13 - Environmental Future of Estuaries Pp. 188-206

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Aquatic Ecosystems
Trends and Global Prospects
Edited by Nicholas V. C. Polunin
Book DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511751790
Online ISBN: 9780511751790
Hardback ISBN: 9780521833271
Chapter
13 - Environmental future of estuaries pp. 188-206
Chapter DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511751790.018
Cambridge University Press
13 Environmental future of estuaries
mi c h a e l j . k e n n i s h, r o b e rt j . l i v i n g s to n, dav e r a f fa e l l i a n d
ka r s t e n r e i s e
INTRODUCTION
Estuaries are biologically productive coastal ecosystems
where fresh water from land drainage mixes with seawater
(Kennish 1986, 2001a). They are coastal indentations with
restricted connections to the ocean and remain open at
least intermittently (Kjerfve 1989). The system can be
subdivided into three regions, namely (1) a tidal river zone
characterized by lack of ocean salinity but subject to tidal
rise and fall of sea level, (2) a mixing zone, the estuary
proper, characterized by water mass mixing and strong
gradients of physical, chemical and biotic components,
reaching from the tidal river zone to the seaward location
of a river mouth or ebb-tidal delta, and (3) a nearshore
turbid zone in the open ocean between the mixing zone and
the seaward edge of the tidal plume at full ebb tide.
The global coastal population may approach 8 billion
people by 2025 (Chapter 1) and anthropogenic activities affect
nearly all estuaries (Weber 1994; Hameedi 1997). Developing
Aquatic Ecosystems, ed. N. V. C. Polunin. Published by Cambridge University Press. Foundation for Environmental Conservation 2008.
188
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countries widely lack government environmental regulations
or have less stringent controls than most developed countries,
and their technology to mitigate environmental impacts in
estuarine embayments is also poor. However, currently the
most signicant human impacts are concentrated along
heavily populated industrialized coasts (Fig. 13.1).
Anthropogenic impacts on estuaries include point and
non-point source pollution, habitat loss and alteration,
shoreline development, altered hydrologic regimes, sea-level
rise, land subsidence, energy/resource operations, boating
and shipping, overshing, introduced/invasive species and
sediment input/turbidity (Table 13.1).
ESTUARI ES AS ECOSYSTEMS
Estuarine systems are among the most temporally variable of
all systems on Earth and are characterized by an array of
habitats with common physical, chemical and biological
attributes marked by abrupt changes in space and time.
Each estuarine system exhibits a unique combination of
these habitats. Primary productivity also differs widely both
within and among systems. The biological attributes and
productivity of each estuary are inuenced by the adaptive
responses of indigenous species. Seasonal and interannual
cycles of controlling factors, together with intermittent
storm events, provide a highly variable background.
Within individual drainage basins, the complex com-
binations of habitats form highly productive systems that
are interconnected physically, chemically and biologically.
High nutrient levels, multiple sources of primary and
secondary production, shallow depths, organically rich
sediments, energy subsidies from wind and tidal currents,
and freshwater inows together elevate the natural prod-
uctivity. Although similar patterns occur in many estuaries,
unique arrays of habitats in different systems lead to
broad variations of trophodynamic processes (Livingston
2000, 2002). Autochthonous and allochthonous sources
of nutrients result in high primary productivity and
substantial secondary production that supports sheries.
Anadromous (marine organisms that migrate to breed in
fresh water) and catadromous (freshwater organisms that
breed in the sea) species use major parts of these areas.
Most estuarine species spawn offshore, the young-of-the-
year populations migrating to inshore nurseries. Different
combinations of controlling factors, along with specic
patterns of inshoreoffshore migration of marine forms and
offshore movements of euryhaline species, contribute to the
area-specic characteristics of any estuarine system.
The basic characteristics of a given estuary are partly
determined by physiographic conditions (depth, surface
area, connections to the open ocean) andfreshwater inputs of
dissolved and particulate matter (Livingston 2000, 2002).
