Detrimental effects of sedimentation on marine benthos: what can be learned from natural processes and rates?

doi:10.1016/S0925-8574(02)00081-2

Ecological Engineering

Volume 19, Issue 3, September 2002, Pages 211-232

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0925-8574(02)00081-2 Get rights and content

Abstract

Benthic organisms are adapted to the natural processes of sediment movement, erosion and deposition. Laboratory studies have cataloged the range of responses to flow and sediment movement that allow benthos to survive, and even to thrive, under intense, storm-driven sediment movement. Extreme sedimentation events also result from man's modifications of the nearshore marine environment, and the scale and magnitude of these alterations can often greatly exceed that of natural occurrences. Unfortunately, there is little of the quantitative information necessary for predicting how materials placement, sediment deposition and erosion will affect the ecology of these environments. We are using both field and laboratory approaches in Delaware Bay to address two questions. First, what rates and frequencies of sediment movement characterize natural events, and second, what rates and frequencies are detrimental to representative benthic species and functional groups. We present these results as case studies that address ecological impacts of dredge materials placement, site selection and benthic community responses. Quantifying natural sedimentation rates and the susceptibility of macrofauna by functional groups are both critical to reliably predicting environmental impacts. If biological effects are parameterized appropriately (i.e. in terms of natural processes), it may be possible to employ the existing knowledge-base of benthic ecology to predict effects of disturbances and to design projects that will minimize these impacts. Materials placement that is analogous to natural events should allow community responses to follow natural seasonal and successional trends and to exhibit minimal anthropogenic impacts. When sedimentation exceeds natural thresholds, then impacts may involve total loss of the community and subsequent colonization by pioneer species. In this latter case, an entirely different suite of ecological processes will drive impacts and recovery, potentially leading to dramatically altered benthic communities. Understanding organisms’ sublethal responses and drawing on experimental ecological studies will lead to improved prediction of benthic community responses and more reliable assessment of project impacts.

Introduction

Current approaches to the effects of high rates of sedimentation on benthic organisms are limited in scope and ineffective. New approaches are necessary to properly understand the effects of erosion and deposition extremes on marine benthic organisms. Using examples from ongoing work in the field and in our laboratory, we will illustrate some ways in which these limitations may be overcome, yielding results of direct relevance to dredge project design and benthic resource management. By applying these new concepts and drawing upon the ecological processes literature, we believe that it will be possible to better predict direct impacts, to determine appropriate options for site remediation, and to assess the potential for beneficial uses of dredge material.

Section snippets

Basic assertions

Even the casual visitor to the seashore will appreciate that sediment movement is a natural phenomenon. Waves and tides move sand, and the rates of movement are greatly modulated by the wind and weather (Miller and Sternberg, 1988, Hall, 1994, Sherwood et al., 1994). The most severe agents of sediment movement on the Mid-Atlantic coast are winter nor'easters and summer hurricanes. Seasonally, the ocean shoreline erodes during the winter and accretes in the summer. Sandbars shoal and shift, and

Critical issues

While beach projects have many positive societal benefits, they also cause the disruption of coastal benthic habitats and living resources (National Research Council, 1995). The traditional mainstays of benthic resource assessment are coring and grab sampling of the seafloor, preservation of organisms in formalin, and faunal enumeration in the laboratory. These techniques are aptly known as ‘kill'em and count'em’ methodologies. At a tentatively chosen disposal site, benthic sampling and

Case studies in Delaware Bay

In Delaware Bay (Fig. 1), we are using field and lab studies to determine what rates and frequencies of sediment movement occur naturally, and further, what rates and frequencies are detrimental to representative benthic species and functional groups. As a preliminary step, we completed a white paper literature study (Miller, 1999a) to build upon previous efforts and to identify data gaps. Subsequently, we have used field studies and laboratory experiments to investigate sedimentation effects

Predicting impacts from new data and the ecological literature

We recognize that the treatment levels employed in our experiments described above are less severe than would be expected in a dredging project. Deposition treatments on the order of 10 cm per day were chosen intentionally to fall between biological rates and the typical dredging project. Lower rates typical of bioturbation are known to affect benthos and are relatively well studied in the field and lab (Krager and Woodin, 1993). There is little doubt that deposition of one meter of sand will

Conclusions

In this paper, we have argued for a new approach to real-life coastline management situations, one that goes well beyond conventional impact monitoring and assessment. Standard macrofaunal sampling and whole community analysis have been mainstays of benthic ecology and continue to develop novel tools for more probing analyses. Inferences derived from whole-community assessments must be based on a firm empirical and theoretical basis, preferably through rigorous experimentation and not just

Acknowledgements

For supporting this work and the preparation of this manuscript, we thank the University of Delaware Sea Grant College Program (Project R/ME-25), and the National Science Foundation GRT and REU program grants to the Graduate College of Marine Studies. Several anonymous reviewers aided us in improving this manuscript. We also thank Vince Capone of Marine Search & Survey, Inc. and Captain Jerry Blakeslee of the MV Grizzly for technical, equipment and logistical support in the field.

