Hypoxic volume is more responsive than hypoxic area to nutrient load reductions in the northern Gulf of Mexico—and it matters to fish and fisheries

Scavia, Donald; Justić, Dubravko; Obenour, Daniel R; Craig, J Kevin; Wang, Lixia

doi:10.1088/1748-9326/aaf938

i

Hypoxic volume is more responsive than hypoxic area to nutrient load reductions in the northern Gulf of Mexico—and it matters to fish and fisheries

2019
By Scavia, Donald ; Justić, Dubravko ; Obenour, Daniel R ; ...

Details

Alternative Title:

Hypoxic volume is more responsive than hypoxic area to nutrient load reductions in the northern Gulf of Mexico-and it matters to fish and fisheries
Journal Title:

Environmental Research Letters
Personal Author:

Scavia, Donald ; Justić, Dubravko ; Obenour, Daniel R ; Craig, J Kevin ; Wang, Lixia
NOAA Program & Office:

NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) ; SEFSC (Southeast Fisheries Science Center) ; NOS (National Ocean Service) ; NCCOS (National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science)
Description:

While impacts of low oxygen on marine organisms have been reviewed from physiological and ecological perspectives, relating broad population- and ecosystem-level effects to the areal extent of hypoxia (dissolved oxygen concentration below 64 mu M, or 2mg l(-1)) has proven difficult. Wesuggest that hypoxic volume is a more appropriate metric compared to hypoxic area because volume better integrates the effects of hypoxia on ecological processes relevant to many marine taxa. In this paper, we compare the volume-based load responses from a simple biophysical model with results from an independent three-dimensional hydrodynamic-biogeochemical model, and discuss the implications with respect to potentially more ecologically-relevant hypoxia management goals. Wealso show that hypoxic volume appears more sensitive than hypoxic area to nutrient load reductions. Model simulations indicate that even under a modest 25% nitrogen load reduction, the thickness of the hypoxic layer in the northern Gulf of Mexico decreases markedly, and hypoxia remains localized to a relatively thin layer near the bottom that most fish and other mobile organisms can more effectively avoid. This finding should be considered when reviewing and potentially setting hypoxia management goals.
Keywords:

Atmospheric Science Biological Models Dissolved Oxygen Ecology Environmental Enrichment (Animal Culture) Environmental Sciences Forecasting Habitat (Ecology) Hypoxia Meteorology Nitrogen Summer Volume Water Atmospheric Science Biological Models Dissolved Oxygen Environmental Sciences
Source:

Environmental Research Letters
DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aaf938
Document Type:

Journal Article
Funding:

Grant nos. NA09NOS780204 ; Grant no. NA16NOS4780204 ; Grant no. NA16NOS4780203
Place as Subject:

Mexico, Gulf of ; Erie, Lake ; Mississippi River ; Louisiana
Rights Information:

CC BY
Compliance:

PMC
Main Document Checksum:

urn:sha-512:447e2144b15831579ad7b36d357d90f32fd871f560322acfe5a0fad72004b672637a957a318ca0ab97109b26140619bb6729d6b61fadfe2a955eb22ccf0bcb54
Download URL:

https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/26060/noaa_26060_DS1.pdf
File Type:

[PDF - 890.57 KB ]

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