Arctic Circle
Tropic of Cancer
Tropic of Capricom
Antarctic Circle
Equator
Fig. 13.1. World map showing existing coastal areas (in bold) signicantly impacted by human activities. Note coastlines bordering
heavily populated, industrialized nations of the northern hemisphere exhibit more extensive impacts than those of the southern
hemisphere. (From Alongi 1998.)
Environmental future of estuaries 189
Seasonal and interannual cycles of temperature, rainfall and
river ows drive recurrent changes of primary and secondary
productivity. Location-specic ecological responses are tem-
pered by myriad adaptive responses of estuarine species.
Inputs from freshwater and saltwater wetlands (allochthonous
and autochthonous), in situ phytoplankton productivity and
submerged aquatic vegetation all contribute to the rich coastal
food webs. With the exception of a fewspecies that spend their
entire life cycles in estuaries, most species migrate inshore as
larvae and juveniles derived from offshore spawning. Many
commercially important species such as oysters, penaeid
shrimp, blue crabs and various nshes are adapted to rapid
habitat changes. These species use the abundant food
resources of coastal systems while remaining relatively free
from predation by the stenohaline offshore marine species.
Thus, estuaries are often physically stressed but exist as a
highly productive sanctuary for developing stages of offshore
forms, many of which are used directly and indirectly by
humans. Gradients of physical variables, together with food
availability and use, provide the basic components of the
highly complex food webs of inshore marine systems.
Predatorprey interactions thus combine with a dynamic
habitat to produce productive coastal food webs.
Area-specic combinations of the rapidly changing phys-
ical conditions and intermittent (seasonal, interannual) cycling
of organic production, together with biological components
that vary continuously (e.g. predatorprey interactions and
competition), largely control the nal structure of the food
web of each estuary. Biological interactions, in response to
gradients of salinity and primary producers, determine the
specic characteristics of any given coastal system. With
increasing salinity, population distribution becomes more
even, with a corresponding decrease in relative dominance and
an increase in species richness and diversity (Livingston
2002). Seasonal changes of predation pressure as well as
interannual recruitment characteristics modify this general
condition at any given time. Hence, coexisting estuarine
assemblages reach different levels of equilibrium that depend
largely on the exact temporal sequence of key habitat and
productivity factors. The high adaptability of coastal species
often prevents direct (linear) relationships with specic
physical/chemical driving functions. In this way, non-linear
processes contribute to what may appear as chaotic conditions,
even though there is often an underlying organization that is
grounded largely in the trophic responses of existing species to
a continuous series of physical/chemical interventions.
ENVIRONMENTAL FORCING
FACTORS
Human activities and conicting uses in coastal water-
sheds and adjoining estuaries have been responsible for
Table 13.1. Physical and biological impacts of human activities on estuarine and coastal marine environments
Sources Impact categories
Habitat loss and alteration Wetland reclamation, dyking, ditching, canal and dam construction,
silviculture, dredging and lling, bulkheading, domestic and industrial
development, marina and mariculture operations
Shoreline development Shorefront construction, shore-protection structures (bulkheads, sea walls,
sloped revetments, jetties), industrial installations, harbour development
Energy/resource operations Oil, gas and mineral extraction, electric power generation
Altered hydrological regimes Freshwater diversions, reservoirs, dams, channelization projects
Sea-level rise Habitat modication, water-quality changes, altered biotic communities
Land subsidence Shoreline retreat, altered habitat
Boating and shipping Propeller cutting, propeller scarring, vessel groundings, oil spills, chemical
contaminant releases
Recreational and commercial shing Hydraulic dredging, tonging, raking
Overshing Depleted sh and shellsh stocks
Introduced species Non-indigenous invasive species that disrupt endemic biotic communities
Debris/litter Environmental hazards, degraded habitat
190 M. J. KENNI SH ET AL.
impairment of water quality, loss and alteration of habitat,
diminished productivity and reduction of resources in many
regions around the world (Clark 1992; Goldberg 1994, 1995;
McIntyre 1995; Viles & Spencer 1995; Kennish 1997, 2000,
2001a, b; Alongi 1998; e.g. Chapters 25). Point- and non-
point-source pollution signicantly impair water quality via
nutrient and organic carbon loading, pathogen input and
chemical contamination of estuarine waters (Clark 1992;
Kennish 1997, 2001a). Sewage inux remains a serious
problem in many countries, particularly those that are
economically less developed. Large-scale modications of
coastal watersheds and estuarine basins cause physical
alteration of habitats that are often detrimental to estuarine
organisms (Table 13.1; e.g. Chapters 11, 12 and 14).
