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EUTROPHICATION OF COASTAL WATER BODIES: RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN NUTRIENT LOADINGS AND ECOLOGICAL RESPONSE
Citation:
Cicchetti, G, J S. Latimer, E H. Dettmann, R A. McKinney, S Rego, D J. Keith, R. R. Ahlgren, AND R. J. Diaz. EUTROPHICATION OF COASTAL WATER BODIES: RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN NUTRIENT LOADINGS AND ECOLOGICAL RESPONSE. Presented at New England Estuarine Research Society, Block Island, RI, November 2, 2000.
Description:
This newly initiated research is intended to provide environmental managers with an empirical method to develop regional nutrient input limits for East Coast estuaries and other coastal water bodies. Our goal is to create an improved model of nutrient load-response relationships. We will estimate nutrient loading with land use/GIS models, adjusted to estuarine flushing times. A combination of four indicators (chlorophyll-a, SAV coverage, sediment profile imagery, and epibenthic macrofauna), taken either individually or as a multidimensional index, will be used to assess system response to nutrient overenrichment and allow comparisons among systems. Specifically, time-averaged remotely sensed chlorophyll-a data will assess the water column biomass response. Seagrass coverage will examine the shallow-water benthic response. Sediment profile camera images will assess benthic condition in deeper water. Benthic surface video imagery will provide an assessment of epibenthic macrofaunal community structure. Within an estuarine system, the combination of all four variables is designed to provide good spatial coverage. We will initially minimize latitudinal variation in this model by examining estuaries, sub-estuaries, and other embayments in southern New England. Once nutrient load-response relationships are successfully formulated for this region, we will expand this approach to other areas of the East Coast. The expected research results will be delivered in stages, with each successive stage refining the scientific basis for management decisions. The first stage will be development of a method to determine if a system has a eutrophication problem. In this talk, we will present a preliminary model that includes three of the four response variables for nine systems in Narragansett Bay, and we will discuss the applicability of our approach to future efforts in Southern New England.