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ASSESSING THE CONDITION OF SOUTH CAROLINA'S ESTUARIES: A NEW APPROACH INVOLVING INTEGRATED MEASURES OF CONDITION
Citation:
Van Dolah, R. F., P. C. Jutte, Riekerk, G. H. M., M. V. Levisen, D. E. Chestnut, D. W. Bearden, G. I. Scott, AND J E. Harvey. ASSESSING THE CONDITION OF SOUTH CAROLINA'S ESTUARIES: A NEW APPROACH INVOLVING INTEGRATED MEASURES OF CONDITION. Presented at Southeast Coastal Ocean Science Conference, Charleston, SC, Jan 27-31, 2003.
Description:
The South Carolina Estuarine and Coastal Assessment Program (SCECAP) was initiated in 1999 to assess the condition of the state's coastal habitats using multiple measures of water quality, sediment quality, and biological condition. Sampling has subsequently been expanded to include components required for the USEPA Coastal 2000 Program. Approximately 30 sites are sampled each year in both tidal creak (<100 m in width) and larger open water habitats using a probability-based random sampling design. Integrated measures of water and sediment quality incorporate multiple variables and use a standardized scoring process that rates condition relative to published standards, bioeffects criteria, or historical data. The primary biotic measure is a benthic index to biotic condition (B-IBI) developed for this region, although many other measures of biotic condition are also collected. Results obtained from 1999-2000 indicate that approximately 37% of the creek and 11% of the state's open water habitat had poor or marginal water quality. Approximately 38% of the creek and 33% of the open water habitat had poor or marginal sediment quality, and less than or equal to 16% of either habitat showed evidence of degraded benthic communities. When all components were evaluated collectively at each site only 12% of the state's creek habitat and 8% of the open water habitat had an integrated score indicating marginal conditions. Significant differences were noted in several of the environmental and biological measures collected in tidal creek versus open water habitats, which indicates that these habitats should be evaluated separately.