Unregulated commercial and recreational shing often
culminate in overharvesting of nsh and shellsh popula-
tions, which can severely deplete resources beyond the limits
of sustainability and result in shifts in biotic community
structure.
Habitat impacts
HABI TAT LOSS AND ALTERATI ON
Physical disturbances associated with human activities
have caused substantial loss and alteration of habitat with
detrimental consequences for estuaries around the world.
Habitat destruction in estuarine embayments and adjacent
watersheds has decimated biotic communities and helped
deplete shery resources (Rose 2000). The anthropogenic
activities that impact the physical integrity of estuaries are
diverse and pervasive. They may be divisible into three
principal categories, namely those on watersheds, shore-
lines and embayments.
WATERSHED CHANGES
The most conspicuous watershed activities with serious
physical impacts on estuaries include residential and com-
mercial development, dyking andditching, canal construction
and channelization, water diversions and impoundments,
wetland reclamation, coastal subsidence (coupled with
groundwater, oil and gas withdrawal), mariculture operations
and dredge-and-ll activities (Boesch et al. 1994; Hopkins
et al. 1995; Simenstad & Fresh 1995; Kennish 1997, 2000,
2001b; Bryant & Chabreck 1998; Chesney et al. 2000; Adam
2002; e.g. Chapters 24). The ecological functioning of
estuaries is adversely affected not only by the habitat trans-
formation, but also by modication of hydrological, nutrient
and sediment regimes. For example, the increase in areal
coverage of impervious surfaces in coastal watersheds hastens
surface runoff, promoting pollutant and nutrient transfer into
estuaries (e.g. Chapters 2, 4 and 9). While human activities in
some catchments accelerate sediment loading to some
neighbouring estuaries (Edgar & Barrett 2002), river diver-
sions and dam construction reduce sediment delivery to
others (Aubrey 1993; Chapter 2).
Activities in adjoining wetlands also bring serious
physical changes in estuarine habitat (Kennish 2001b;
Adam 2002). Reclamation and impoundments have des-
troyed c.50% of the original tidal saltmarsh habitat in the
USA (Pinet 2000; Kennish 2001b). Wetland habitat
destruction is responsible for up to 50% of depleted shing
stocks in the USA (Chesney et al. 2000). Reclamation,
dyking and conversion to polders have eliminated nearly all
the surrounding wetland and mudat habitat along the
mainland coast of the Dutch Wadden Sea. At some loca-
tions in south-east England, saltmarsh habitat decreased by
1044% between 1973 and 1985/1988 (Burd 1992). Salt-
marsh in northern Europe has been altered by an array of
human inuences, including tidal power, tidal barriers,
water storage, evaporative salt production, aquaculture,
pollution, insect control, introduced species and land rec-
lamation (Adam 2002; Chapter 11). More than 50% of the
mangrove forests in South-East Asia and c.75% of the
mangrove forests in Puerto Rico have been lost because of
human activities, most notably mariculture, silviculture
and habitat reclamation (Eisma 1998; Chapter 12). Nearly
50% of the mangroves in the Philippines have been con-
verted to mariculture ponds (Hopkins et al. 1995).
