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Benthic Faunal Distribution (Ongoing)
The Chemical Impacts Team (CIT) gathers sediment chemistry, toxicity and benthic community data in estuarine and coastal systems throughout the United States. Data have been gathered over large areas on a system by system basis.
One of the objectives of this research is to assess the degree and spatial extent of habitat and biological resources that are impacted by chemical contamination.
The physical and chemical features of habitats hinder our ability to subset them into statistically repeatable units and establish reference sites and test sites for the purpose of assessing the effects of contaminants on biological resources. This is particularly true in estuaries, one of the most variable and dynamic habitats.
COAST is employing a variety of multivariate statistical techniques to explore relationships between contaminant, toxicological and biological data. The utility of the investigation is to provide information to regulatory agencies and local stakeholders on how to prioritize and monitor cleanup efforts in contaminated areas and as a predictive tool to guide restrictions on releases and watershed land use activities that lead to degraded coastal habitats.
Each approach produces results that identify patterns and relationships between the three types of data. The analyses also identify factors which bias interpretation of the data. Various methods of data ordination and clustering have been applied and combined in an effort to produce meaningful patterns in the data. Many permutations of methods are possible.
Data from the 1997 NOAA National Status and Trends Program's Bioeffects survey of Delaware Bay were examined as a starting point. Because the Delaware Bay system has confounded gradients of contaminants and physical parameters, analyses are being repeated with data from other systems. Additional analyses are on-going.
Project Partners
Delaware River Basin Commission
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
San Francisco Estuary Institute
State of Washington, Department of Ecology