus relationship, which would change the bacterial community composition and affect the bacterial metabolic activity and carbon cycling in this estuary.
Robbins, Lisa L.; Lisle, John T.
2018-01-01
Increasing global CO2 and local land use changes coupled with increased nutrient pollution are threatening estuaries worldwide. Local changes of estuarine chemistry have been documented, but regional associations and trends comparing multiple estuaries latitudinally have not been evaluated. Rapid climate change has impacted the annual and decadal chemical trends in estuaries, with local ecosystem processes enhancing or mitigating the responses. Here, we compare pH, dissolved oxygen, temperature, and salinity data from 10 Florida shellfish estuaries and hundreds of shellfish bed stations. Over 80,000 measurements, spanning from 1980 to 2008, taken on Atlantic Ocean and West Florida coast showed significant regional trends of consistent pH decreases in 8 out of the 10 estuaries, with an average rate of decrease on the Gulf of Mexico side estuaries of Florida of 7.3 × 10−4 pH units year−1, and average decrease on the Atlantic Coast estuaries of 5.0 × 10−4 pH units year−1. The rates are approximately 2–3.4 times slower than observed in pH decreases associated with ocean acidification in the Atlantic and Pacific. Other significant trends observed include decreasing dissolved oxygen in 9 out of the 10 estuaries, increasing salinity in 6 out of the 10, and temperature increases in 3 out of the 10 estuaries. The data provide a synoptic regional view of Florida estuary trends which reflect the complexity of changing climate and coastal ocean acidification superimposed on local conditions. These data provide context for understanding, and interpreting the past and predicting future of regional water quality health of shellfish and other organisms of commercial and ecological significance along Florida’s coasts.
Study of pollutant distribution in the Guaxindiba Estuarine System--SE Brazil.
Fonseca, E M; Baptista Neto, J A; Pereira, M P S; Silva, C G; Arantes, J D
2014-05-15
The Guaxindiba Estuarine System is located in the northeast portion of Guanabara Bay. Despite the location inside an environmental protection zone, the main affluent of the river runs through the extremely urbanized area of the cities of Niterói and São Gonçalo. In order to understand the contamination levels of the estuary, 35 surface sediment samples were collected along the river and estuarine area and analyzed for the presence of heavy metals, PAHs, organochlorated pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyl and other contaminants. The analyzed data revealed a greatly affected environment with respect to most of these substances. The results suggested propitious deposits of contaminants, with high concentrations of organic matter and fine sediment. The levels of heavy metal in the entire estuarine system were high compared with the local background. The total mean concentrations of As, Cd, Pb, Cu, Zn, Hg, Cr and Ni in the surface sediments were: 3.74; 0.03; 19.3; 15.0; 99.0; n.d.; 29.0; and 22.0mg/kg, respectively, confirming, in certain cases, the high capacity of the environment to concentrate pollution. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Large-bodied invertebrates (bivalves, polychaetes, burrowing shrimps) are common to infaunal communities of NE Pacific estuaries, but their contribution to estuarine community structure, function and ecosystem services is poorly understood because they are difficult to sample and...
Estuarine water quality and plankton community responses in the Pensacola Bay Estuary
Phytoplankton serve a centrally important role in estuaries forming the base of the food web. Thus factors that affect phytoplankton production and species composition cascades to higher trophic levels, ultimately affecting secondary production. Given their sensitivity to myriad ...
Feng, Yang; Friedrichs, Marjorie A M; Wilkin, John; Tian, Hanqin; Yang, Qichun; Hofmann, Eileen E; Wiggert, Jerry D; Hood, Raleigh R
2015-08-01
The Chesapeake Bay plays an important role in transforming riverine nutrients before they are exported to the adjacent continental shelf. Although the mean nitrogen budget of the Chesapeake Bay has been previously estimated from observations, uncertainties associated with interannually varying hydrological conditions remain. In this study, a land-estuarine-ocean biogeochemical modeling system is developed to quantify Chesapeake riverine nitrogen inputs, within-estuary nitrogen transformation processes and the ultimate export of nitrogen to the coastal ocean. Model skill was evaluated using extensive in situ and satellite-derived data, and a simulation using environmental conditions for 2001-2005 was conducted to quantify the Chesapeake Bay nitrogen budget. The 5 year simulation was characterized by large riverine inputs of nitrogen (154 × 10 9 g N yr -1 ) split roughly 60:40 between inorganic:organic components. Much of this was denitrified (34 × 10 9 g N yr -1 ) and buried (46 × 10 9 g N yr -1 ) within the estuarine system. A positive net annual ecosystem production for the bay further contributed to a large advective export of organic nitrogen to the shelf (91 × 10 9 g N yr -1 ) and negligible inorganic nitrogen export. Interannual variability was strong, particularly for the riverine nitrogen fluxes. In years with higher than average riverine nitrogen inputs, most of this excess nitrogen (50-60%) was exported from the bay as organic nitrogen, with the remaining split between burial, denitrification, and inorganic export to the coastal ocean. In comparison to previous simulations using generic shelf biogeochemical model formulations inside the estuary, the estuarine biogeochemical model described here produced more realistic and significantly greater exports of organic nitrogen and lower exports of inorganic nitrogen to the shelf.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lyddon, Charlotte; Plater, Andy, ,, Prof.; Brown, Jenny, ,, Dr.; Leonardi, Nicoletta, ,, Dr.
2017-04-01
Coastal zones worldwide are subject to short term, local variations in sea-level, particularly communities and industries developed on estuaries. Astronomical high tides, meteorological storm surges and increased river flow present a combined flood hazard. This can elevate water level at the coast above predicted levels, generating extreme water levels. These contributions can also interact to alter the phase and amplitude of tides and surges, and thus cause significant mismatches between the predicted and observed water level. The combined effect of tide, surge, river flow and their interactions are the key to understanding and assessing flood risk in estuarine environments for design purposes. Delft3D-FLOW, a hydrodynamic model which solves the unsteady shallow-water equation, is used to access spatial variability in extreme water levels for a range of historical events of different severity within the Severn Estuary, southwest England. Long-term tide gauge records from Ilfracombe and Mumbles and river level data from Sandhurst are analysed to generate a series of extreme water level events, representing the 90th, 95th and 99th percentile conditions, to force the model boundaries. To separate out the time-varying contributions of tidal, fluvial, meteorological processes and their interactions the model is run with different physical forcing. A low pass filter is applied to "de-tide" the residual water elevation, to separate out the time-varying meteorological residual and the tide-surge interactions within the surge. The filtered surge is recombined with the predicted tide so the peak occurs at different times relative to high water. The resulting time series are used to force the model boundary to identify how the interactive processes influence the timing of extreme water level across the estuarine domain. This methodology is first validated using the most extreme event on record to ensure that modelled extreme water levels can be predicted with confidence
Macrobenthic communities of the Vellar Estuary in the Bay of Bengal in Tamil-Nadu in South India
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Chertoprud, M. V.; Chertoprud, E. S.; Saravanakumar, A.; Thangaradjou, T.; Mazei, Yu. A.
2013-03-01
The macrobenthic fauna and communities of the Vellar Estuary located at the southeast cost of India (11°30' N, 79°45' E) and the adjacent marine and river habitats are described on the basis of original data (70 samples over 10 transects). The fauna consists of 115 macrobenthic species and 79 species in estuarine habitats. We described 14 types of macrobenthic communities with different compositions of the dominant species. The leading ecological factors of the distribution of the communities are the salinity, depth, and bottom type. The Vellar estuary consists of two longitudinal zones of macrobenthos. The polyhalinic area is populated by the marine species, but it is related not to a salinity decrease but to the protection from waves and silt on the bottom in this area. The polyhalinic communities are most abundant in terms of the biomass and species richness. The mesohalinic area is inhabited by brackish water species and communities with low abundance. The sublittoral estuarine area is dominated by filter-feeders—the bivalves Crassostrea madrasensis, Meretrix casta, Modiolus metcalfei, and Scapharca inaequivalves—and the littoral zone is dominated by the gastropods Cerithidea cingulata, some crabs, and polychaetes. The ecosystem function of the Vellar estuary can be defined as a filter for the fine organic particles transported by the river.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
van der Wal, Daphne; Lambert, Gwladys I.; Ysebaert, Tom; Plancke, Yves M. G.; Herman, Peter M. J.
2017-10-01
Variations in abundance and diversity of estuarine benthic macrofauna are typically described along the salinity gradient. The influence of gradients in water depth, hydrodynamic energy and sediment properties are less well known. We studied how these variables influence the distribution of subtidal macrofauna in the polyhaline zone of a temperate estuary (Westerschelde, SW Netherlands). Macrofauna density, biomass and species richness, combined in a so-called ecological richness, decreased with current velocities and median grain-size and increased with organic carbon of the sediment, in total explaining 39% of the variation. The macrofauna community composition was less well explained by the three environmental variables (approx. 12-15% in total, with current velocity explaining approx. 8%). Salinity, water depth and distance to the intertidal zone had a very limited effect on both ecological richness and the macrofauna community. The proportion of (surface) deposit feeders (including opportunistic species), decreased relative to that of omnivores and carnivores with increasing current velocity and sediment grain-size. In parallel, the proportion of burrowing sessile benthic species decreased relative to that of mobile benthic species that are able to swim. Correspondingly, spatial variations in hydrodynamics yielded distinct hotspots and coldspots in ecological richness. The findings highlight the importance of local hydrodynamic conditions for estuarine restoration and conservation. The study provides a tool based on a hydrodynamic model to assess and predict ecological richness in estuaries.
Wingard, G. Lynn; Surge, Donna
2017-01-01
Molluscs possess a number of attributes that make them an excellent source of past environmental conditions in estuaries: they are common in estuarine environments; they typically have hard shells and are usually well preserved in sediments; they are relatively easy to detect in the environment; they have limited mobility as adults; they grow by incremental addition of layers to their shells; and they are found in all the major environments surrounding estuaries—terrestrial, freshwater, brackish, and marine waters. Analysis of molluscan assemblages can contribute information about past changes in sea level, climate, land use patterns, anthropogenic alterations, salinity, and other parameters of the benthic habitat and water chemistry within the estuary. High-resolution (from less than a day to annual) records of changes in environmental parameters can be obtained by analyzing the incremental growth layers in mollusc shells (sclerochronology). The shell layers retain information on changes in water temperature, salinity, seasonality, climate, river discharge, productivity, pollution and human activity. Isotopic analyses of mollusc shell growth layers can be problematic in estuaries where water temperatures and isotopic ratios can vary simultaneously; however, methods are being developed to overcome these problems. In addition to sclerochronology, molluscs are important to Holocene and Pleistocene estuarine palaeoenvironmental studies because of their use in the development of age models through radiocarbon dating, amino acid racemization, uranium-thorium series dating, and electron spin resonance (ESR) dating.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kõuts, Mariliis; Raudsepp, Urmas; Maljutenko, Ilja
2017-04-01
In coastal areas, especially estuaries, spatial distribution and seasonal cycling of chemical and biological variables is largely determined by local biogeochemical processes and water transport of different properties. In tidal estuaries, however, biogeochemical processes are affected by tides as frequent water exchange alters nutrient and oxygen concentrations. In wide and deep non-tidal estuary-type marginal seas spatial distribution and seasonal cycling are determined by the mixture of water transport and local biogeochemistry. The Baltic Sea is a stratified water basin where halocline divides the water column into two parts: upper layer, which is horizontally uniform in terms of distribution of chemical and biological parameters, and has clear seasonal cycle; and bottom part, where nutrient and oxygen dynamics is more complex. There water transport and sediment-water interface fluxes play a major role. Our prime focus is the Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea. It is a wide, non-tidal and stratified sub-basin known for its high nutrient concentrations and severe oxygen deficiency in summer. We modelled the Baltic Sea (including Gulf of Finland) using ERGOM, a biogeochemical model coupled with circulation model GETM. Seasonal cycling and water circulation were observed with a 40-year simulation from 1966 to 2006. Our results show that in shallow areas above halocline the seasonal cycle of phytoplankton, nutrients and oxygen concentrations is uniform in space. Water circulation does not create inhomogeneous distribution pattern of biogeochemical parameters and their seasonal cycle. The circulation in the Gulf of Finland is strongly modulated by the seasonality of estuarine transport. Below the halocline saline low-oxygen and nutrient-rich water is transported from the open Baltic Proper to the Gulf of Finland in spring and early summer. This results in the highest nutrient concentrations and the poorest oxygen conditions by the end of August. In the shallow area
Ortega-Cisneros, Kelly; Scharler, Ursula M.
