Determining the causes of benthic condition

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 and valid indicator of estuarine condition that is intended to...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental monitoring and assessment 1998-06, Vol.51 (1-2), p.381-397
Main Authors: ENGLE, V. D, SUMMERS, J. K
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Applied ecology
Benthic communities
Biological and medical sciences
Brackish
Contaminated sediments
Contamination
Ecological conditions
Ecosystems
Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution
Environmental conditions
Environmental impact
Environmental management
Environmental monitoring
Environmental protection
Estuaries
Eutrophication
Freshwater
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Hypoxia
Macroinvertebrates
Marine
Marine and brackish environment
Sediment pollution
Sediments
Toxicity
Water pollution
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Summary: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 and valid indicator of estuarine condition that is intended to provide environmental managers with a simple tool for assessing the ecological condition of benthic macroinvertebrate communities. Associations between the benthic index and indicators of hypoxia, sediment contamination, and sediment toxicity were investigated to determine the most probable cause(s) of degraded benthic condition. The results showed that, on a local scale, the associations between the benthic index and potential environmental causes differed among estuaries. In Pensacola Bay, FL, for example, there was a significant association between the levels of toxic chemicals (e.g. DDT, silver, and TBT) in the sediment and the benthic index, especially in the bayous which have known sediment contamination problems. In Mobile Bay, however, degraded benthic communities were more closely associated with eutrophication and hypoxia. Nevertheless, a benthic index is a valuable tool for identifying areas that could be already degraded and tracking the status of environmental condition in large geographical regions.
ISSN:0167-6369
1573-2959
DOI:10.1023/A:1005932630259