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DEVELOPMENT OF NITROGEN LOADING - RESPONSE RELATIONSHIPS FOR ESTUARINE WATERS USING AN EMPIRICAL COMPARATIVE SYSTEMS APPROACH
Citation:
Latimer, J S., G Cicchetti, D J. Keith, S Rego, L Coiro, A. F. Santos, E H. Dettmann, M Abdelrhman, R A. McKinney, G B. Thursby, C Pesch, B J. Bergen, W Nelson, AND M Charpentier. DEVELOPMENT OF NITROGEN LOADING - RESPONSE RELATIONSHIPS FOR ESTUARINE WATERS USING AN EMPIRICAL COMPARATIVE SYSTEMS APPROACH. Presented at Estuarine Research Federation Conference, Seattle, WA, September 14-18, 2003.
Description:
The U.S. EPA Atlantic Ecology Division (AED) has initiated a multi-year research program to develop empirical nitrogen load-response models for embayments in southern New England. This is part of a multi-regional effort to develop nutrient load-response models for the Gulf of Mexico, Pacific Northwest, and the Great Lakes under the Aquatic Stressors Research Program. Models are under development using water quality indicators of hypoxia, food web change, and submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) loss. AED is evaluating 44 embayments along the Connecticut, Rhode Island, and southern Massachusetts coasts. Specifically, sediment profile imagery is used as an indicator of the intensity and duration of hypoxia. Food web change is assessed using airplane-mounted, remotely sensed chlorophyll-a as a biomass indicator for phytoplankton. SAV extent is determined using airplane-mounted digital photography. The approach is based on statistical associations, and predictions will apply to the class of systems used in the model development; however, by including systems with a wide range of loadings, the model applicability increases. Preliminary data reveal a wide range of responses that appear to relate to nitrogen loads in the embayments. The field techniques and indicators used for the research program can be easily adapted and transferred to coastal environmental managers.