2015-01-01
This study aimed to determine the variability of carbon and nitrogen elemental content, stoichiometry and diet proportions of invertebrates in two sub-tropical estuaries in South Africa experiencing seasonal changes in rainfall and river inflow. The elemental ratios and stable isotopes of abiotic sources, zooplankton and macrozoobenthos taxa were analyzed over a dry/wet seasonal cycle. Nutrient content (C, N) and stoichiometry of suspended particulate matter exhibited significant spatio-temporal variations in both estuaries, which were explained by the variability in river inflow. Sediment particulate matter (%C, %N and C:N) was also influenced by the variability in river flow but to a lesser extent. The nutrient content and ratios of the analyzed invertebrates did not significantly vary among seasons with the exception of the copepod Pseudodiaptomus spp. (C:N) and the tanaid Apseudes digitalis (%N, C:N). These changes did not track the seasonal variations of the suspended or sediment particulate matter. Our results suggest that invertebrates managed to maintain their stoichiometry independent of the seasonality in river flow. A significant variability in nitrogen content among estuarine invertebrates was recorded, with highest % N recorded from predators and lowest %N from detritivores. Due to the otherwise general lack of seasonal differences in elemental content and stoichiometry, feeding guild was a major factor shaping the nutrient dynamics of the estuarine invertebrates. The nutrient richer suspended particulate matter was the preferred food source over sediment particulate matter for most invertebrate consumers in many, but not all seasons. The most distinct preference for suspended POM as a food source was apparent from the temporarily open/closed system after the estuary had breached, highlighting the importance of river flow as a driver of invertebrate nutrient dynamics under extreme events conditions. Moreover, our data showed that estuarine
Ortega-Cisneros, Kelly; Scharler, Ursula M
2015-01-01
This study aimed to determine the variability of carbon and nitrogen elemental content, stoichiometry and diet proportions of invertebrates in two sub-tropical estuaries in South Africa experiencing seasonal changes in rainfall and river inflow. The elemental ratios and stable isotopes of abiotic sources, zooplankton and macrozoobenthos taxa were analyzed over a dry/wet seasonal cycle. Nutrient content (C, N) and stoichiometry of suspended particulate matter exhibited significant spatio-temporal variations in both estuaries, which were explained by the variability in river inflow. Sediment particulate matter (%C, %N and C:N) was also influenced by the variability in river flow but to a lesser extent. The nutrient content and ratios of the analyzed invertebrates did not significantly vary among seasons with the exception of the copepod Pseudodiaptomus spp. (C:N) and the tanaid Apseudes digitalis (%N, C:N). These changes did not track the seasonal variations of the suspended or sediment particulate matter. Our results suggest that invertebrates managed to maintain their stoichiometry independent of the seasonality in river flow. A significant variability in nitrogen content among estuarine invertebrates was recorded, with highest % N recorded from predators and lowest %N from detritivores. Due to the otherwise general lack of seasonal differences in elemental content and stoichiometry, feeding guild was a major factor shaping the nutrient dynamics of the estuarine invertebrates. The nutrient richer suspended particulate matter was the preferred food source over sediment particulate matter for most invertebrate consumers in many, but not all seasons. The most distinct preference for suspended POM as a food source was apparent from the temporarily open/closed system after the estuary had breached, highlighting the importance of river flow as a driver of invertebrate nutrient dynamics under extreme events conditions. Moreover, our data showed that estuarine
Nethaji, S; Kalaivanan, R; Arya Viswam; Jayaprakash, M
2017-02-15
Surface sediments were collected from Vellar and Coleroon estuaries for determine sediment texture, calcium carbonate, organic matter and heavy metals. Pollution indices such as pollution load index (PLI), contamination factor (CF), enrichment factor (EF) and geo-accumulation index (I geo ) were done for this study to know the level of heavy metals pollution in the estuarine ecosystem. Pearson correlation matrix and factor were used to assess the relationship and source of heavy metals in the estuarine sediments. The results of PLI values reveal that the study area was polluted by all the heavy metals. The calculated values of CF and I geo followed the decreasing order Cu>Ni>Pb>Co>Cr>Zn>Mn>Fe and illustrate that Cu, Ni and Pb are contaminated due to anthropogenic sources in both estuaries. Correlation and factor analysis suggest that FeMn oxyhydroxides, organic matter and fine particles are responsible for high concentration of heavy metals. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Blaber, S J M; Barletta, M
2016-07-01
Estuarine fish research in South America began in the early 20th Century, but it is only within the last 40 years that detailed studies have been undertaken. This review firstly summarizes research results from South American estuaries by geographic area, starting with the temperate south-east, then the temperate-sub-tropical transition zone in Brazil, then the semi-arid and tropical estuaries of north and north-east Brazil including the Amazon complex, then the north and Caribbean coasts and finally down the Pacific coast of the continent. They include almost all types of estuarine systems, from large open systems (e.g. the temperate Rio de La Plata and tropical Amazon) to extensive coastal lakes (e.g. the temperate Patos Lagoon and tropical Cienega Grande de Santa Marta). They encompass a broad range of climatic and vegetation types, from saltmarsh systems in the south-east and fjords in the south-west to both arid and humid tropical systems, dominated by mangroves in the north. Their tidal regimes range from microtidal (e.g. Mar Chiquita, Argentina) through mesotidal (e.g. Goiana, Brazil) to macrotidal in the Amazon complex where they can exceed 7 m. The review uses where possible the recent standardization of estuarine fish categories and guilds, but the ways that fishes use tropical South American systems may necessitate further refinements of the categories and guilds, particularly in relation to freshwater fishes, notably the Siluriformes, which dominate many north and north-east South American systems. The extent to which South American studies contribute to discussions and paradigms of connectivity and estuarine dependence is summarized, but work on these topics has only just begun. The anthropogenic issue of pollution, particularly in relation to heavy metals and fishes and fisheries in estuaries is more advanced, but the possible effects of climate change have barely been addressed. Studies around conservation and management are briefly reviewed and
Nitrous oxide fluxes in estuarine environments: response to global change.
Murray, Rachel H; Erler, Dirk V; Eyre, Bradley D
2015-09-01
Nitrous oxide is a powerful, long-lived greenhouse gas, but we know little about the role of estuarine areas in the global N2 O budget. This review summarizes 56 studies of N2 O fluxes and associated biogeochemical controlling factors in estuarine open waters, salt marshes, mangroves, and intertidal sediments. The majority of in situ N2 O production occurs as a result of sediment denitrification, although the water column contributes N2 O through nitrification in suspended particles. The most important factors controlling N2 O fluxes seem to be dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and oxygen availability, which in turn are affected by tidal cycles, groundwater inputs, and macrophyte density. The heterogeneity of coastal environments leads to a high variability in observations, but on average estuarine open water, intertidal and vegetated environments are sites of a small positive N2 O flux to the atmosphere (range 0.15-0.91; median 0.31; Tg N2 O-N yr(-1) ). Global changes in macrophyte distribution and anthropogenic nitrogen loading are expected to increase N2 O emissions from estuaries. We estimate that a doubling of current median NO3 (-) concentrations would increase the global estuary water-air N2 O flux by about 0.45 Tg N2 O-N yr(-1) or about 190%. A loss of 50% of mangrove habitat, being converted to unvegetated intertidal area, would result in a net decrease in N2 O emissions of 0.002 Tg N2 O-N yr(-1) . In contrast, conversion of 50% of salt marsh to unvegetated area would result in a net increase of 0.001 Tg N2 O-N yr(-1) . Decreased oxygen concentrations may inhibit production of N2 O by nitrification; however, sediment denitrification and the associated ratio of N2 O:N2 is expected to increase. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
A dynamic water-quality modeling framework for the Neuse River estuary, North Carolina
Bales, Jerad D.; Robbins, Jeanne C.
1999-01-01
As a result of fish kills in the Neuse River estuary in 1995, nutrient reduction strategies were developed for point and nonpoint sources in the basin. However, because of the interannual variability in the natural system and the resulting complex hydrologic-nutrient inter- actions, it is difficult to detect through a short-term observational program the effects of management activities on Neuse River estuary water quality and aquatic health. A properly constructed water-quality model can be used to evaluate some of the potential effects of manage- ment actions on estuarine water quality. Such a model can be used to predict estuarine response to present and proposed nutrient strategies under the same set of meteorological and hydrologic conditions, thus removing the vagaries of weather and streamflow from the analysis. A two-dimensional, laterally averaged hydrodynamic and water-quality modeling framework was developed for the Neuse River estuary by using previously collected data. Development of the modeling framework consisted of (1) computational grid development, (2) assembly of data for model boundary conditions and model testing, (3) selection of initial values of model parameters, and (4) limited model testing. The model domain extends from Streets Ferry to Oriental, N.C., includes seven lateral embayments that have continual exchange with the main- stem of the estuary, three point-source discharges, and three tributary streams. Thirty-five computational segments represent the mainstem of the estuary, and the entire framework contains a total of 60 computa- tional segments. Each computational cell is 0.5 meter thick; segment lengths range from 500 meters to 7,125 meters. Data that were used to develop the modeling framework were collected during March through October 1991 and represent the most comprehensive data set available prior to 1997. Most of the data were collected by the North Carolina Division of Water Quality, the University of North Carolina
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Orseau, Sylvain; Lesourd, Sandric; Huybrechts, Nicolas; Gardel, Antoine
2017-04-01
Along the Guianas coast, coastal dynamic is characterized by the migration of mud banks originating from the Amazon. This singular feature affects the dynamic and the morphology of local estuaries and can induce rapid bathymetric evolution in lower estuaries. Since 2012, the navigation channel of the Mahury Estuary (French Guiana) is enduring a severe siltation whose origin comes from a mud bank crossing the estuary mouth. This study aims to determine how the migration of a mud bank through an estuary mouth could influence the transport and fluxes in the estuary. Field measurements were performed over a year with the monitoring of the salt intrusion length, mooring surveys during spring-neap cycles and shipboard profiling surveys during semi-diurnal cycles. Salt intrusion lengths underline a significant seasonal variation characterized by the transition from a steady-state length during high river discharge and a wide range of lengths with the tidal range during low to moderate river discharge. During the rainy season, measurements indicate a fluvial-dominated condition with low suspended-sediment concentrations most of the semi-diurnal cycle. Residual sediment fluxes are usually seaward excepted when river discharge is below seasonal average. During the dry season, maximum suspended-sediment concentrations are higher in the middle part of the estuary. Residual sediment fluxes are landward along the estuary and stronger during neap tides in the estuary mouth and few kilometers upstream. In this area, a persistent density stratification traps sediments in the bottom layer and generates a gravitational circulation during neap tides, which enhances landward transports up to 2.56 t m-1 over a semi-diurnal cycle. In the middle estuary, landward fluxes are most significant during the dry season and also during the rainy season when the river discharge is below the seasonal average. Although this study includes temporal and spatial limitations, it underlines significant
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Harris, S. A.; Cyrus, D. P.; Beckley, L. E.
2001-08-01
The structure of the larval fish assemblages along an ocean-estuarine gradient in the St Lucia region on the northern KwaZulu-Natal coast of South Africa was examined using a combination of univariate, distributional and multivariate techniques. The data was comprised of a full annual set of ichthyoplankton samples taken from three types of environment: nearshore coastal waters, surf zone and within the St Lucia Estuary itself. The mean monthly densities of each species in each environment were used in the species matrix, and the mean monthly values of salinity, temperature and turbidity were used in the physical variables matrix. The mean species diversity and eveness index was significantly higher in the nearshore waters than the surf zone and estuary. The patterns of relative species abundances in each environment (K-dominance curves) showed that the estuarine environment was dominated by a few species in large numbers, the surf zone was intermediate, and the nearshore coast was the most diverse. Classification and multidimensional scaling (MDS) ordination analyses of larval fish densities grouped together into three main clusters based on the three different environments. The species similarity matrix (inverse analysis) clustered into four groups at the 10% similarity level. The MDS analysis of the same matrix showed that the groups separated out more or less according to the type of environment they occur in, and hence the level of estuarine dependence of the various species. Species belonging to each assemblage showed similarities with regards to their reproduction modes and/or preference to a particular physical condition. Some species were restricted to one environment, whilst others were common to two or all three environments. The occurrence of partially estuarine-dependent species in all three environments suggests that ocean-estuarine coupling is an important process for the recruitment success of these species. The ' best fitting ' physical variable
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Nguyen, Duc Anh; Cat Vu, Minh; Willems, Patrick; Monbaliu, Jaak
2017-04-01
Salt intrusion is the most acute problem for irrigation water quality in coastal regions during dry seasons. The use of numerical hydrodynamic models is widespread and has become the prevailing approach to simulate the salinity distribution in an estuary. Despite its power to estimate both spatial and temporal salinity variations along the estuary, this approach also has its drawbacks. The high computational cost and the need for detailed hydrological, bathymetric and tidal datasets, put some limits on the usability in particular case studies. In poor data environments, analytical salt intrusion models are more widely used as they require less data and have a further reduction of the computational effort. There are few studies however where a more comprehensive comparison is made between the performance of a numerical hydrodynamic and an analytical model. In this research the multi-channel Ma Estuary in Vietnam is considered as a case study. Both the analytical and the hydrodynamic simulation approaches have been applied and were found capable to mimic the longitudinal salt distribution along the estuary. The data to construct the MIKE11 model include observations provided by a network of fixed hydrological stations and the cross-section measurements along the estuary. The analytic model is developed in parallel but based on information obtained from the hydrological network only (typical for poor data environment). Note that the two convergence length parameters of this simplified model are usually extracted from topography data including cross-sectional area and width along the estuary. Furthermore, freshwater discharge data are needed but these are gauged further upstream outside of the tidal region and unable to reflect the individual flows entering the multi-channel estuary. In order to tackle the poor data environment limitations, a new approach was needed to calibrate the two estuary geometry parameters of the parsimonious salt intrusion model. Compared to
Distribution of excess temperature from the Morgantown Generating Station on the Potomac Estuary
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Carter, H.H.
