Species sensitivity distributions for suspended clays, sediment burial, and grain size change in the marine environment

Smit, Mathijs G.D.; Holthaus, Karlijn I. E.; Trannum, Hilde Cecilie; Neff, Jerry M.; Kjeilen-Eilertsen, Grete; Jak, R.G.; Singsaas, Ivar; Huijbregts, Mark A. J.; Hendriks, A. Jan

doi:10.1897/07-339.1

Cited by 86 publications

(82 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Nevertheless, while tailings addition resulted in an upward shift of the entire macrofauna community, dead sediment addition resulted in a less clear distinction between surface and subsurface community composition, compared to the control situation. The stress response of macrofauna is species-specific and depends on their mobility, oxygen requirements, and feeding type (Chou et al, 2004;Hinchey et al, 2006;Smit et al, 2008). In a metanalysis, Smit et al (2008) predicted from marine species sensitivity distributions that instantaneous burial with 5.4 cm of natural sediment would negatively affect about half of the 32 analyzed macrofauna species.…”

Section: Substrate Addition Induces Structural Changes Of the Benthicmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The stress response of macrofauna is species-specific and depends on their mobility, oxygen requirements, and feeding type (Chou et al, 2004;Hinchey et al, 2006;Smit et al, 2008). In a metanalysis, Smit et al (2008) predicted from marine species sensitivity distributions that instantaneous burial with 5.4 cm of natural sediment would negatively affect about half of the 32 analyzed macrofauna species. Furthermore, burial with 0.63 cm already affected 5% of the tested macrofauna species.…”

Section: Substrate Addition Induces Structural Changes Of the Benthicmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Impaired Short-Term Functioning of a Benthic Community from a Deep Norwegian Fjord Following Deposition of Mine Tailings and Sediments

et al. 2017

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The extraction of minerals from land-based mines necessitates the disposal of large amounts of mine tailings. Dumping and storage of tailings into the marine environment, such as fjords, is currently being performed without knowing the potential ecological consequences. This study investigated the effect of short-term exposure to different deposition depths of inert iron ore tailings (0.1, 0.5, and 3 cm) and dead subsurface sediment (0.5 and 3 cm) on a deep water (200 m) fjord benthic assemblage in a microcosm experiment. Biotic and abiotic variables were measured to determine structural and functional changes of the benthic community following an 11 and 16 day exposure with tailings and dead sediment, respectively. Structural changes of macrofauna, meiofauna, and bacteria were measured in terms of biomass, density, community composition and mortality while measures of oxygen penetration depth, sediment community oxygen consumption and 13 C-uptake and processing by biota revealed changes in the functioning of the system. Burial with mine tailings and natural sediments modified the structure and functioning of the benthic community albeit in a different way. Mine tailings deposition of 0.1 cm and more resulted in a reduced capacity of the benthic community to remineralize fresh 13 C-labeled algal material, as evidenced by the reduced sediment community oxygen consumption and uptake rates in all biological compartments. At 3 cm of tailings deposition, it was evident that nematode mortality was higher inside the tailings layer, likely caused by reduced food availability. In contrast, dead sediment addition led to an increase in oxygen consumption and bacterial carbon uptake comparable to control conditions, thereby leaving deeper sediment layers anoxic and in turn causing nematode mortality at 3 cm deposition. This study clearly shows that even small levels (0.1 cm) of instantaneous burial by mine tailings may significantly reduce benthic ecosystem functioning on the short term. Furthermore, it Mevenkamp et al. Impaired Functioning Following Tailings Deposition reveals the importance of substrate characteristics and origin when studying the effects of substrate addition on marine benthic fauna. Our findings should alert decision makers when considering approval of new deep-sea tailings placement sites as this technique will have major negative impacts on benthic ecosystem functioning over large areas.

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Section: Substrate Addition Induces Structural Changes Of the Benthicmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Substrate Addition Induces Structural Changes Of the Benthicmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impaired Short-Term Functioning of a Benthic Community from a Deep Norwegian Fjord Following Deposition of Mine Tailings and Sediments

et al. 2017

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“…A SSD is a statistical distribution that describes the variation between species in sensitivity to an environmental stressor (Leuven et al 2007(Leuven et al , 2011Posthuma et al 2002;Smit et al 2008). In our study, the calculated fraction of species affected is addressed as the potentially not occurring fraction (PNOF) (van Zelm et al 2007), representing the fraction of mollusc species potentially excluded from the river Rhine because of water temperature and salinity limitations.…”