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View full text

Detrimental effects of sedimentation on marine benthos: what can be learned from natural processes and rates?

Abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

Basic assertions

Critical issues

Case studies in Delaware Bay

Predicting impacts from new data and the ecological literature

Conclusions

Acknowledgements

J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol.

J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol.

Est. Coastal Shelf Sci.

J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol.

J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol.

Est. Coastal Shelf Sci.

Mar. Environ. Res.

Estuar. Coastal Mar. Sci.

J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol.

Mollusca Mar. Environ. Res.

Crustacea Mar. Environ. Res.

Polychaeta Mar. Environ. Res.

J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol.

Habitat quality for shallow water fishes in an urban estuary: the effects of man-made structures on growth

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

Feeding ecology of Leitoscoloplos fragilis. II. Effects of worm density on benthic diatom populations

Mar. Biol.

Natural variability of benthic species composition in the Delaware Bay

Environ. Ecol. Stat.

Seston variability and daily growth in Mercenaria mercenaria on an intertidal sandflat

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

Fluid flow and suspended particulates as determinants of polychaete feeding behavior

J. Mar. Res.

Particle selectivity, gut volume, and the response to a step change in diet for deposit-feeding polychaetes

Limnol. Oceanogr.

Disturbance and community structure: an experimental study of bioturbation in marine soft-bottom environments

J. Mar. Res.

Spatial and temporal distribution of a deposit-feeding polychaete on a heterogeneous tidal flat

J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol.

Foraging by mobile predators on a rocky shore: underwater TV observations of movements of blennies Lipophrys pholis and crabs Carcinus maenas

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

Application of an acoustic sea floor classification system for benthic habitat assessment

J. Shellfish Res.

Coastal Zone Management Handbook

Distribution of Sabellaria vulgaris Verrill (Polychaeta: Sabellariidae) on a sandflat in Delaware Bay

Chesapeake Sci.

Aspects of the population dynamics of the polychaete Sabellaria vulgaris Verrill in Delaware Bay

Estuaries

Growth, trematode parasitism, and longevity of a long-lived marine gastropod (Ilyanassa obsoleta)

J. Mar. Biol. Assoc. UK

Longevity of oversized individuals: growth, parasitism, and history in an estuarine snail population

J. Mar. Biol. Assoc. UK

Novel optical remote sensing and ground-truthing of benthic habitat using the Burrow–Cutter–Diaz plowing sediment profile camera system (BCD sled)

J. Shellfish Res.

Nocturnal swimming of Scolecolepides viridis (Polychaeta: Spionidae)

Estuaries

Marine benthic hypoxia: a review of its ecological effects and the behavioral responses of benthic macrofauna

Ocean. Mar. Biol. Ann. Rev.

Hydrodynamic processes affecting benthic recruitment

Limnol. Oceanogr.

The control of the soft-shell clam (Mya arenaria) recruitment on intertidal sandflats by bedload sediment transport

Limnol. Oceanogr.

Marine ecological research in seashore and seafloor systems: accomplishments and future directions

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

The diet of worms: a study of polychaete feeding guilds. Oceanogr

Mar. Biol. Ann. Rev.

The relative magnitude of biological and physical sediment reworking in an intertidal community

J. Mar. Res.

An assessment of the acoustic survey technique, RoxAnn, as a means of mapping seabed habitat

ICES J. Mar. Sci.

Substrate selection and use of protective cover by juvenile Atlantic cod Gadus morhua in inshore waters off Newfoundland

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

High-resolution remote sensing of intertidal ecosystems: a low-cost technique to link scale-dependent patterns and processes

Limnol. Oceanogr.

Benthic invertebrates associated with a serpulid polychaete assemblage in a temperate estuary

Int. Rev. Ges. Hydrobiol.

Quantitative faunal associates of the serpulid polychaete Hydroides dianthus

Mar. Biol.

Physical disturbance and marine benthic communities: life in unconsolidated sediments

Ocean. Mar. Biol. Ann. Rev.