1973-10-01
Research undertaken to determine the effects of thermal effluents on the temperature distribution in estuarine waters is described. Procedures for and results from measurements of the temperature, river flow, tidal currents, salinity, wind, etc at the Potomac River estuary in 1969 and 1972, which represent pre- and post-operation conditions for the operation of the fossil- fueled Morgantown power plant, are reported. (LC L)
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Van Niekerk, L.; Adams, J. B.; Bate, G. C.; Forbes, A. T.; Forbes, N. T.; Huizinga, P.; Lamberth, S. J.; MacKay, C. F.; Petersen, C.; Taljaard, S.; Weerts, S. P.; Whitfield, A. K.; Wooldridge, T. H.
2013-09-01
Population and development pressures increase the need for proactive strategic management on a regional or country-wide scale - reactively protecting ecosystems on an estuary-by-estuary basis against multiple pressures is 'resource hungry' and not feasible. Proactive management requires a strategic assessment of health so that the most suitable return on investment can be made. A country-wide assessment of the nearly 300 functional South African estuaries examined both key pressures (freshwater inflow modification, water quality, artificial breaching of temporarily open/closed systems, habitat modification and exploitation of living resources) and health state. The method used to assess the type and level of the different pressures, as well as the ecological health status of a large number of estuaries in a data limited environment is described in this paper. Key pressures and the ecological condition of estuaries on a national scale are summarised. The template may also be used to provide guidance to coastal researchers attempting to inform management in other developing countries. The assessment was primarily aimed at decision makers both inside and outside the biodiversity sector. A key starting point was to delineate spatially the estuary functional zone (area) for every system. In addition, available data on pressures impacting estuaries on a national scale were collated. A desktop national health assessment, based on an Estuarine Health Index developed for South African ecological water requirement studies, was then applied systematically. National experts, all familiar with the index evaluated the estuaries in their region. Individual estuarine health assessment scores were then translated into health categories that reflect the overall status of South Africa's estuaries. The results showed that estuaries in the warm-temperate biogeographical zone are healthier than those in the cool-temperate and subtropical zones, largely reflecting the country
Salas, P M; Sujatha, C H; Ratheesh Kumar, C S; Cheriyan, Eldhose
2018-02-01
Surface sediments from three zones (fresh water, estuarine, and riverine/industrial zones) of the Cochin estuary, Southwest coast of India, were seasonally analyzed to understand the nature and degradation status of organic matter. Amino acid-based indices such as total hydrolyzable amino acids (THAAs), percentage contributions of amino acid carbon to total organic carbon (THAA-C%) and those of amino acid nitrogen to total nitrogen (THAA-N%), and degradation index (DI) were calculated. Elevated levels of amino acids in the sediments of the estuary were attributed to river runoff, autochthonous production, allochthonous inputs, and industrial and domestic effluent discharges. Higher levels of THAA-C%, THAA-N%, THAA, and positive DI found in most of the stations suggest the fresh deposition of organic matter. Multivariate statistical analyses revealed that the dispersal pattern of amino acids depends on the sediment texture, organic matter, redox state, and microbial processes in the study region. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Mei, Xuefei; Dai, Zhijun; Wei, Wen; Li, Weihua; Wang, Jie; Sheng, Hao
2018-02-01
As the interface between the fluvial upland system and the open coast, global estuaries are facing serious challenges owing to various anthropogenic activities, especially to the Changjiang Estuary. Since the establishment of the Three Gorges Dam (TGD), currently the world's largest hydraulic structure, and certain other local hydraulic engineering structures, the Changjiang Estuary has experienced severe bathymetric variations. It is urgent to analyze the estuarine morphological response to the basin-wide disturbance to enable a better management of estuarine environments. North Channel (NC), the largest anabranched estuary in the Changjiang Estuary, is the focus of this study. Based on the analysis of bathymetric data between 1880 and 2013 and related hydrological data, we developed the first study on the centennial bathymetric variations of the NC. It is found that the bathymetric changes of NC include two main modes, with the first mode representing 64% of the NC variability, which indicates observable deposition in the mouth bar and its outer side area (lower reach); the second mode representing 11% of the NC variability, which further demonstrates channel deepening along the inner side of the mouth bar (upper reach) during 1970-2013. Further, recent erosion observed along the inner side of the mouth bar is caused by riverine sediment decrease, especially in relation to TGD induced sediment trapping since 2003, while the deposition along the lower reach since 2003 can be explained by the landward sediment transport because of flood-tide force strengthen under the joint action of TGD induced seasonal flood discharge decrease and land reclamation induced lower reach narrowing. Generally, the upper and lower NC reach are respectively dominated by fluvial and tidal discharge, however, episodic extreme floods can completely alter the channel morphology by smoothing the entire channel. The results presented herein for the NC enrich our understanding of bathymetric
Caldwell, James M.; Nixon, Matthew E.; Neckles, Hilary A.; Pooler, Penelope S.
2015-01-01
This report summarizes results of water-quality monitoring within estuaries of the National Park Service Northeast Coastal and Barrier Network (NCBN) from 2006 through 2011. Data collection formed part of the NCBN Vital Signs Monitoring Program implemented to detect threats of estuarine nutrient enrichment. Data included here were collected from six parks at predetermined intervals: Cape Cod National Seashore, Massachusetts (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011); Fire Island National Seashore, New York (2009, 2011); Gateway National Recreation Area, New York and New Jersey (2010); Assateague Island National Seashore, Maryland and Virginia (2006, 2008, 2010); George Washington Birthplace National Monument, Virginia (2009, 2011); and Colonial National Historic Park, Virginia (2008, 2010). Monitoring variables consisted of dissolved-oxygen concentration, chlorophyll a concentration, attenuation of downwelling photosynthetically available radiation (PAR), turbidity, water temperature, and salinity. All monitoring was conducted during four-week summer index periods. The monitoring design incorporated data collection at multiple, complementary spatial and temporal scales. Within each park, a spatial survey was conducted once during the index period following a probability design using a grid of tessellated hexagons as the basis for sample site selection. The spatial survey was supplemented with weekly measurements at a subset of sites and continuous monitoring at a single reference site. Within parks, data were reported as area-weighted water-quality conditions during each index period, the location and extent of estuarine area within condition categories, and spatial and temporal trends. In addition, we used a repeated measures analysis of variance to determine the extent to which variability in three water quality metrics (chlorophyll a in surface water, dissolved oxygen in bottom water, and water clarity expressed by PAR attenuation) was explained by year to year changes in
Stable Isotope Identification of Nitrogen Sources for United States (U.S.) Pacific Coast Estuaries
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Brown, C. A.; Kaldy, J. E.; Fong, P.; Fong, C.; Mochon Collura, T.; Clinton, P.
2016-02-01
Nutrients are the leading cause of water quality impairments in the United States, and as a result tools are needed to identify the sources of nutrients. We used natural abundance stable isotope data to evaluate nitrogen sources to U.S. west coast estuaries. We collected macroalgae and analyzed these samples for natural abundance of stable isotopes (δ15N) and supplemented this with available data from the literature for estuaries from Mexico to Alaska. Stable isotope ratios of green macroalgae were compared to δ15N of dissolved inorganic nitrogen of oceanic and watershed end members. There was a latitudinal gradient in δ15N of macroalgae with southern estuaries being 7 per mil heavier than northern estuaries. Gradients in isotope data were compared to nitrogen sources estimated by the USGS using the SPARROW model. In California estuaries, the elevation of isotope data appeared to be related to anthropogenic nitrogen sources. In Oregon systems, the nitrogen levels of streams flowing into the estuaries are related to forest cover, rather than to developed land classes. In Oregon estuaries, the δ15N of macroalgae suggested that the ocean and nitrogen-fixing trees in the watersheds were the dominant nitrogen sources with heavier sites located near the estuary mouth. In California estuaries, the gradient was reversed with heavier sites located upriver. In some Oregon estuaries, there was an elevation an elevation of δ15N above marine end members in the vicinity of wastewater treatment facility discharge locations, suggesting isotopes may be useful for distinguishing inputs along an estuarine gradient.
Fishes and fisheries in tropical estuaries: The last 10 years
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Blaber, S. J. M.
2013-12-01
Since 2002 there has been an increase in knowledge of many aspects of the biology and ecology of tropical estuarine fishes, as well as significant changes to many estuarine fisheries. Analyses of literature databases (2002-2012) show that: of the c. 600 relevant papers, 52% are primarily related to ecology, 11% to conservation, 11% to anthropogenic and pollution effects on fishes, 9% to fisheries, 7% to aquaculture, 4% to study techniques, and 1% each to fish larvae, effects of fishing, taxonomy, climate change, evolution and genetics. In terms of geographic spread 17% are from North America, 15% from south Asia, 14% from the Caribbean, 13% from Australasia, 12% from Africa and 9% each from South America and SE Asia. Research papers came from 50 countries of which the dominant were USA (15%), India (12%), Australia (11%) and Brazil (7%). Increasing numbers of studies in West Africa, SE and South Asia and South America have increased basic knowledge of the ecology of estuarine fish faunas. Increases in understanding relate to: roles of salinity, turbidity and habitat diversity; connectivity between habitats; water flow; ecological drivers of spatial variability; scale dependent variation; thermal tolerances; movement patterns; food webs; larval adaptations; and the viability of areas heavily impacted by human activities. New reviews both challenge and support different aspects of the estuarine dependence paradigm - still perhaps one of the main research issues - and the protective function of estuaries and mangroves for juvenile fishes has received attention in relation to e.g. predation risks and fisheries. There have also been significant advances in the use of guilds and biodiversity models. Fishing pressures have continued unabated in most tropical estuaries and are summarised and management issues discussed. Understanding of the relationships between fisheries production and mangroves has advanced and significant differences have emerged between Indo
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kemp, J. O. G.; Froneman, P. W.
2004-11-01
The composition and short-term temporal variation in the ichthyofauna and macrozooplankton entering the temporarily open/closed (TOC) West Kleinemond estuary (33°33'S, 27°02'E) during 7 overtopping events were investigated in June 2003. A total of 84 fish representing 7 taxa from 6 families and 456 macrozooplankton representing at least 16 species was collected from water overtopping the sandbar using a custom-built funnel trap (150 μm mesh). Larvae of estuarine dependant marine species, especially the sparid, Rhabdosargus holubi, which contributed 54% to the total fish catch, dominated the ichthyofauna. Also well represented among the ichthyofauna were Monodactylus falciformis and Mugilidae spp., which together accounted for a further 40% of the total fish catch. Among the macrozooplankton, larvae of Palaemon peringueyi and the mysid Mesopodopsis wooldridgei dominated numerically and by biomass. Numerical analyses using multidimensional scaling (MDS) revealed variability in the overtopping community on a diel scale. It is suggested that recruitment through overtopping is essentially a passive process governed by the physical environment with the composition of the recruiting community being a function of the patchy dynamics of surf zone plankton. Preliminary estimates indicate that an hour-long period of overtopping over spring high tide is capable of introducing between 8000 and 33 500 individuals of R. holubi into the TOC West Kleinemond estuary. The advantages and disadvantages of recruitment using overtopping events as well as impacts on the estuarine foodweb are discussed.
Tidal influence on subtropical estuarine methane emissions
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Sturm, Katrin; Grinham, Alistair; Werner, Ursula; Yuan, Zhiguo
2014-05-01
. Although dissolved methane surface water concentrations were highest in the upper reaches of the estuary, experiencing the lowest tidal currents, fluxes measured using chambers were lower relative to middle and lower reaches. This supports the tidal study findings as higher tidal currents were experienced in the middle and lower reaches. The dominant driver behind estuarine methane water-air fluxes in this system was tidal current speed. Future studies need to take into account flux rates during both transition and slack tide periods to quantify total flux rates.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Schulz, E.; Grasso, F.; Le Hir, P.; Verney, R.; Thouvenin, B.
2018-01-01
Understanding the sediment dynamics in an estuary is important for its morphodynamic and ecological assessment as well as, in case of an anthropogenically controlled system, for its maintenance. However, the quantification of sediment fluxes and budgets is extremely difficult from in-situ data and requires thoroughly validated numerical models. In the study presented here, sediment fluxes and budgets in the lower Seine Estuary were quantified and investigated from seasonal to annual time scales with respect to realistic hydro- and meteorological conditions. A realistic three-dimensional process-based hydro- and sediment-dynamic model was used to quantify mud and sand fluxes through characteristic estuarine cross-sections. In addition to a reference experiment with typical forcing, three experiments were carried out and analyzed, each differing from the reference experiment in either river discharge or wind and waves so that the effects of these forcings could be separated. Hydro- and meteorological conditions affect the sediment fluxes and budgets in different ways and at different locations. Single storm events induce strong erosion in the lower estuary and can have a significant effect on the sediment fluxes offshore of the Seine Estuary mouth, with the flux direction depending on the wind direction. Spring tides cause significant up-estuary fluxes at the mouth. A high river discharge drives barotropic down-estuary fluxes at the upper cross-sections, but baroclinic up-estuary fluxes at the mouth and offshore so that the lower estuary gains sediment during wet years. This behavior is likely to be observed worldwide in estuaries affected by density gradients and turbidity maximum dynamics.
Factors affecting the presence of dissolved glutathione in estuarine waters.
