Effects of climate-driven freshwater inflow variability on macrobenthic secondary production in Texas lagoonal estuaries: A modeling study

Application of factor analysis and electrical resistivity to understand groundwater contributions to coastal embayments in semi-arid and hypersaline coastal settings

“…Although monitoring efforts have been extensive, limited efforts were directed toward identifying the quality and quantity of freshwater inputs. Recent efforts to regulate freshwater inflows for optimal salinity ranges to promote ecosystem health of bays and estuaries along the Texas Gulf Coast do not include groundwater inputs (Alexander and Dunton, 2006;Kim and Montagna, 2012). This study shows that groundwater may have a significant role in delivering total dissolved solids to estuaries in south Texas therefore requiring the incorporation of groundwater inflows for appropriately determining freshwater budgets.…”

“…Statistical methods such as analysis of variance (ANOVA), multivariate linear regression (MLR) and factor analysis on environmental data have also produced valuable models that aid in identifying variations in water quality and contamination sources in various hydrologic systems (Morehead et al, 2008;Thareja et al, 2011;Hae-Cheol and Montagna, 2012). Recently, subsurface imaging techniques such as direct current electrical resistivity (ER) surveys have been increasingly used to delineate and quantify groundwater flow paths and discharge rates into surface water bodies (White, 1988;Greenwood et al, 2006;Green et al, 2008).…”

Impacts of droughts and low flows on estuarine water quality and benthic fauna

“…Salinity in the Lavaca-Colorado Estuary has been reported to have estuary-wide positive relationships with abundance and biomass using yearly averages over a long-time period . Decreases in freshwater inflow (increases in salinity) are thought to change the dominant trophic guild from filter feeder to deposit feeder in the Lavaca-Colorado and other Texas estuaries (Kim & Montagna, 2009, 2012. This change of dominant trophic guild as inflow decreases may be a decrease in functional diversity if inflow reductions are severe enough to cause filter feeders to be lost.…”

Linkage between Freshwater Inflow and Primary Productivity in Texas Estuaries: Downscaling Effects of Climate Variability

“…The 5-month lag of primary productivity related to climate propagation in the Pacific Ocean can be combined with ecosystem models (e.g., Kim and Montagna, 2009;2012) and seasonal climate forecasts provided by climate research entities (e.g., Climate Prediction Center at NCEP/NOAA; http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov) to address management questions such as "when is the pelagic and benthic estuarine ecosystem response to the recent or upcoming ENSO events going to happen?" or "is upcoming ecosystem change responding to recent ENSO event going to be extreme?," or "if so, what is the direction of the extreme change?"…”