Section: Species Sensitivity Distributionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sensitivity of native and non-native mollusc species to changing river water temperature and salinity

et al. 2011

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Climate change may strongly affect the abiotic conditions in riverine ecosystems, for example by changing water temperature regimes and salinisation due to sea water intrusion and evaporation. We analysed the effects of changes in water temperature and salinity on the species pool of freshwater molluscs in the river Rhine. Species sensitivity distributions (SSDs) for maximum temperature and salinity tolerance were constructed for native and non-native species that are currently present in the river Rhine. The maximum temperature tolerance was significantly higher for nonnative mollusc species than native ones. For salinity tolerance, no significant difference was found between the two groups. The SSDs were used to determine the potentially not occurring fractions (PNOFs) of each species group corresponding with the yearly maximum water temperature and salinity levels recorded in (1) different river sections for the extreme warm and dry year 2003, and (2) the river Rhine at Lobith (The Netherlands) over the period . Changing temperature and salinity conditions in the river Rhine over the past 50 years corresponded with a net increase in PNOF for native species. This was mainly due to rising river water temperatures, which had a larger influence than decreasing salinity levels. For non-native species no change in PNOF was found, indicating that future temperature rise will disproportionally affect native mollusc species. Validation of the PNOF estimated for Lobith with the not occurring fraction (NOF) of mollusc species derived from monitoring data revealed similar trends for native as well as non-native mollusc species richness. The increase in the PNOF accounted for 14% of the increase in the NOF. The construction and application of SSDs appeared a promising approach to address the separate and combined effects of changing abiotic conditions on native and non-native species pools.

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“…The primary response of benthic organisms to a physical disturbance is often severe damage or mortality (Bolam and Rees, 2003;Kaiser et al, 2006;Collie et al, 2000). Particularly impacted are sedentary organisms and filter feeders, such as anemones, soft corals and bivalve species (Kaiser et al, 2002;Widdicombe and Austen, 2001;Thrush and Dayton, 2002;Smit et al, 2008). This can result in a number of changes in benthic communities, including loss of habitatstructuring species, substantial decline in taxon abundance, and changes in species richness (Kaiser et al, 2002;Thrush and Dayton, 2002;Hiddink et al, 2006).…”

Section: Cause-effectmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Benthic impacts were quantified based on the initial benthic response and a recovery rate derived from empirical studies on recovery of benthic communities after particle disposal. The initial benthic response was quantified based on an SSD developed from laboratory studies on effects of particle deposition (burial) on several benthic species (Smit et al, 2008). Characterization factors are expressed as potentially affected fraction of species per volume of sediment.…”

Section: Quantitative Approaches and Lca Perspectivementioning

confidence: 99%

Towards a meaningful assessment of marine ecological impacts in life cycle assessment (LCA)

Woods

Veltman

Huijbregts

et al. 2016

Environment International

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Human demands on marine resources and space are currently unprecedented and concerns are rising over observed declines in marine biodiversity. A quantitative understanding of the impact of industrial activities on the marine environment is thus essential. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a widely applied method for quantifying the environmental impact of products and processes. LCA was originally developed to assess the impacts of landbased industries on mainly terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems. As such, impact indicators for major drivers of marine biodiversity loss are currently lacking. We review quantitative approaches for cause-effect assessment of seven major drivers of marine biodiversity loss: climate change, ocean acidification, eutrophication-induced hypoxia, seabed damage, overexploitation of biotic resources, invasive species and marine plastic debris. Our review shows that impact indicators can be developed for all identified drivers, albeit at different levels of coverage of cause-effect pathways and variable levels of uncertainty and spatial coverage. Modeling approaches to predict the spatial distribution and intensity of human-driven interventions in the marine environment are relatively well-established and can be employed to develop spatially-explicit LCA fate factors. Modeling approaches to quantify the effects of these interventions on marine biodiversity are less well-developed. We highlight specific research challenges to facilitate a coherent incorporation of marine biodiversity loss in LCA, thereby making LCA a more comprehensive and robust environmental impact assessment tool. Research challenges of particular importance include i) incorporation of the non-linear behavior of global circulation models (GCMs) within an LCA framework and ii) improving spatial differentiation, especially the representation of coastal regions in GCMs and ocean-carbon cycle models.

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Species sensitivity distributions for suspended clays, sediment burial, and grain size change in the marine environment

Cited by 86 publications

References 32 publications

Impaired Short-Term Functioning of a Benthic Community from a Deep Norwegian Fjord Following Deposition of Mine Tailings and Sediments

Impaired Short-Term Functioning of a Benthic Community from a Deep Norwegian Fjord Following Deposition of Mine Tailings and Sediments

Sensitivity of native and non-native mollusc species to changing river water temperature and salinity

Towards a meaningful assessment of marine ecological impacts in life cycle assessment (LCA)

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