A large region of low-dissolved-oxygen bottom waters (hypoxia) forms nearly every summer in the northern Gulf of Mexico because of nutrient inputs from the Mississippi River Basin and water column stratification. Policymakers developed goals to reduce the area of hypoxic ...

Estuaries exhibit a large range in their responses to nitrogen loadings determined in part by characteristics of the driver, such as magnitude and frequency, but also by such intrinsic characteristics as physical/chemical factors (e.g., depth, volume, hypsometry, salinity, turbidity) and ...

Human activities, especially increased nutrient loads that set in motion a cascading chain of events related to eutrophication, accelerate development of hypoxia (lower oxygen concentration) in many areas of the world’s coastal ocean. Climate changes and extreme weather events may ...

The Gulf of Mexico is one of the most ecologically and economically valuable marine ecosystems in the world and is affected by a variety of natural and anthropogenic phenomena including climate, hurricanes, coastal development, agricultural runoff, oil spills, and fishing ...

Water quality problems, including sedimentation and over enrichment of nutrients, have the potential to adversely impact coral reef ecosystems. Phosphorus and reactive nitrogen can enter the environment from chemical fertilizers (residential, commercial and agricultural uses), industrial sources, animal waste, and ...

The sensitivity of surface chlorophyll (Chl) and bottom water dissolved oxygen (DO) to total nitrogen (TN) load was investigated using a Bayesian?based process model fit to data from a range of estuaries. The model was used to test if the ...

The long-term impacts on marine ecosystems of the recent dramatic worldwide increase in the incidence of coastal hypoxia are unknown. Here, we show widespread reproductive disruption in Atlantic croakers collected from hypoxic sites approximately 120 km apart in the extensive ...

Thirty sites were sampled in southern Biscayne Bay and Manatee Bay in December 1999 to determine the extent of toxicity in sediments. Analyses and assays included: pesticides and phenols in seawater; chemical contaminants in sediment; amphipod mortality, HRGS P450, sea ...

Ciguatera fish poisoning is a common form of seafood poisoning caused by toxins (ciguatoxins) that accumulate in demersal (reef) food webs. The precursors of ciguatoxins are produced by dinoflagellates of the genus Gambierdiscus, and enter the food web via herbivory ...

This report characterizes the land-use around the Mussel Watch Program (MWP) monitoring sites in the Great Lakes. Land-use is an important parameter in the assessment of the nearshore environment, as contaminant monitoring sites are influenced by point and non-point source ...