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Seven decades of benthic community change in an urbanized estuary: a historical ecology approach.
Citation:
Pelletier, Peg, D. Cobb, K. Rocha, K. Ho, M. Cantwell, M. Perron, Mike Charpentier, Harry Buffum, S. Hale, AND R. Burgess. Seven decades of benthic community change in an urbanized estuary: a historical ecology approach. ECSA 59: Estuarine and Coastal Conference, Kursaal, San Sebastian, SPAIN, September 05 - 08, 2022.
Impact/Purpose:
Narragansett Bay is an estuary (area where salt water and freshwater meet) located in southern New England. It is typical of other urbanized estuaries with colonization in the early 17th century, and development into industrial and transportation centers in the late 18th and early 20th century. In recent decades, impacts from nutrients have been of particular concern. This study examined changes in certain invertebrate animal communities (e.g., clams and worms) across almost seven decades in response to sewage treatment breakdowns and eventual upgrades, as well as temperature and climate changes. We used historical ecology, an approach where we compare data to scientific reports, census data and newspaper accounts to look for patterns. This approach provides context when assessing present conditions and setting conservation or restoration targets.
Description:
Narragansett Bay is representative of northeastern urbanized estuaries in the US. Human development led to environmental degradation, which in turn promoted implementation of management controls starting in the 1970s. This study was designed to examine the response of benthic macroinvertebrates communities to large decadal changes in stressors and to management actions in the watershed between the 1950s through the 2010s. In Greenwich Bay and the Providence River, patterns of benthic response reflected the decline and then improvement in sewage treatment at the Fields Point wastewater treatment plant. In Mount Hope Bay, benthic impairment was related to changes in bay fish populations due to thermal discharge from the Brayton Point power plant. The benthos of the Upper West Passage reflected climatic changes that caused regime shifts in the plankton and fish communities. Future work will examine the effects of further environmental improvements in the face of continued climatic changes and population growth.
