Predicting stress in benthic communities of southeastern U.S. estuaries in relation to chemical contamination of sediments

Hyland, Jeffrey L.; Dolah, Robert F. Van; Snoots, Timothy R.

doi:10.1002/etc.5620181124

Cited by 72 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…The Effects Range Median (ERM) (Long et al, 1995) represents mid-range concentrations of chemicals above which adverse effects on a wide variety of benthic organisms are likely to occur. The total sediment contamination in a sample was expressed as the mean of the ratios of individual contaminant concentrations to their corresponding ERM values, providing a means of quantifying potentially toxic mixtures of contaminants present at varying concentrations (Long et al, 1998;Hyland et al, 1999Hyland et al, , 2000. Only those contaminants for which SQGs have been developed (Table I) were used in the computation.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecosystem Responses to Extreme Natural Events: Impacts of Three Sequential Hurricanes in Fall 1999 on Sediment Quality and Condition of Benthic Fauna in the Neuse River Estuary, North Carolina

Balthis

Hyland

Bearden

2006

Environ Monit Assess

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A study was conducted in November 1999 to assess sediment quality and condition of benthic fauna in the Neuse River Estuary (NRE), North Carolina, USA, following the passage of three Atlantic hurricanes during the two months prior. Samples for analysis of macroinfauna (>0.5 mm sieve size), chemical contamination of sediments, and other abiotic environmental variables (salinity, dissolved oxygen, pH, depth, sediment granulometry) were collected at 20 sites from the mouth of the Neuse River at Pamlico Sound to approximately 90 km upstream. Results were compared to those obtained from the same area in July 1998 using similar protocols. Depressed salinity, caused by extreme rainfall and associated high freshwater flow, persisted throughout much of the estuary, which had experienced periods of water-column stratification and hypoxia of underlying waters. Fifteen of the 20 sites, representing 299 km2 (76% of the survey area), also showed signs of benthic stress based on a multi-metric benthic index of biotic integrity (B-IBI). Benthic impacts included reductions in the abundance, diversity, and numbers of species and shifts in taxonomic composition, with a notable increase in dominance of the opportunistic polychaete Mediomastus ambiseta as other former dominant species declined. There was no significant increase in the extent of chemical contamination compared to pre-hurricane conditions. Storm-related reductions in dissolved oxygen and salinity were the more likely causes of the observed benthic impacts, though it was not possible, based on these results, to separate storm effects from seasonal changes in the benthos and annual episodes of summer anoxia and hypoxia.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecosystem Responses to Extreme Natural Events: Impacts of Three Sequential Hurricanes in Fall 1999 on Sediment Quality and Condition of Benthic Fauna in the Neuse River Estuary, North Carolina

Balthis

Hyland

Bearden

2006

Environ Monit Assess

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“…The degraded benthic condition was evaluated using a multi-metric, benthic index of biotic integrity (B-IBI) based on the methods of Van Dolah et al (1999). High sediment contamination was defined using guidelines presented in Hyland et al (1999). Also, dissolved oxygen (DO) < 2 mg l -1 was used as a criterion for evaluating low DO potentially harmful to bottomdwelling fauna (see review by Diaz & Rosenberg 1995).…”

Section: Predictive Ability Of Toc Critical Pointsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Organic carbon content of sediments as an indicator of stress in the marine benthos

Hyland

Balthis²,

Karakassis³

et al. 2005

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

302

165

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“…This probably results from failure to account for the wide variety of compounds that exist in sediments and their interactions. The EqP method has not been well validated in Hyland et al 1999 regard to its predictive capability in chronic toxicity or in regard to adverse food web affects from the bioaccumulation of nonpolar organics.…”

Section: Comparisons Of Sqgsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sediment quality criteria in use around the world

2002

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There have been numerous sediment quality guidelines (SQGs) developed during the past 20 years to assist regulators in dealing with contaminated sediments. Unfortunately, most of these have been developed in North America. Traditionally, sediment contamination was determined by assessing the bulk chemical concentrations of individual compounds and often comparing them with background or reference values. Since the 1980s, SQGs have attempted to incorporate biological effects in their derivation approach. These approaches can be categorized as empirical, frequency-based approaches to establish the relationship between sediment contamination and toxic response, and theoretically based approaches that attempt to account for differences in bioavailability through equilibrium partitioning (EqP) (i.e., using organic carbon or acid volatile sulfides). Some of these guidelines have been adopted by various regulatory agencies in several countries and are being used as cleanup goals in remediation activities and to identify priority polluted sites. The original SQGs, which compared bulk chemical concentrations to a reference or to background, provided little insight into the ecosystem impact of sediment contaminants. Therefore, SQGs for individual chemicals were developed that relied on field sediment chemistry paired with field or laboratory-based biological effects data. Although some SQGs have been found to be relatively good predictors of significant site contamination, they also have several limitations. False positive and false negative predictions are frequently in the 20% to 30% range for many chemicals and higher for others. The guidelines are chemical specific and do not establish causality where chemical mixtures occur. Equilibrium-based guidelines do not consider sediment ingestion as an exposure route. The guidelines do not consider spatial and temporal variability, and they may not apply in dynamic or larger-grained sediments. Finally, sediment chemistry and bioavailability are easily altered by sampling and subsequent manipulation processes, and therefore, measured SQGs may not reflect in situ conditions. All the assessment tools provide useful information, but some (such as SQGs, laboratory toxicity and bioaccumulation, and benthic indices) are prone to misinterpretation without the availability of specific in situ exposure and effects data. SQGs should be used only in a "screening" manner or in a "weight-of-evidence" approach. Aquatic ecosystems (including sediments) must be assessed in a "holistic" manner in which multiple components are assessed (e.g., habitat, hydrodynamics, resident biota, toxicity, and physicochemistry, including SQGs) by using integrated approaches.

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Predicting stress in benthic communities of southeastern U.S. estuaries in relation to chemical contamination of sediments

Cited by 72 publications

References 19 publications

Ecosystem Responses to Extreme Natural Events: Impacts of Three Sequential Hurricanes in Fall 1999 on Sediment Quality and Condition of Benthic Fauna in the Neuse River Estuary, North Carolina

Ecosystem Responses to Extreme Natural Events: Impacts of Three Sequential Hurricanes in Fall 1999 on Sediment Quality and Condition of Benthic Fauna in the Neuse River Estuary, North Carolina

Organic carbon content of sediments as an indicator of stress in the marine benthos

Sediment quality criteria in use around the world

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