Influence of an industrial discharge on long-term dynamics of abiotic and biotic resources in Lavaca Bay, Texas, USA

Abstract

The current study seeks to identify possible anthropogenic and/or natural environmental stressors that may account for the long-term decline of ecosystem health in Lavaca Bay, Texas, USA. The Formosa Plastics Corporation instituted monitoring of an industrial discharge into the bay with 16 fixed point stations and quarterly sampling from 1993 to 2020. Comprehensive measurements included organic and inorganic solutes in surface water, porewater and sediment, sediment content, plankton, nekton, and infaunal benthos. All parameter trends changed over time due to climate, freshwater inflow events, and/or seasonal changes. Biological community structure and sediment changed with distance from the discharge site. Dominance characterized community structure because three to four taxa comprised > 70% of individuals for nekton (trawl and gill net), phytoplankton, zooplankton, and ichthyoplankton samples. Sediment became sandier over time (48 to 75%) and away from the discharge. Surface water and porewater at reference (R) stations and stations near the discharge site had similar hydrographical and biological trends over time, indicating no long-term impact due to the discharge. However, 99.9% of 424,671 measurements of organic contaminants were non-detectable because the methods were insensitive to ambient concentrations. Thus, it is still not known if contaminants play a role in the long-term decline of ecosystem health in Lavaca Bay. Furthermore, only four R stations were sampled and were all 3810 m from the discharge site, so it is possible that trends in R stations do not represent the natural background. Future studies should include more R stations and lower detection limits for contaminants.

What has Changed in 20 Years? Structure and Function of Soft-sediment Macrofauna in a Subarctic Embayment, Newfoundland (Canada)

“…Although temporal samples taken at specific time points such as decades apart have inherent limitations that make community variability difficult to interpret (Renaud et al 2007;Herder et al 2021) such comparisons are important in understanding and predicting current and future community changes (e.g., Van Geest et al 2015;Taghon et al 2017a;Harris et al 2023;Ramón et al 2023). Therefore, it is pertinent to consider differences in sampling methods and protocols when making comparisons and interpreting results (Taghon et al 2017a).…”

What has changed in 20 years? Structure and function of soft-sediment macrofauna in a subarctic embayment, Newfoundland (Canada)

“…Although temporal samples taken at specific time points such as decades apart have inherent limitations that make short-term vs. longer-term community variability difficult to interpret (Renaud et al 2007; Herder et al 2021) they are necessary in understanding and predicting current and future community changes (e.g., Van Geest et al 2015; Taghon et al 2017a; Harris et al 2023; Ramon et al 2023). Therefore, it is pertinent to consider differences in sampling methods and protocols when making comparisons and interpreting results (Taghon et al 2017a).…”