Publication Details
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Long-Term Monitoring of Ecological Conditions In Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary: Soft-Bottom Benthic Assemblages and Contaminant Levels in Sediments and Biota (2000, 2005, and 2012/13)
Author(s): Balthis, W.L.; J.L. Hyland; C. Cooksey; M.H. Fulton; E.F. Wirth
NCCOS Center: CCEHBR
Publication Type: NOAA Technical Memoranda
Journal Title: NOAA Technical Memorandum NOS NCCOS 206
Date of Publication: 2015
Reference Information:
35 pages
Abstract: In July 2012 and June 2013, NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) and Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary (GRNMS) conducted a study to assess the status of ecological condition and stressor impacts in GRNMS, with a primary focus on the soft-bottom benthos and sediment quality. The study was a continuation of an ongoing partnership, initiated in 2000, between NCCOS and GRNMS to provide periodic assessments of the status of condition as a quantitative basis for tracking potential changes through time, using common indicators and sampling protocols.
Most chemical contaminants in soft-bottom sediments in GRNMS were at consistently low, background levels or below the limit of detection in 2000, 2005, and 2012/13. Concentrations of copper exceeded the corresponding lower sediment quality guideline (ERL) at one station in 2000. No other exceedances of any sediment quality guidelines were observed in 2000, 2005, or 2012/13. Chemical contaminants in tissues of black sea bass (Centropristis striata) and turkey wing arks (Arca zebra) were present in detectable concentrations for most classes of contaminants in the three survey periods. No contaminants exceeded FDA human health guideline values. Levels of inorganic arsenic (estimated as 2% of total arsenic) measured in edible tissues of black sea bass in 2000 and 2012/13, however, fell within the range of concentrations for which EPA recommends limiting consumption to four meals per month.
The extensive areas of soft-bottom sediments throughout the sanctuary support highly diverse assemblages of benthic infauna. Although many of the same infaunal taxa were encountered in all three surveys, the relative abundance of individual species and patterns of dominance were variable and less repeatable, reflecting the temporally-dynamic nature of benthic assemblages within the sanctuary and surrounding SAB. Cumulatively, approximately 700 infaunal taxa were identified in 2000, 2005, and 2012/13. The inclusion of six sites re-sampled in 2001 and 2002 brought the total number of taxa to 790. Species accumulation curves generated from these combined data suggested an estimated maximum of nearly 900 benthic taxa present in the sanctuary. This estimate is substantially higher than an earlier estimate of 800 taxa, and likely results from the higher degree of taxonomic resolution achieved in taxonomic identifications in 2012/13. Additional sampling of infauna at GRNMS is needed to test and validate the most recent estimate.
Availability: Len.Balthis@noaa.gov
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