Relative importance of multiple environmental variables in structuring benthic macroinfaunal assemblages in chronically metal-polluted salt marshes
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In: Marine pollution bulletin, Vol. 60, No. 3, 01.03.2010, p. 363-75.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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T1 - Relative importance of multiple environmental variables in structuring benthic macroinfaunal assemblages in chronically metal-polluted salt marshes
AU - Goto, Daisuke
AU - Wallace, William G
N1 - Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
PY - 2010/3/1
Y1 - 2010/3/1
N2 - In this study, we assessed importance of sediment-associated trace metals in structuring benthic macroinfaunal assemblages along multiple environmental gradients in chronically polluted salt marshes of the Arthur Kill - AK (New York, USA). More than 90% of benthic macroinfaunal communities at the northern AK sites consisted of a considerably large number of only a few polychaete and oligochaete species. Approximately 70% of among-site variances in abundance and biomass of benthic macroinfaunal communities was strongly associated with a few environmental variables; only sediment-associated mercury consistently contributed to a significant proportion of the explained variances in species composition along natural environmental gradients (e.g., salinity). Although sediment-associated copper, lead, and zinc were substantially elevated at some of the AK sites, their ecological impacts on benthic macroinfaunal communities appeared to be negligible. These findings suggest that cumulative metal-specific impacts may have played an important role in structuring benthic macroinfaunal communities in chronically polluted AK ecosystems.
AB - In this study, we assessed importance of sediment-associated trace metals in structuring benthic macroinfaunal assemblages along multiple environmental gradients in chronically polluted salt marshes of the Arthur Kill - AK (New York, USA). More than 90% of benthic macroinfaunal communities at the northern AK sites consisted of a considerably large number of only a few polychaete and oligochaete species. Approximately 70% of among-site variances in abundance and biomass of benthic macroinfaunal communities was strongly associated with a few environmental variables; only sediment-associated mercury consistently contributed to a significant proportion of the explained variances in species composition along natural environmental gradients (e.g., salinity). Although sediment-associated copper, lead, and zinc were substantially elevated at some of the AK sites, their ecological impacts on benthic macroinfaunal communities appeared to be negligible. These findings suggest that cumulative metal-specific impacts may have played an important role in structuring benthic macroinfaunal communities in chronically polluted AK ecosystems.
KW - Animals
KW - Biodiversity
KW - Biomass
KW - Environmental Monitoring
KW - Geologic Sediments/chemistry
KW - Invertebrates/drug effects
KW - Kinetics
KW - Mercury/analysis
KW - Metals, Heavy/analysis
KW - Multivariate Analysis
KW - New York
KW - Oligochaeta/drug effects
KW - Polychaeta/drug effects
KW - Seawater/chemistry
KW - Water Pollutants, Chemical/analysis
KW - Wetlands
U2 - 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2009.11.002
DO - 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2009.11.002
M3 - Article
C2 - 19954802
VL - 60
SP - 363
EP - 375
JO - Marine pollution bulletin
JF - Marine pollution bulletin
SN - 0025-326X
IS - 3
ER -