Tang, Degui; Shafer, Martin M; Karner, Dawn A; Overdier, Joel; Armstrong, David E
2004-08-15
We investigated factors influencing the presence of the thiol glutathione (GSH) in estuarine waters. Our study addressed thiol phase-association, the biological release from algal cultures, and the role of copper in both thiol release and preservation. Our measurements in three diverse estuaries in the continental United States (San Diego Bay, Cape Fear Estuary, and Norfolk Estuary) show that dissolved GSH, present at sub-nanomolar levels, is preferentially partitioned into the ultra-filtrate fraction (<1 kDa) in comparison with dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Concentrations of GSH generally increased with increases in total copper (Cu)levels, although large variability was observed among estuaries. In 30-h exposure experiments, release of dissolved GSH from the diatom Thalassiosira weissflogii into organic ligand-free experimental media was a strong function of added Cu concentration. The released GSH increased from about 0.02 to 0.27 fmol/cell as Cu was increased from the background level (0.5 nM) to 310 nM in the modified Aquil media. However, excretion of GSH was lower (up to 0.13 fmol/cell) when cells were grown in surface waters of San Diego Bay, despite much higher total Cu concentrations. Experiments conducted in-situ in San Diego Bay water indicated that high concentrations of added Cu destabilized GSH, while both Mn(II) and natural colloids promoted GSH stability. In contrast, laboratory experiments in synthetic media indicated that moderate levels of added Cu enhanced GSH stability.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Swarzenski, P.; Orem, B.; McPherson, B.; Baskaran, M.; Wan, Y.
2005-05-01
The distributions of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), silica, select trace elements (Mn, Fe, Ba, Sr, Co, V,) and a suite of naturally-occurring radionuclides in the U/Th decay series (222Rn, 223,224,226,228Ra, 238U) were studied during high and low discharge conditions in the Loxahatchee River estuary, Florida. The zero-salinity endmember of this still relatively pristine estuary may reflect not only river-borne constituents, but also those advected during active groundwater/surface-water discharge. During low discharge conditions, with the notable exception of Co, trace metals indicate nearly conservative mixing from a salinity of ~12 through the estuary (This statement contracdicts with what is said in p. 7). In contrast, of the trace metals studied, only Sr, Fe, U and V exhibited conservative estuarine mixing during high discharge. Dissolved organic carbon and Si concentrations were highest at zero salinities, and generally decreased with an increase in salinity during both discharge regimes, indicating removal of land-derived dissolved organic matter and silica in the estuary. Suspended particulate matter (SPM) concentrations were generally lowest (< 5 mg L-1) close of zero salinity, and increased several-fold (~18 mg L-1; low discharge) towards the seaward endmember and this attributed dynamic resuspension the estuary. Surface water-column 222Rn activities were most elevated (> 28 dpm L-1) at the freshwater endmember of the estuary, and appear to identify regions of the river most influenced by active submarine groundwater discharge (where is the data that show this?). Activities of four naturally-occurring isotopes of Ra (223,224,226,228Ra) in this estuary and select adjacent shallow groundwater wells indicate mean estuarine water mass residence times of less than 1 day; values in close agreement to those calculated by tidal prism and tidal period. A radium-based model for estimating submarine groundwater discharge to the Loxahatchee River estuary yielded an
Biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons in estuarine sediments: metal influence.
Almeida, Raquel; Mucha, Ana P; Teixeira, Catarina; Bordalo, Adriano A; Almeida, C Marisa R
2013-02-01
In this work, the potential effect of metals, such as Cd, Cu and Pb, on the biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons in estuarine sediments was investigated under laboratory conditions. Sandy and muddy non-vegetated sediments were collected in the Lima River estuary (NW Portugal) and spiked with crude oil and each of the metals. Spiked sediments were left in the dark under constant shaking for 15 days, after which crude oil biodegradation was evaluated. To estimate microbial abundance, total cell counts were obtained by DAPI staining and microbial community structure was characterized by ARISA. Culturable hydrocarbon degraders were determined using a modified most probable number protocol. Total petroleum hydrocarbons concentrations were analysed by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy after their extraction by sonication, and metal contents were determined by atomic absorption spectrometry. The results obtained showed that microbial communities had the potential to degrade petroleum hydrocarbons, with a maximum of 32 % degradation obtained for sandy sediments. Both crude oil and metals changed the microbial community structure, being the higher effect observed for Cu. Also, among the studied metals, only Cu displayed measurable deleterious effect on the hydrocarbons degradation process, as shown by a decrease in the hydrocarbon degrading microorganisms abundance and in the hydrocarbon degradation rates. Both degradation potential and metal influence varied with sediment characteristics probably due to differences in contaminant bioavailability, a feature that should be taken into account in developing bioremediation strategies for co-contaminated estuarine sites.
Peirson, William; Davey, Erica; Jones, Alan; Hadwen, Wade; Bishop, Keith; Beger, Maria; Capon, Samantha; Fairweather, Peter; Creese, Bob; Smith, Timothy F; Gray, Leigh; Tomlinson, Rodger
2015-11-01
Ongoing coastal development and the prospect of severe climate change impacts present pressing estuary management and governance challenges. Robust approaches must recognise the intertwined social and ecological vulnerabilities of estuaries. Here, a new governance and management framework is proposed that recognises the integrated social-ecological systems of estuaries so as to permit transformative adaptation to climate change within these systems. The framework lists stakeholders and identifies estuarine uses and values. Goals are categorised that are specific to ecosystems, private property, public infrastructure, and human communities. Systematic adaptation management strategies are proposed with conceptual examples and associated governance approaches. Contrasting case studies are used to illustrate the practical application of these ideas. The framework will assist estuary managers worldwide to achieve their goals, minimise maladaptative responses, better identify competing interests, reduce stakeholder conflict and exploit opportunities for appropriate ecosystem restoration and sustainable development. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Smith, J. P.; Reed, A. H.; Boyd, T. J.
2016-12-01
Changes in hydrodynamic shear, variations in ionic strength (salinity), and to a lesser degree pH, along the salinity gradient influences clay-organic matter (OM) flocculation, disaggregation and particle size distributions with depth in natural river-estuarine waters. The scale and rate of aggregation and disaggregation of specific clay-OM flocs assemblages under different hydrodynamic and physiochemical conditions in estuaries or coastal river systems is an area of ongoing research. Chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) is the fraction of the DOM pool that absorbs and/or emits light at discrete wavelengths when excited. The CDOM absorbance and Excitation Emission Matrix (EEM) fluorescence spectra in natural waters can potentially be used to investigate clay-OM interactions and implications for formation kinetics, size, strength, and settling velocities of cohesive particulate aggregates (flocs and suspended sediments) as they respond to hydrodynamic shear under different physiochemical conditions. Size characteristics of particulate matter and sediment samples collected from the Misa River in Italy in 2014 were compared to the optical properties of the water column to identify potential OM components/constituents influencing flocculation processes in riverine-estuarine systems. The EEMs results were coupled with a parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) model to associate previously identified EEMS regions of CDOM components to those found in the waters of this study and identify the main OM components/constituents influencing the multi-way variance of the EEMS data. Initial results from the Misa River and subsequent studies show a difference in dominant DOM types by salinity, clay-OM composition, and flow conditions that may be indicative of system specific particle flocculation and disaggregation under different hydrodynamic regimes. These results suggest that the CDOM absorbance and EEMS fluorescence spectra in natural waters can potentially be used to
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Nel, L.; Strydom, N. A.; Perissinotto, R.; Adams, J. B.; Lemley, D. A.
2017-10-01
Estuarine marine-dependent species, such as Rhabdosargus holubi, depend greatly on structured sheltered environments and important feeding areas provided by estuaries. In this study, we investigate the ecological feeding niches of the estuarine marine-dependent sparid, R. holubi, by using conventional stomach contents and stable isotope methods (δ13C and δ15N signatures). The study has been carried out in five temperate estuaries in order to understand how fish feed in multiple intertidal vegetated habitats. These habitats included the submerged seagrass, Zostera capensis, and both previously unexplored small intertidal cord grass, Spartina maritima, and the common reed, Phragmites australis. The diet varied amongst habitats, estuaries and fish sizes and data consistently confirmed their omnivorous diet relating to ontogenetic niche shifts. Stomach contents revealed the importance of benthic prey within both the S. maritima and P. australis habitats in the absence of large intertidal vegetation, available during low tides. Similarly, isotopic mixing models showed that R. holubi from these habitats have a greater isotopic niche compared to the Z. capensis habitat, due to their limited availability during the falling tide, suggesting migration between available habitats. Stable isotopes confirmed that R. holubi actively feeds on the epiphytic algae (especially diatoms) covering the leaves and stalks of plant matter, as supported by Bayesian mixing models. These findings add to the current knowledge regarding habitat partitioning in multiple aquatic vegetation types critical to fish ecology and the effective management and conservation of estuaries.
Sources and transformations of anthropogenic nitrogen along an urban river-estuarine continuum
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Pennino, Michael J.; Kaushal, Sujay S.; Murthy, Sudhir N.; Blomquist, Joel D.; Cornwell, Jeff C.; Harris, Lora A.
2016-11-01
Urbanization has altered the fate and transport of anthropogenic nitrogen (N) in rivers and estuaries globally. This study evaluates the capacity of an urbanizing river-estuarine continuum to transform N inputs from the world's largest advanced (e.g., phosphorus and biological N removal) wastewater treatment facility. Effluent samples and surface water were collected monthly along the Potomac River estuary from Washington D.C. to the Chesapeake Bay over a distance of 150 km. In conjunction with box model mass balances, nitrate stable isotopes and mixing models were used to trace the fate of urban wastewater nitrate. Nitrate concentrations and δ15N-NO3- values were higher down-estuary from the Blue Plains wastewater outfall in Washington D.C. (2.25 ± 0.62 mg L-1 and 25.7 ± 2.9 ‰, respectively) compared to upper-estuary concentrations (1.0 ± 0.2 mg L-1 and 9.3 ± 1.4 ‰, respectively). Nitrate concentration then decreased rapidly within 30 km down-estuary (to 0.8 ± 0.2 mg L-1), corresponding to an increase in organic nitrogen and dissolved organic carbon, suggesting biotic uptake and organic transformation. TN loads declined down-estuary (from an annual average of 48 000 ± 5000 kg day-1 at the sewage treatment plant outfall to 23 000 ± 13 000 kg day-1 at the estuary mouth), with the greatest percentage decrease during summer and fall. Annually, there was a 70 ± 31 % loss in wastewater NO3- along the estuary, and 28 ± 6 % of urban wastewater TN inputs were exported to the Chesapeake Bay, with the greatest contribution of wastewater TN loads during the spring. Our results suggest that biological transformations along the urban river-estuary continuum can significantly transform wastewater N inputs from major cities globally, and more work is necessary to evaluate the potential of organic nitrogen and carbon to contribute to eutrophication and hypoxia.
Vollset, K W; Mahlum, S; Davidsen, J G; Skoglund, H; Barlaup, B T
2016-10-01
Migration behaviour and estuarine mortality of cultivated Atlantic salmon Salmo salar smolts in a 16 km long estuary were studied using two methods: (1) acoustic telemetry and (2) group tagging in combination with trap nets. Progression rates of surviving individuals through the estuary were relatively slow using both methods [0·38 L T (total length) s -1 v. 0·25 L T s -1 ]. In 2012, the progression rate was slow from the river to the estuary (0·55 L T s -1 ) and the first part of the estuary (0·31 L T s -1 ), but increased thereafter (1·45-2·21 L T s -1 ). In 2013, the progression rate was fast from the river to the estuary (4·31 L T s -1 ) but was slower thereafter (0·18-0·91 L T s -1 ). Survival to the fjord was higher in 2012 (47%) compared to 2013 (6%). Fast moving individuals were more likely to migrate successfully through the estuary compared to slower moving individuals. Adult recapture of coded-wire-tagged S. salar was generally low (0·00-0·04%). Mortality hot spots were related to topographically distinct areas such as the river outlet (in 2012) or the sill separating the estuary and the fjord (in 2013). At the sill, an aggregation of cod Gadus morhua predating on cultivated smolts was identified. The results indicate that slow progression rates through the estuary decreases the likelihood of smolts being detected outside the estuary. The highly stochastic and site-specific mortality patterns observed in this study highlight the complexity in extrapolating mortality patterns of single release groups to the entire smolt run of wild S. salar. © 2016 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.
Major hydrogeochemical processes in an acid mine drainage affected estuary.
Asta, Maria P; Calleja, Maria Ll; Pérez-López, Rafael; Auqué, Luis F
2015-02-15
This study provides geochemical data with the aim of identifying and quantifying the main processes occurring in an Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) affected estuary. With that purpose, water samples of the Huelva estuary were collected during a tidal half-cycle and ion-ion plots and geochemical modeling were performed to obtain a general conceptual model. Modeling results indicated that the main processes responsible for the hydrochemical evolution of the waters are: (i) the mixing of acid fluvial water with alkaline ocean water; (ii) precipitation of Fe oxyhydroxysulfates (schwertmannite) and hydroxides (ferrihydrite); (iii) precipitation of Al hydroxysulfates (jurbanite) and hydroxides (amorphous Al(OH)3); (iv) dissolution of calcite; and (v) dissolution of gypsum. All these processes, thermodynamically feasible in the light of their calculated saturation states, were quantified by mass-balance calculations and validated by reaction-path calculations. In addition, sorption processes were deduced by the non-conservative behavior of some elements (e.g., Cu and Zn). Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Decadal-timescale estuarine geomorphic change under future scenarios of climate and sediment supply
Ganju, N.K.; Schoellhamer, D.H.
