Details:

Journal Title:
Estuaries and Coasts
Personal Author:
Seitz, Rochelle D. ; Knick, Kathleen E. ; Davenport, Theresa M. ; Saluta, Gabrielle G.
Seitz, Rochelle D. ; Knick, Kathleen E. ; Davenport, Theresa M. ; Saluta, Gabrielle G. Less -
NOAA Program & Office:
NOS (National Ocean Service)
Description:
Anthropogenic stressors can affect subtidal communities within the land-water interface. Increasing anthropogenic activities, including upland and shoreline development, threaten ecologically important species in these habitats. In this study, we examined the consequences of anthropogenic stressors on benthic macrofaunal communities in 14 subestuaries of Chesapeake Bay. We investigated how subestuary upland use (forested, agricultural, developed land) and shoreline development (riprap and bulkhead compared to marsh and beach) affected density, biomass, and diversity of benthic infauna. Upland and shoreline development were parameters included in the most plausible models among a candidate set compared using corrected Akaike’s Information Criterion. For benthic macrofauna, density tended to be lower in subestuaries with developed or mixed compared to forested or agricultural upland use. Benthic biomass was significantly lower in subestuaries with developed compared to forested upland use, and biomass declined exponentially with proportion of near-shore developed land. Benthic density did not differ significantly among natural marsh, beach, and riprap habitats, but tended to be lower adjacent to bulkhead shorelines. Including all subestuaries, there were no differences in diversity by shoreline type. In low salinities, benthic Shannon (H′) diversity tended to be higher adjacent to natural marshes compared to the other habitats, and lower adjacent to bulkheads, but the pattern was reversed in high salinities. Sediment characteristics varied by shoreline type and contributed to differences in benthic community structure. Given the changes in the infaunal community with anthropogenic stressors, subestuary upland and shoreline development should be minimized to increase benthic production and subsequent trophic transfer within the food web.
Keywords:
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Aquatic Science Ecology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior And Systematics
Source:
Estuaries and Coasts, 41(S1), 114-130
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-017-0347-6
ISSN:
1559-2723;1559-2731;
Format:
PDF
Publisher:
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Document Type:
Journal Article
Funding:
Grant no. NA09NOS4780221
License:
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Rights Information:
CC BY
Compliance:
Library
Main Document Checksum:
[+]
urn:sha256:61479997106fd1619d4f381888dafd41a7b8c4086edb3b497da790c8fe0c0a1f
Download URL:
https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/58614/noaa_58614_DS1.pdf
File Type:

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