2010-01-01
Future estuarine geomorphic change, in response to climate change, sea-level rise, and watershed sediment supply, may govern ecological function, navigation, and water quality. We estimated geomorphic changes in Suisun Bay, CA, under four scenarios using a tidal-timescale hydrodynamic/sediment transport model. Computational expense and data needs were reduced using the morphological hydrograph concept and the morphological acceleration factor. The four scenarios included (1) present-day conditions; (2) sea-level rise and freshwater flow changes of 2030; (3) sea-level rise and decreased watershed sediment supply of 2030; and (4) sea-level rise, freshwater flow changes, and decreased watershed sediment supply of 2030. Sea-level rise increased water levels thereby reducing wave-induced bottom shear stress and sediment redistribution during the wind-wave season. Decreased watershed sediment supply reduced net deposition within the estuary, while minor changes in freshwater flow timing and magnitude induced the smallest overall effect. In all future scenarios, net deposition in the entire estuary and in the shallowest areas did not keep pace with sea-level rise, suggesting that intertidal and wetland areas may struggle to maintain elevation. Tidal-timescale simulations using future conditions were also used to infer changes in optical depth: though sea-level rise acts to decrease mean light irradiance, decreased suspended-sediment concentrations increase irradiance, yielding small changes in optical depth. The modeling results also assisted with the development of a dimensionless estuarine geomorphic number representing the ratio of potential sediment import forces to sediment export forces; we found the number to be linearly related to relative geomorphic change in Suisun Bay. The methods implemented here are widely applicable to evaluating future scenarios of estuarine change over decadal timescales. ?? The Author(s) 2009.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Haddout, Soufiane; Maslouhi, Abdellatif; Magrane, Bouchaib
2018-02-01
Estuaries, which are coastal bodies of water connecting the riverine and marine environment, are among the most important ecosystems in the world. Saltwater intrusion is the movement of coastal saline water into an estuary, which makes up-estuary water, that becomes salty due to the mixing of freshwater with saltwater. It has become a serious environmental problem in the Sebou estuary (Morocco) during wet and dry seasons, which have a considerable impact on residential water supply, agricultural water supply as well as urban industrial production. The variations of salt intrusion, and the vertical stratification under different river flow conditions in the Sebou estuary were investigated in this paper using a two-dimensional numerical model. The model was calibrated and verified against water level variation, and salinity variation during 2016, respectively. Additionally, the model validation process showed that the model results fit the observed data fairly well ( R2 > 0.85, NSC > 0.89 and RMSE = 0.26 m). Model results show that freshwater is a dominant influencing factor to the saltwater intrusion and controlled salinity structure, vertical stratification and length of the saltwater intrusion. Additionally, the extent of salinity intrusion depends on the balance between fresh water discharges and saltwater flow from the sea. This phenomenon can be reasonably predicted recurring to mathematical models supported by monitored data. These tools can be used to quantify how much fresh water is required to counterbalance salinity intrusion at the upstream water intakes.
LaPeyre, Megan K.; Geaghan, James; Decossas, Gary A.; La Peyre, Jerome F.
2016-01-01
Freshwater inflow characteristics define estuarine functioning by delivering nutrients, sediments, and freshwater, which affect biological resources and ultimately system production. Using 20 years of water quality, weather, and oyster growth and mortality data from Breton Sound Estuary (BSE), Louisiana, we examined the relationship of riverine, weather, and tidal influence on estuarine salinity, and the relationship of salinity to oyster growth and mortality. Mississippi River discharge was found to be the most important factor determining salinity patterns over oyster grounds within lower portions of BSE, with increased river flow associated with lowered salinities, while easterly winds associated with increased salinity were less influential. These patterns were consistent throughout the year. Salinity and temperature (season) were found to critically control oyster growth and mortality, suggesting that seasonal changes to river discharge affecting water quality over the oyster grounds have profound impacts on oyster populations. The management of oyster reefs in estuaries (such as BSE) requires an understanding of how estuarine hydrodynamics and salinity are influenced by forcing factors such as winds, river flow, and by the volume, timing, and location of controlled releases of riverine water.
Is polychaete family-level sufficient to assess impact on tropical estuarine gradients?
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Nóbrega-Silva, Climélia; Patrício, Joana; Marques, João Carlos; Olímpio, Monalisa dos Santos; Farias, Jéssica Natyelle Barros; Molozzi, Joseline
2016-11-01
Regular, robust monitoring programs set up to assess the environmental conditions of aquatic systems often target different biological groups. And, of these, macroinvertebrate communities and particularly the class Polychaeta are frequently used. Identifying these organisms takes time, money and specialized expertise to ensure correct identification to the lowest possible taxonomic level. Identification errors can lead to an erroneous assessment. The concept of taxonomic sufficiency has been proposed both to minimize errors and to save time and money. This study tested the usefulness of this concept in tropical estuaries in northeast Brazil. We selected two transitional systems with different degrees of human impact due to different land uses and different conservation systems: the Mamanguape estuary, which is in an environmental conservation unit for sustainable use, and the highly impacted, urban Paraíba do Norte estuary. The results clearly showed that nutrient concentrations were markedly higher in the Paraíba do Norte estuary in the dry season and that the composition of the polychaete assemblages differed between the two estuaries as well as along the spatial gradient of each estuary. The use of either genus or family level led to equivalent representation in each system in terms of taxon richness and both the Margalef and Shannon-Wiener diversity indices. Both taxonomic levels described similar changes in the polychaete assemblage along the estuarine gradients. Based on our findings, the use of a coarser taxonomic level (i.e., family) is a good option when the aim is to implement a monitoring program in tropical estuaries with the polychaete assemblages as one of the target groups. This time-efficient taxonomic resolution can help improve sampling designs and allow long-term monitoring studies without losing much vital information.
Romer, Jeremy D.; Gitelman, Alix I.; Clements, Shaun; Schreck, Carl B.
2015-01-01
A number of researchers have attempted to estimate salmonid smolt survival during outmigration through an estuary. However, it is currently unclear how the design of such studies influences the accuracy and precision of survival estimates. In this simulation study we consider four patterns of smolt survival probability in the estuary, and test the performance of several different sampling strategies for estimating estuarine survival assuming perfect detection. The four survival probability patterns each incorporate a systematic component (constant, linearly increasing, increasing and then decreasing, and two pulses) and a random component to reflect daily fluctuations in survival probability. Generally, spreading sampling effort (tagging) across the season resulted in more accurate estimates of survival. All sampling designs in this simulation tended to under-estimate the variation in the survival estimates because seasonal and daily variation in survival probability are not incorporated in the estimation procedure. This under-estimation results in poorer performance of estimates from larger samples. Thus, tagging more fish may not result in better estimates of survival if important components of variation are not accounted for. The results of our simulation incorporate survival probabilities and run distribution data from previous studies to help illustrate the tradeoffs among sampling strategies in terms of the number of tags needed and distribution of tagging effort. This information will assist researchers in developing improved monitoring programs and encourage discussion regarding issues that should be addressed prior to implementation of any telemetry-based monitoring plan. We believe implementation of an effective estuary survival monitoring program will strengthen the robustness of life cycle models used in recovery plans by providing missing data on where and how much mortality occurs in the riverine and estuarine portions of smolt migration. These data
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Miller, R. L.; Buonassissi, C. J.; Brown, M. M.; Reed, R. E.
2016-02-01
The Albemarle-Pamlico Estuarine System (APES) in eastern North Carolina is the second largest estuary and largest lagoonal system in the United States. Variation in the amount of dissolved organic matter (DOM) delivered to the APES was examined for the Neuse and Tar/Pamlico River estuaries, two major components of the APES, using absorption spectra of Chromophoric Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM). The quality of DOM and transformations that occur during down estuary transport were assessed using the spectral parameters SUVA254, SUVA350, S275-295, S350-400, and Sr calculated from CDOM spectra. We present results from several field campaigns that obtained surface samples during different stages of river discharge, including samples taken following Hurricane Irene (2011), and discuss the utility of using these newer optical indices of DOM quality for examining DOM dynamics in river dominated coastal waters.
Habitat modeling and genetic signatures of postglacial recolonization for tidal estuaries
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Dolby, G. A.; Jacobs, D. K.
2014-12-01
Pleistocene glacial cycles are a foremost influence on the genetic diversity and species distribution patterns observed today. Though much work has centered on biotic response to such climatic forcing, little of it has regarded estuarine or other aquatic coastal taxa whose habitat formation is a function of sea level, hydrography, and coastal geomorphology. These physical parameters required for habitat formation suggest that glacial cycles impart a significant effect on such taxa through glacially driven eustatic changes. Additionally, the steepened coastline and rainfall-limited Mediterranean climate suggest limited glacial habitat for estuarine species in southern and Baja California. Here we present GIS modeled habitat for tidal estuaries for three co-distributed estuarine fishes (Gillichthys mirabilis, Quietula y-cauda, Fundulus parvipinnis) since the last glacial maximum. Parameterization of sea level and slope enables biologically relevant temporal resolution of near-millennial scale. At lowstand our approach reveals two refuges along the coast at 1000km distance from each other, with habitat rapidly increasing 15 - 12 ka during meltwater pulse 1A. Habitat area peaked in the early Holocene and began decreasing with the current stillstand roughly 7 ka, probably as a result of coastal maturation towards less tidal systems. To target the postglacial recolonization process we applied discriminant function analysis to highly polymorphic microsatellite data to partition out the alleles associated with refuges identified a priori by habitat modeling. The frequencies of these alleles were calculated for all individuals at intervening populations and regressed against geographic distance. This analysis revealed nonlinear mixing curves, suggesting uneven allelic mixing efficiency along the coastline, perhaps as a result of differential habitat origination times as indicated by the habitat models. These results highlight the dynamism of estuarine habitat in recent
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Araujo, Adriana V.; Dias, Cristina O.; Bonecker, Sérgio L. C.
2017-07-01
We examined changes in the functioning of copepod assemblages with increasing pollution in estuaries, using sampling standardization of the salinity range to enable comparisons. Copepod assemblages were analyzed in four southeast Brazilian estuaries with different water quality levels and hydrodynamic characteristics over two years. We obtained mesozooplankton samples together with environmental and water quality parameters in the estuaries, every two months under predetermined salinities ranging from 15 to 25. The values of parameters, except species size, associated with the functioning of the copepod assemblages (biomass, productivity, and turnover rate) did not differ among estuaries. However, in the more polluted estuaries, the biomass and productivity of copepod assemblages of mesozooplankton were negatively correlated with concentration of pollution indicator parameters. Conversely, in the less polluted estuaries some degree of enrichment still seems to increase the system biomass and productivity, as these parameters were inversely related to indicators of improved water quality. The pollution level of estuaries distorted the relationship between temperature and the efficiency of converting energy to organic matter. In the less polluted estuaries, the relationship between turnover rate and temperature was over 70%, while in the most polluted estuaries, this relationship was only approximately 50%. Our results demonstrated that the functioning of assemblages in the estuaries was affected differently by increasing pollution depending on the water quality level of the system. Thus, investigating the functioning of assemblages can be a useful tool for the analysis of estuarine conditions.
The link between water quality and tidal marshes in a highly impacted estuary.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Meire, Patrick; Maris, Tom; van Damme, Stefan; Jacobs, Sander; Cox, Tom; Struyf, Eric
2010-05-01
The Schelde estuary is one of the most heavily impacted estuaries in Europe. During several decades, untreated waste water from large cities (e.g. Brussels, Antwerp, Valenciennes, Lille) and industries was discharged in the river. As a result, the Schelde estuary has the reputation of being one of the most polluted estuaries in Europe. For a long time (approx. 1950 - 1995) all forms of higher life (macro-invertebrates and fish) were absent in the fresh and brackish parts of the estuary. Due to European legislation, a large part of the sewage water is now treated resulting in a significant recovery of water quality in the estuary. However, next to water quality, the estuary also suffered serious habitat losses during the last decades, mostly due to economic development and changing hydrological conditions causing more erosion. Over the last fifteen years, the management of the estuary has changed fundamentally. It is now more and more focused on the restoration of ecosystem services. In this presentation we will document the changes in water quality over the last 50 years and summarize recent work on the role of tidal marshes on water quality within the freshwater part of the Schelde estuary. Our results stress the important of taking into account ecosystem services and habitat restoration for long-term estuarine management. .After decades of high inorganic nutrient concentrations and recurring anoxia and hypoxia, we observed a paradoxical increase in chlorophyll-a concentrations with decreasing nutrient inputs, indicating a regime shift. Our results indicate that the recovery of a hypereutrophied systems towards a classical eutrophied state, needs the reduction of waste loads below certain thresholds. Paradoxically, phytoplankton production was inhibited by high ammonia or low oxygen concentrations. The system state change is accompanied by large fluctuations in oxygen concentrations. The improved water quality resulted in a remarkable recovery of different groups
Molybdenum behaviour in the low salinity zone during estuarine mixing
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Neely, Rebecca A.; Wouters, Hanne; Dickson, Alex J.; Pearce, Christopher R.; Porcelli, Don; Gíslason, Sigurður R.; Burton, Kevin W.
2015-04-01
Molybdenum is the most abundant trace metal in the oceans (~10 ppb) [1], with a residence time of ~800 ka, and an almost uniform isotope composition of 2.1 o [2] and it has been thought to behave conservatively upon mixing between rivers and oceans [3]. However, more recent studies have shown examples of non-conservative behaviour in estuaries [4], [5]. In order to improve the quantitative interpretation of the Mo palaeo-proxy for redox conditions this study presents preliminary data from two estuaries, with a view to understanding the potential for estuarine modification of rivers, the most dominant source of Mo to the oceans. The Kalix and Råne rivers, drain into the Bothnian Bay, Sweden. Samples are from three locations along each estuary at 0.5, 5.0 and 10.0 m depths, collected under ice conditions. The salinity range was 0.1-2.3 PSU (Kalix) and 0.04-2.5 PSU (Råne). Mo concentrations increase with salinity from 0.3 to 1.0 ppb (Kalix) and 0.4 to 0.9 ppb (Råne) (±10%). In the Kalix, the measured [Mo] values fit closely with the theoretical conservative mixing line between the river and sea water endmembers (measured R2=0.93) whilst in the Råne estuary the measured [Mo] have a poor fit (measured R2=0.25). The dissolved load was analysed for Mo isotopes relative to NIST 3134 with the Kalix δ98Mo of 1.07-1.97 o (2s.e. 0.02 ) with an R2=0.51 (against 1/[Mo]) and Råne δ98Mo of 1.54-2.16 o (2s.e. 0.05) with an R2=0.01 (against 1/[Mo]). It is clear from concentration and isotope data that non conservative behaviour is observed in these estuaries with isotope exchange that has not greatly altered Mo concentration. This is especially notable in the Råne estuary. Similar non-conservative behaviour has been observed in Li isotopes in the same estuaries [6]. This work explores the interactions between the dissolved and suspended phases, and processes controlling Mo input to the oceans. [1] Collier, R. W. 1985. Limnology and Oceanography, 1351-1354 [2] Nakagawa, Y et
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Pattrick, Paula; Strydom, Nadine
2014-08-01
Recruitment of larvae and early juveniles, against the ebb tide in the shallower, slower-flowing marginal areas of two permanently open estuaries in the Eastern Cape, South Africa was observed. To determine tidal, diel and seasonal variations of larval and juvenile fish recruitment, fyke nets were used during a 24-hour cycle over two years from December 2010 to October 2012. On either side of each estuary bank, two fyke nets with mouth openings facing opposite directions (i.e. one net facing the incoming or outgoing tide and the other facing the opposing direction) were used to sample fishes. The aims of this study were to determine if 1) on the flood tide, were the nets facing the incoming tide collecting more larvae and early juveniles recruiting into the estuarine nursery area, than the nets facing the opposing direction and 2) on the ebb tide, were the nets facing the sea, and hence the opposing direction of the outgoing ebb tide, collecting more fishes recruiting into the nursery against the ebb tide, than the nets facing the outgoing ebb tide? Larval and juvenile fish CPUE, species diversity and richness varied seasonally between estuarine systems and between diel and tidal conditions. Highest catches were recorded on the flood tide, which coincided with sunrise in the Swartkops Estuary. Greatest catches of larvae and early juveniles were observed during the ebb tide at night in the Sundays Estuary. On the ebb tide, higher catches of several dominant species and several commercially important fishery species, occurred in the fyke nets which faced the sea, indicating the early developmental stages of these fish species are not necessarily being lost from the nursery. These larvae and juveniles are actively swimming against the ebb tide in the shallower, slower-flowing marginal areas facilitating recruitment against ebb flow.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Simionato, Claudia; Moreira, Diego
2017-04-01
The impact of the diverse mechanisms driving the suspended sediments distribution in the wide, shallow and microtidal Río de la Plata (RdP) estuary and the adjacent shelf is studied by means of a set of process-oriented numerical simulations. With that aim, a regional application of the hydro-sedimentological Model for Applications at Regional Scale (MARS) is implemented, tested and run under diverse conditions. Even the simulations are idealized, they reproduce both qualitatively and quantitatively well the main features of the suspended sediments observed distribution, particularly the mean values of concentration and its gradients: perpendicular to the estuary axis at the upper and intermediate RdP and parallel to the estuary axis at its outer part. Even though naturally the diameter of the sediments that deposit decays with the distance to the sources (with sands and silts dominating in the upper estuary and fine silts and clays over the Barra del Indio), model results show that the large width and the geometry of the estuary play an important role in the sedimentation process. The widening and deepening, and the associated significant reduction of the currents speed that occurs after (i) the confluence of the tributaries and (ii) downstream the Barra del Indio Shoal, favors sediments deposition downstream those areas. Even though tides are of small amplitude in the study area, they have a significant impact on the lateral mixing and the re-suspension of bottom sediments; this last augments the concentration of fine sediments in the layers close to the bottom but their energy is not enough to rise them up to the surface. The model reproduces the increment in the concentration of fine sediments observed in the areas where tidal dissipation energy by bottom friction maximizes (over the southern coast of the RdP and around Punta Piedras and Punta Rasa), but shows that tides alone cannot account for the observed maxima. Winds (which can be quite large over this
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Quang, Ngo Xuan; Vanreusel, Ann; Smol, Nic; Chau, Nguyen Ngoc
2010-12-01
Meiobenthos assemblages in eight estuaries of the Mekong river system were investigated in August 2008 (from the Cua Tieu estuary to the Tran De estuary). In each estuary, one sampling station was established for meiobenthos sampling. Twelve major taxa of meiobenthos were recorded in this estuarine system, including Nematoda, Copepoda, Turbellaria, Polychaeta, Oligochaeta, Tardigrada, Bivalvia, Ostracoda, Amphipoda, Cumacea, Gastrotricha, Gastropoda, and Crustacean Nauplii larvae. The densities of the meiobenthos range from 581 to 3168 inds/10 cm2. Nematodes always occupy the highest numbers with a percentage ranging from 64-99%. There are 135 nematode genera recorded in this study with the following as dominant genera Desmodora, Leptolaimus, Halalaimus, Thalassomonhystera, Theristus, Daptonema, Rhynchonema, Parodontophora, and Oncholaimus. Although the biodiversity of the meiobenthos at higher taxa level is not high compared to other marine environments, the estimates of nematode biodiversity at the genus level indicates high values. The increase in number of genera with increasing sampling intensity illustrate that the diversity is underestimated and would have been higher if the authors had considered a larger number of individuals, more replicates per station, and more sampling stations.
Ecology of an estuarine mysid shrimp in the Columbia River (USA)
Haskell, C.A.; Stanford, J.A.
2006-01-01
The estuarine mysid, Neomysis mercedis, has colonized John Day and other run-of-the-river Reservoirs of the Columbia River, over 400 km from the estuary. In John Day Reservoir N. mercedis numbers peaked (2 m-3) in August in areas near the dam in association with lower water velocity and softer bottom than at the upstream sampling sites. Neomysis broods were primarily released in late spring and early fall. Gut content analysis showed that Neomysis feeds mostly on cladoceran zooplankton and rotifers in John Day Reservoir. Diel vertical migration was documented, with daytime distribution restricted to the bottom and preferentially to the soft-textured sediments in the deepest areas. Common pelagic fishes in the reservoir, especially juvenile American shad (Alosa sapidissima) and chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), are daytime zooplankton feeders that cannot prey on Neomysis owing to mysid diel vertical migration. Thus, Neomysis has become an important food web component in John Day Reservoir. We also collected N. mercedis further upstream in Lower Granite Reservoir, where another estuarine crustacean, Corophium salmonis, also is reported, underscoring the need to better understand the role of these estuarine invertebrates in the trophic ecology of the Columbia River. Copyright ?? 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Processing watershed-derived nitrogen in a well-flushed New England estuary
Tobias, C.R.; Cieri, M.; Peterson, B.J.; Deegan, Linda A.; Vallino, J.; Hughes, J.
2003-01-01
Isotopically labeled nitrate (15NO3-) was added continuously to the Rowley estuary, Massachusetts, for 22 d to assess the transport, uptake, and cycling of terrestrially derived nitrogen during a period of high river discharge and low phytoplankton activity. Isotopic enrichment of the 3.5-km tidal prism (150,000 m3) was achieved for the 3 weeks and allowed us to construct a nitrogen mass balance model for the upper estuary. Mean ??15NO3- in the estuary ranged from 300??? to 600???, and approximately 75%-80% of the 15N was exported conservatively as 15NO 3- to the coastal ocean. Essentially all of the 20%-25% of the 15N processed in the estuary occurred in the benthos and was evenly split between direct denitrification and autotrophic assimilation. The lack of water-column 15N uptake was attributed to low phytoplankton stocks and short water residence times (1.2-1.4 d). Uptake of water-column NO3- by benthic autotrophs (enriched in excess of 100???) was a function of NO3- concentration and satisfied up to 15% and 25% of the total nitrogen demand for benthic microalgae and macroalgae, respectively. Approximately 10% of tracer assimilated by benthic autotrophs was mineralized and released back to the water column as 15NH4+. By the end of the study, 15N storage in sediments and marsh macrophytes accounted for 50%-70% of the 15N assimilated in the estuary. These compartments may sequester watershed-derived nitrogen in the estuary for time scales of months to years.
Nojavan A, Farnaz; Qian, Song S; Paerl, Hans W; Reckhow, Kenneth H; Albright, Elizabeth A
2014-06-15
The present paper utilizes a Bayesian Belief Network (BBN) approach to intuitively present and quantify our current understanding of the complex physical, chemical, and biological processes that lead to eutrophication in an estuarine ecosystem (New River Estuary, North Carolina, USA). The model is further used to explore the effects of plausible future climatic and nutrient pollution management scenarios on water quality indicators. The BBN, through visualizing the structure of the network, facilitates knowledge communication with managers/stakeholders who might not be experts in the underlying scientific disciplines. Moreover, the developed structure of the BBN is transferable to other comparable estuaries. The BBN nodes are discretized exploring a new approach called moment matching method. The conditional probability tables of the variables are driven by a large dataset (four years). Our results show interaction among various predictors and their impact on water quality indicators. The synergistic effects caution future management actions. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Decadal to Millennial Sedimentation Patterns of the Hudson River Estuary
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Jones, M.; McHugh, C. M.; Burckle, L.; Pekar, S.; Pereira, G.; Ryan, W. B.; Bell, R.; Carbotte, S.
2002-12-01
fluvial part of the estuary is filling with sediments above sea-level forming islands. Here, the energy of tidal currents is strong as evidenced by the sand-mud rhythmic alternations of the sediments. Tributaries contribute a generally low sediment budget, but only on a seasonal basis and the fluvial energy is not strong enough to transport the gravel-size components that remain near the mouths of the tributaries forming localized deltas. The fluvial sands, form waves that migrate along the channel floor, but this coarser-grained bedload is rarely transported south of Kingston, New York, resulting in a muddy estuarine bottom further downstream. Results show that tidal energy is a dominant force in the transport and deposition of HRE sediments and that only fine-grained sediments are transported throughout most of the studied areas. Because the HRE basin is nearly filled, most sediment bypasses the system with only localized areas of sediment trapping where the estuary is out of equilibrium with its sediment load, and in the estuarine turbidity maxima, an area previously shown to contain high sediment concentrations.
Stacey, Paul E.; Greening, Holly; Kremer, James N.; Peterson, David; Tomasko, David A.; Valigura, Richard A.; Alexander, Richard B.; Castro, Mark S.; Meyers, Tilden P.; Paerl, Hans W.; Stacey, Paul E.; Turner, R. Eugene
2001-01-01
A NOAA project was initiated in 1998, with support from the U.S. EPA, to develop state-of-the-art estimates of atmospheric N deposition to estuarine watersheds and water surfaces and its delivery to the estuaries. Work groups were formed to address N deposition rates, indirect (from the watershed) yields from atmospheric and other anthropogenic sources, and direct deposition on the estuarine waterbodies, and to evaluate the levels of uncertainty within the estimates. Watershed N yields were estimated using both a land-use based process approach and a national (SPARROW) model, compared to each other, and compared to estimates of N yield from the literature. The total N yields predicted by the national model were similar to values found in the literature and the land-use derived estimates were consistently higher. Atmospheric N yield estimates were within a similar range for the two approaches, but tended to be higher in the land-use based estimates and were not wellcorrelated. Median atmospheric N yields were around 15% of the total N yield for both groups, but ranged as high as 60% when both direct and indirect deposition were considered. Although not the dominant source of anthropogenic N, atmospheric N is, and will undoubtedly continue to be, an important factor in culturally eutrophied estuarine systems, warranting additional research and management attention.
Greenhouse gas emissions are enhanced by wastewater discharge into New York City coastal estuaries
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Brigham, B. A.; O'Mullan, G. D.; Bird, J. A.
2016-12-01
The Hudson River Estuary (HRE) receives significant inputs of untreated wastewater from sewer overflow from New York City (NYC) and other urban areas. These inputs deliver large, concentrated pulses of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) into the estuary primarily during storm events. We hypothesized that sewage inputs would increase carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) efflux from the HRE via two mechanism: (1) direct input of these gases into estuarine surface waters from NYC's wastewater treatment system; and (2) indirect in-situ microbial production in response to the C and N additions. To test these hypotheses, CO2, CH4, dissolved organic C and inorganic N concentrations were measured in both sewage outflow and in estuarine waters. Efflux of CO2 and CH4 were also quantified from sediment cores sampled from Flushing Bay (FB), which is in close proximity to sewage delivery outlets. Wastewater discharge was found to be both a direct input in wastewater and an indirect source of CO2 and CH4 via microbial respiration. Effluent concentrations of CH4 (125 ppm), CO2 (2200 ρCO2), dissolved organic C, ammonium, and nitrate surface water concentrations, were a minimum of 3 times greater than in estuarine surface water adjacent to the sewage delivery area and up to 20 times greater than concentrations found in regional HRE surface waters. Incubation experiments with FB sediment demonstrated that acetate additions stimulated CO2 efflux by + 1.25 and CH4 efflux by +10 times, compared with unamended controls. The magnitude of CH4 produced was +40 times greater than from sediments incubated from a non-sewage affected area with similar salinity levels. However, total C mineralization (6 µg C day-1 g-1 of dry soil) was a small portion of the C amendment indicating negligible priming. These data warrant study on larger regional scales to assess the broader climate impact likely driven by CH4 efflux that results from discharge of untreated wastewater into urban estuaries.
Denitrification rates in estuarine sediments of Ashtamudi, Kerala, India.
Salahudeen, Junaid Hassan; Reshmi, R R; Anoop Krishnan, K; Ragi, M S; Vincent, Salom Gnana Thanga
2018-05-03
Estuarine sediments are important sites for denitrification, which is microbially mediated reduction of nitrate to dinitrogen that also influences global climate change by co-production of nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas. Physicochemical properties and nutrients of sediment samples that influence denitrification rate were studied in Ashtamudi estuarine sediments. They were pH, electrical conductivity (EC), salinity, nitrate-nitrogen (NO 3 - -N), exchangeable ammonia (NH 3 - -N), total kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) and organic carbon (Corg). Sediment samples were collected from six stations during summer, monsoon of 2013 and 13 stations from monsoon 2014 and summer 2015. The sedimentary denitrification potential ranged from 0.49 ± 0.05 to 4.85 ± 0.782 mmol N 2 O m -2 h -1 . Maximum denitrification was observed in S4, which is attributed to a local anthropogenic source coupled with intense rainfall episode preceding the sampling season of monsoon 2013. However, this trend was not repeated in the subsequent monsoon samples. This shows that in Ashtamudi, monsoonal effects do not influence sedimentary denitrification. Among the various environmental variables, NO 3 - -N, Corg and NH 3 -N were the key factors that influence denitrification in the Ashtamudi estuarine sediments. Among these key factors, NO 3 - -N was the limiting factor for denitrification, and hence, it is of prime importance to understand the source of NO 3 - -N that fuel denitrification in the sediments. In Ashtamudi, the concentration of NO 3 - -N in overlying water was very less, which suggests reduced nitrogen yield in the estuary from the fluvial input of Kallada River and agricultural runoff. Sedimentary NO 3 - -N correlated with denitrification which reveals that denitrification is coupled with nitrification in the sediments. This is further explained by the fact that NH 3 -N positively correlated with denitrification. The anoxic sediments were the source of ammonia for nitrous oxide
Contrasting mercury and manganese deposition in a mangrove-dominated estuary (Guaratuba Bay, Brazil)
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Sanders, C. J.; Santos, I. R.; Silva-Filho, E. V.; Patchineelam, S. R.
2008-08-01
Sediment cores were taken at seven sites along the mangrove-bound Guaratuba Bay estuary (southern Brazil), with the purpose of assessing conditions controlling Hg deposition along a horizontal estuarine sediment gradient. The data suggest contrasting depositional patterns for Hg and Mn in this relatively pristine setting. Total Hg contents of bulk sediments ranged from 12 to 36 ng/g along the estuary, the highest values being found in muddier organic-rich sediments of the upper estuary (the corresponding mud gradient is 12 to 42 wt.%, and the organic matter gradient 4 to 10 wt.%). Thus, the deposition of fine sediments relatively enriched in mercury occurs primarily in closer proximity to the freshwater source. The data also indicate a reverse gradient in reactive Mn contents, ranging from 29 to 81 μg/g, and increasing seaward. This implies that reactive Mn is mobilized from fine-grained reducing mangrove forest sediments in the upper estuary, and deposited downstream in sandier, oxygen-rich nearshore sediments. These results suggest that mangrove-surrounded estuaries may act as barriers to mercury transport to coastal waters, but as a source of manganese. The present findings also imply that reactive Mn may be used as an indication of Hg depositional patterns in other similar coastal sedimentary settings.
Microplastics in oysters Saccostrea cucullata along the Pearl River Estuary, China.
Li, Heng-Xiang; Ma, Li-Sha; Lin, Lang; Ni, Zhi-Xin; Xu, Xiang-Rong; Shi, Hua-Hong; Yan, Yan; Zheng, Guang-Ming; Rittschof, Daniel
2018-05-01
As a transitional zone between riverine and marine environments, an estuary plays an important role for the sources, accumulation and transport of microplastics. Although estuarine environments are hotspots of microplastic pollution, the correlation between microplastic pollution and aquatic organisms is less known. Here we investigated microplastic pollution in wild oysters Saccostrea cucullata from 11 sampling sites along the Pearl River Estuary in South China. The microplastic abundances in oysters ranged from 1.4 to 7.0 items per individual or from 1.5 to 7.2 items per gram tissue wet weight, which were positively related to those in surrounding waters. The oysters near urban areas contained significantly more microplastics than those near rural areas. Fibers accounted for 69.4% of the total microplastics in oysters. Microplastic sizes varied from 20 to 5000 μm and 83.9% of which were less than 100 μm. Light color microplastics were significantly more common than dark color ones. Based on the results, oysters are recommended as a biomonitor for the microplastic pollution in estuaries. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Vendel, A L; Bessa, F; Alves, V E N; Amorim, A L A; Patrício, J; Palma, A R T
2017-04-15
Our aim was to quantify microplastic ingestion by fish assemblages in two tropical Brazilian estuaries and to evaluate whether biological and ecological factors influence the ingestion of microplastics by fish species. Of 2233 fish from both estuaries (from 69 species) examined in this study, 9% of the individuals (24 species) had microplastics in their gut contents. Microplastic ingestion occurred irrespective of fish size and functional group. The diet of fish species was analyzed based on prey items identified in the fish's full stomach contents and five feeding guilds were defined. Microplastics were common throughout all feeding guilds. Low (average ingestion values 1.06±0.30 items/total fish) but widespread occurrence among estuaries also indicates proliferation of microplastic pollution. Our findings highlight the need to focus on assemblage level studies to understand the real magnitude of the problem and emphasize the urgency of mitigation measures directed at microplastic pollution in estuarine ecosystems. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
González-Domínguez, Raúl; Santos, Hugo Miguel; Bebianno, Maria João; García-Barrera, Tamara; Gómez-Ariza, José Luis; Capelo, José Luis
2016-12-15
Estuaries are very important ecosystems with great ecological and economic value, but usually highly impacted by anthropogenic pressure. Thus, the assessment of pollution levels in these habitats is critical in order to evaluate their environmental quality. In this work, we combined complementary metallomic and proteomic approaches with the aim to monitor the effects of environmental pollution on Scrobicularia plana clams captured in three estuarine systems from the south coast of Portugal; Arade estuary, Ria Formosa and Guadiana estuary. Multi-elemental profiling of digestive glands was carried out to evaluate the differential pollution levels in the three study areas. Then, proteomic analysis by means of two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry revealed twenty-one differential proteins, which could be associated with multiple toxicological mechanisms induced in environmentally stressed organisms. Accordingly, it could be concluded that the combination of different omic approaches presents a great potential in environmental research. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Akhand, Anirban; Chanda, Abhra; Dutta, Sachinandan; Manna, Sudip; Sanyal, Pranabes; Hazra, Sugata; Rao, K H; Dadhwal, V K
2013-08-01
A comprehensive attempt has been made to evaluate the diurnal and spatial pattern of CO2 exchange between the atmosphere and water along the estuarine track of Indian Sundarbans during the two summer months, April and May, 2011. Rigorous field observations were carried out which included the hourly measurements of total alkalinity, pH, fugacity of CO2 in ambient air and water surface, dissolved oxygen, and chlorophyll a. The estuarine water was found rich in total alkalinity and was oversaturated with CO2 throughout the diurnal cycle in the two stations situated at the inner and middle estuary, respectively, whereas an entirely reverse situation was observed in the outer fringes. The fugacity of CO2 in water ranged from 152 to 657 μatm during the study period. The percentage of over-saturation in inner and middle estuary varied from 103 to 168 and 103 to 176 %, respectively, whereas the degree of under-saturation in the outer estuary lied between 40 and 99 %. Chlorophyll a concentrations were found higher in the outer estuary (12.3 ± 2.2 mg m(-3)) compared to the middle (6.4 ± 0.6 mg m(-3)) and inner parts (1.6 ± 0.2 mg m(-3)), followed by a similar decreasing pattern in nutrient availability from the outer to inner estuary. The sampling stations situated at the inner and middle estuary acted as a net source of 29.69 and 23.62 mg CO2 m(-2) day(-1), respectively, whereas the outer station behaved as a net sink of -33.37 mg CO2 m(-2) day(-1). The study of primary production and community respiration further supports the heterotrophic nature of the estuary in the inner region while the outer periphery was marked by dominant autotrophic character. These contrasting results are in parity with the source characters of many inner estuaries and sinking characters of the outer estuaries situated at the distal continental shelf areas.
Petit, F; Craquelin, S; Guespin-Michel, J; Buffet-Janvresse, C
1999-03-01
We describe an extraction protocol for genomic DNA and RNA of both viruses and bacteria from polluted estuary water. This procedure was adapted to the molecular study of microflora of estuarine water where bacteria and viruses are found free, forming low-density biofilms, or intimately associated with organo-mineral particles. The sensitivity of the method was determined with seeded samples for RT-PCR and PCR analysis of viruses (10 virions/mL), and bacteria (1 colony-forming unit mL). We report an example of molecular detection of both poliovirus and Salmonella in the Seine estuary (France) and an approach to studying their association with organo-mineral particles.
Zhang, Lei; Qin, Yanwen; Han, Chaonan; Cao, Wei; Ma, Yingqun; Shi, Yao; Liu, Zhichao; Yang, Chenchen
2016-08-01
The transport and storage of phosphorus in estuary is a complex biogeochemical process as the result of the convergence of fresh and saline water. The objective of the current study is to investigate the spatial-temporal variations of phosphorus fractions in surface water and suspended particles of Daliao River Estuary, China. Samples were collected in August (wet season) and November (dry season), 2013. The results showed that total particulate phosphorus (TPP) in water accounted for more than 50 % of the total phosphorus (TP). Meanwhile, in suspended particles, more than 62 % of particulate phosphorus was in the form of bioavailable phosphorus, including exchangeable phosphorus (Exc-P), extractable organic phosphorus (Exo-P), and iron-bound phosphorus (Fe-P), which meant that the potential impacts of bioavailable phosphorus in suspended particles on estuarine water environment cannot be ignored. There were significantly seasonal variations of phosphorus fractions in the Daliao River Estuary. The concentrations of phosphorus fractions in water in wet season were much lower than that in dry season because of the dilution effect of larger rainfall in wet season. In addition, spatial distribution characteristics of phosphorus fractions were also obvious. Due to terrigenous phosphorus input from the upstream of tidal reach and seawater dilution effect in coastal estuary, total dissolved phosphorus (TDP) concentrations in water gradually decreased from tidal reach to coastal estuary. However, the concentrations of TPP and TP in water and Exo-P in suspended particles presented spatial fluctuation, and these were greatly attributed to sediment re-suspension in coastal estuary.
Urban microbial ecology of a freshwater estuary of Lake Michigan
Fisher, Jenny C.; Newton, Ryan J.; Dila, Deborah K.
2015-01-01
Freshwater estuaries throughout the Great Lakes region receive stormwater runoff and riverine inputs from heavily urbanized population centers. While human and animal feces contained in this runoff are often the focus of source tracking investigations, non-fecal bacterial loads from soil, aerosols, urban infrastructure, and other sources are also transported to estuaries and lakes. We quantified and characterized this non-fecal urban microbial component using bacterial 16S rRNA gene sequences from sewage, stormwater, rivers, harbor/estuary, and the lake surrounding Milwaukee, WI, USA. Bacterial communities from each of these environments had a distinctive composition, but some community members were shared among environments. We used a statistical biomarker discovery tool to identify the components of the microbial community that were most strongly associated with stormwater and sewage to describe an “urban microbial signature,” and measured the presence and relative abundance of these organisms in the rivers, estuary, and lake. This urban signature increased in magnitude in the estuary and harbor with increasing rainfall levels, and was more apparent in lake samples with closest proximity to the Milwaukee estuary. The dominant bacterial taxa in the urban signature were Acinetobacter, Aeromonas, and Pseudomonas, which are organisms associated with pipe infrastructure and soil and not typically found in pelagic freshwater environments. These taxa were highly abundant in stormwater and sewage, but sewage also contained a high abundance of Arcobacter and Trichococcus that appeared in lower abundance in stormwater outfalls and in trace amounts in aquatic environments. Urban signature organisms comprised 1.7% of estuary and harbor communities under baseflow conditions, 3.5% after rain, and >10% after a combined sewer overflow. With predicted increases in urbanization across the Great Lakes, further alteration of freshwater communities is likely to occur with
Urban microbial ecology of a freshwater estuary of Lake Michigan.
Fisher, Jenny C; Newton, Ryan J; Dila, Deborah K; McLellan, Sandra L
Freshwater estuaries throughout the Great Lakes region receive stormwater runoff and riverine inputs from heavily urbanized population centers. While human and animal feces contained in this runoff are often the focus of source tracking investigations, non-fecal bacterial loads from soil, aerosols, urban infrastructure, and other sources are also transported to estuaries and lakes. We quantified and characterized this non-fecal urban microbial component using bacterial 16S rRNA gene sequences from sewage, stormwater, rivers, harbor/estuary, and the lake surrounding Milwaukee, WI, USA. Bacterial communities from each of these environments had a distinctive composition, but some community members were shared among environments. We used a statistical biomarker discovery tool to identify the components of the microbial community that were most strongly associated with stormwater and sewage to describe an "urban microbial signature," and measured the presence and relative abundance of these organisms in the rivers, estuary, and lake. This urban signature increased in magnitude in the estuary and harbor with increasing rainfall levels, and was more apparent in lake samples with closest proximity to the Milwaukee estuary. The dominant bacterial taxa in the urban signature were Acinetobacter, Aeromonas , and Pseudomonas , which are organisms associated with pipe infrastructure and soil and not typically found in pelagic freshwater environments. These taxa were highly abundant in stormwater and sewage, but sewage also contained a high abundance of Arcobacter and Trichococcus that appeared in lower abundance in stormwater outfalls and in trace amounts in aquatic environments. Urban signature organisms comprised 1.7% of estuary and harbor communities under baseflow conditions, 3.5% after rain, and >10% after a combined sewer overflow. With predicted increases in urbanization across the Great Lakes, further alteration of freshwater communities is likely to occur with potential
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Primo, Ana Lígia; Azeiteiro, Ulisses M.; Marques, Sónia C.; Martinho, Filipe; Baptista, Joana; Pardal, Miguel A.
2013-02-01
Migrations between coastal and estuarine nursery areas are essential for successful completion of the life cycle of several marine fish. The present study evaluates the use of a small temperate estuary, the Mondego, Portugal, as a nursery habitat for several flatfishes during their early life stages. Data from seasonal and diel larval sampling at the mouth of the estuary and both larvae and juvenile monthly spatial distribution in the estuary (2005-2009) were gathered in order to investigate the life cycle of Platichthys flesus, Solea solea and Solea senegalensis. Larvae entrance in the estuary occurred mainly during summer and autumn with no evidence for diel or tidal vertical stratification. S. senegalensis larvae were present in all seasons at downstream areas presenting low successful settlement and juveniles' densities inside the estuary. Conversely, P. flesus and S. solea were mainly present as juveniles with upstream areas being preferred by flounder. Both species larvae seemed to settle in nearby coastal areas. The importance of the Mondego estuary for flatfishes differed according to the species, playing an important role mainly during the first year for all species. The present study highlights the importance of integrating larval and juvenile stages of fish to assess the very important role of estuaries as nursery areas.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Blanchet, Hugues; Gouillieux, Benoît; Alizier, Sandrine; Amouroux, Jean-Michel; Bachelet, Guy; Barillé, Anne-Laure; Dauvin, Jean-Claude; de Montaudouin, Xavier; Derolez, Valérie; Desroy, Nicolas; Grall, Jacques; Grémare, Antoine; Hacquebart, Pascal; Jourde, Jérôme; Labrune, Céline; Lavesque, Nicolas; Meirland, Alain; Nebout, Thiebaut; Olivier, Frédéric; Pelaprat, Corine; Ruellet, Thierry; Sauriau, Pierre-Guy; Thorin, Sébastien
2014-07-01
Based on a parallel sampling conducted during autumn 2008, a comparative study of the intertidal benthic macrofauna among 10 estuarine systems located along the Channel and Atlantic coasts of France was performed in order to assess the level of fauna similarity among these sites and to identify possible environmental factors involved in the observed pattern at both large (among sites) and smaller (benthic assemblages) scales. More precisely this study focused on unraveling the observed pattern of intertidal benthic fauna composition and diversity observed at among-site scale by exploring both biotic and abiotic factors acting at the among- and within-site scales. Results showed a limited level of similarity at the among-site level in terms of intertidal benthic fauna composition and diversity. The observed pattern did not fit with existing transitional water classification methods based on fish or benthic assemblages developed in the frame of the European Water Framework Directive (WFD). More particularly, the coastal plain estuaries displayed higher among-site similarity compared to ria systems. These coastal plain estuaries were characterized by higher influence of river discharge, lower communication with the ocean and high suspended particulate matter levels. On the other hand, the ria-type systems were more dissimilar and different from the coastal plain estuaries. The level of similarity among estuaries was mainly linked to the relative extent of the intertidal "Scrobicularia plana-Cerastoderma edule" and "Tellina tenuis" or "Venus" communities as a possible consequence of salinity regime, suspended matter concentrations and fine particles supply with consequences on the trophic functioning, structure and organization of benthic fauna. Despite biogeographical patterns, the results also suggest that, in the context of the WFD, these estuaries should only be compared on the basis of the most common intertidal habitat occurring throughout all estuarine systems
Gaete, Hernán; Álvarez, Manuel; Lobos, Gabriela; Soto, Eulogio; Jara-Gutiérrez, Carlos
2017-11-01
The estuaries of the Aconcagua and Maipo Rivers of central Chile are receptors of residues that contain metals from anthropic activities including agriculture, mining and smelters, which have different levels in the two basins. This study postulates that the exposition to metals is different in the two estuaries and that their sediments contain bioavailable chemical agents that produce oxidative stress. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of estuarine sediments on the polychaete Perinereis gualpensis using oxidative stress biomarkers and to determine the metal concentrations in sediments and their accumulation in P. gualpensis. Sediments and organisms were collected in December 2015 and January 2016 in the estuaries. The Catapilco estuary was used as control, since its basin has little anthropic activity. The metal concentrations of Fe Cu, Pb, Zn and Cd were determined in tissues of the organisms and in sediments. The granulometry, conductivity, redox potential, pH and organic matter in sediments were determined, as well as catalase activity and lipid peroxidation. The results show that the concentrations of metals in sediments were higher in the estuary of the Aconcagua River: Cu: 48 ± 2μgg -1 ; Fe: 154 ± 19mgg -1 , Pb: 20 ± 3μgg -1 and Zn: 143 ± 20μgg -1 . In tissues, Pb and Fe were higher in the estuary of the Maipo River, while Cd was detected only in the Catapilco River mouth. Catalase activity was greater in the estuary of the Aconcagua River and lipid peroxidation in the estuary of the Catapilco River. Significant regressions were found between biomarkers of oxidative stress and metal concentrations in tissues of P. gualpensis. In conclusion, the sediments of the studied estuaries contain bioavailable chemical agents that provoke oxidative stress in P. gualpensis, which may be a risk for the benthic communities of these ecosystems. This species is proposed to monitor metals bioavailability and oxidative stress in estuarine sediments
Veale, L; Tweedley, J R; Clarke, K R; Hallett, C S; Potter, I C
2014-11-01
Data on the fish fauna of the Leschenault Estuary on the lower west coast of Australia were collected and used as a model to elucidate the characteristics of permanently open estuaries with a reverse salinity gradient, which undergo seasonal changes similar to many other estuaries with Mediterranean climate. Focus was placed on determining (1) the relationships of the number of species, density, life cycle category and species composition of fishes with region (within estuary), season and year and salinity, (2) whether species are partitioned along the lengths of such systems and (3) the extent and significance of any inter-decadal changes in species composition. The analyses and interpretation involved using multi-factorial permutational multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA) and analysis of similarity (ANOSIM) designs, and three new or recently published visualization tools, i.e. modified non-metric multidimensional scaling (nMDS) plots, coherent species curves and segmented bubble plots. The base, lower, upper and apex regions of the Leschenault Estuary, along which the salinity increased in each season except in winter when most rainfall occurs, were sampled seasonally for the 2 years between winter 2008 and autumn 2010. Estuarine residents contributed twice as many individuals, but less than half the number of species as marine taxa. While the numbers of marine species and estuarine residents declined between the base or lower and apex regions, the individuals of marine species dominated the catches in the base region and estuarine residents in the other three regions. Ichthyofaunal composition in each region underwent conspicuous annual cyclical changes, due to time-staggered differences in recruitment among species, and changed sequentially along the estuary, both paralleling salinity trends. Different groups of species characterized the fauna in the different regions and seasons, thereby partitioning resources among species. The ichthyofauna of the
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Rajendran, N.; Venugopalan, V.K.
1991-01-01
The organochlorine pesticide endosulfan is applied in the agricultural fields as liquid in India. Investigations have revealed the occurrence and distribution of endosulfan in both biotic and abiotic components of Vellar estuary. The results from static bioassay studies revealed that fishes were more susceptible to the organochlorine pesticides than mollusks. Though the available information on the uptake of endosulfan by the estuarine organisms are limited to whole body tissues, no attempt has been made to find out the extent of uptake of pesticides by the different body tissues of the estuarine organisms. Hence the present study was planned to determinemore » the bioconcentration of endosulfan in different tissues of fishes Mugil cephalus, Mystus gulio, oyster Crassostrea madrasensis and clam Katelysia opima based on the measured concentration of endosulfan in the experimental medium of the continuous flow through system for a period of 10 d.« less
Impacts of pesticides in a Central California estuary.
Anderson, Brian; Phillips, Bryn; Hunt, John; Siegler, Katie; Voorhees, Jennifer; Smalling, Kelly; Kuivila, Kathy; Hamilton, Mary; Ranasinghe, J Ananda; Tjeerdema, Ron
2014-03-01
in the estuary. This study suggests that the same pyrethroid and organophosphate pesticides that have been shown to cause water and sediment toxicity in urban and agriculture water bodies throughout California, have the potential to affect estuarine habitats. The results establish baseline data in the Santa Maria River estuary to allow evaluation of ecosystem improvement as management initiatives to reduce pesticide runoff are implemented in this watershed.
Benchmarking an unstructured grid sediment model in an energetic estuary
Lopez, Jesse E.; Baptista, António M.
2016-12-14
A sediment model coupled to the hydrodynamic model SELFE is validated against a benchmark combining a set of idealized tests and an application to a field-data rich energetic estuary. After sensitivity studies, model results for the idealized tests largely agree with previously reported results from other models in addition to analytical, semi-analytical, or laboratory results. Results of suspended sediment in an open channel test with fixed bottom are sensitive to turbulence closure and treatment for hydrodynamic bottom boundary. Results for the migration of a trench are very sensitive to critical stress and erosion rate, but largely insensitive to turbulence closure.more » The model is able to qualitatively represent sediment dynamics associated with estuarine turbidity maxima in an idealized estuary. Applied to the Columbia River estuary, the model qualitatively captures sediment dynamics observed by fixed stations and shipborne profiles. Representation of the vertical structure of suspended sediment degrades when stratification is underpredicted. Across all tests, skill metrics of suspended sediments lag those of hydrodynamics even when qualitatively representing dynamics. The benchmark is fully documented in an openly available repository to encourage unambiguous comparisons against other models.« less
Applications of remote sensing to estuarine problems. [estuaries of Chesapeake Bay
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Munday, J. C., Jr.
1975-01-01
A variety of siting problems for the estuaries of the lower Chesapeake Bay have been solved with cost beneficial remote sensing techniques. Principal techniques used were repetitive 1:30,000 color photography of dye emitting buoys to map circulation patterns, and investigation of water color boundaries via color and color infrared imagery to scales of 1:120,000. Problems solved included sewage outfall siting, shoreline preservation and enhancement, oil pollution risk assessment, and protection of shellfish beds from dredge operations.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Earl, Jason; Fowler, Anthony J.; Ye, Qifeng; Dittmann, Sabine
2017-04-01
The greenback flounder Rhombosolea tapirina is a commercially-important flatfish species in southern Australia and New Zealand, whose population dynamics are poorly understood. Acoustic telemetry was used to assess movement patterns and area use for R. tapirina in the Murray River estuary and Coorong, South Australia. Twenty fish (221-313 mm total length) equipped with acoustic transmitters were monitored for up to seven months during a period of high freshwater inflow. Fish were detected over a large part of the system, but showed a strong preference for brackish and near-marine conditions in the inner estuary. Tagged fish exhibited complex movement patterns that differed among individuals, including: (1) within estuary movements; (2) dispersal from the estuary to the sea; and (3) return migrations between the estuary and the sea. A diurnal shift in fine-scale area use was observed in the part of the estuary where residency was highest, with individuals occupying deeper habitats during the day and shallower areas during the night. The results demonstrate the individualistic and often highly transient behaviour of this species and its ability to undertake regular movements over the spatial scale of 10s of km. Understanding such movement patterns can improve effective management of estuarine flatfish populations and ecosystems.