From the mid 1950s to the mid 1970s, destruction of
coastal wetlands in the USA occurred at a rate of c. 225 000
ha per year (Ciupek 1986; Moy & Levin 1991). Domestic,
industrial, agricultural and recreational activities accounted
for much of this habitat loss. Physical decimation of wet-
land habitat can signicantly reduce biodiversity (Dobson
et al. 1997). Dredge-and-ll operations and construction
of levees, dykes, ditches and impoundments physically
destroy wetland habitat and modify hydrologic conditions
that can alter water quality and biotic communities in
estuarine basins (Turner & Lewis 1997). Dredge-and-ll
activities convert wetland areas to open water or upland
habitats, directly impacting the resident biota (see Chapter
11). Dyking, ditching, leveeing and the formation of
impoundments inuence tidal ooding and drainage to
estuaries which can elicit acute changes in the structure
of biotic communities. Impoundments are generally used
to manage hydrologic regimes, such as in the coastal marsh
habitat of Louisiana (USA) (Boesch et al. 1994; Bryant &
Chabreck 1998).
SHORELI NE DEVELOPMENT
Particularly in urban areas, estuarine shorelines are com-
monly dotted with docks, piers, boat ramps and marinas,
which provide users with easy access, but also mark sites
of physically disturbed natural landscapes. Buildings,
roadways and utilities change the landform conguration
as well as local hydraulic regimes and drainage patterns,
typically increasing runoff and non-point-source pollution
inputs. Shore protection structures (such as bulkheads,
revetments and retaining walls) in these areas also often
interfere with bay-water circulation, sediment ows and
shore bathymetry (Nordstrom & Roman 1996; Nordstrom
2000). Bulkheads may stretch uninterrupted for many
kilometres on the open shore and within protected lagoons.
Construction of buildings, shoreline protection structures
and recreational features places xed structures in a
dynamic estuarine environment. A considerable amount of
estuarine habitat in close proximity to the shorefront
constructions has been lost and altered. Thus many
breakwaters, bridges, retaining walls, jetties and pontoons
added to the waterways around Sydney (Australia) have led
to long-term habitat disturbances (Glasby & Connell
1999). Wooden shoreline structures treated with chro-
mated copper arsenate or other protective compounds are
sources of heavy metals to the water that ultimately
become concentrated in sediments (Weis et al. 1993).
Many shoreline developments and human structures also
frequently and inadvertently create unnatural habitats for
the proliferation of epibenthic communities. It is uncertain
what long-term consequences will arise from the many
structural modications of estuarine shorelines. However,
dredging of estuarine shorelines to maintain navigable
waterways and create lagoons and various permanent
structures profoundly modies or destroys benthic habitat.
Port Phillip Bay in south-eastern Australia provides an
example of an embayment heavily impacted by shoreline
development (Fig. 13.2). Bordered by the cities of
Melbourne and Geelong, Port Phillip Bay is a system
intensively used for a wide array of recreational activities
such as swimming, shing, camping, boating and sailing
(Bird & Cullen 1996). Much of the 256-km shoreline has
been altered to protect beaches, moor boats and enable
public access to bay waters. Articial shoreline structures
(e.g. sea walls, jetties and breakwaters), piers and docks are
common features. Numerous marinas have been con-
structed, and beach restoration projects have been under-
taken in many areas to combat erosion and preserve beach
habitat (Bird 1990). Watershed development and excessive
recreational use of the bay have contributed to extensive
habitat loss and pollution problems. Effective remediation
can only be realized through responsible, long-term coastal
management strategies (J. R. Clark 1995).
ESTUARI NE EMBAYMENT MODI FI CATI ON
In open estuarine environments, dredging and dredged
material disposal impact benthic habitats and communities
in several ways. Dredging removes bottom sediments and
benthic organisms. Mortality of the benthic organisms
increases dramatically during dredging and disposal pro-
cesses owing to mechanical injury by the dredge and
sediment smothering. Recovery of the dredged site for
habitation by the benthic community often requires a year
or more. Dredging roils bottom sediments, mobilizing
nutrients and chemical contaminants that may impair
water quality (Kennish 1997, 2001a). For eutrophic
systems, the release of nutrients can exacerbate impairment
of water quality by stimulating plant growth, raising the
biochemical oxygen demand and potentially contributing
to dissolved-oxygen depletion.
Boat activity can alter water and sediment quality and
benthic habitat structure over extensive areas (Kennish
2002a). Chemical contaminant emissions from motorboat
and watercraft engines including uncombusted fuel and
oil, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and non-
aromatic structures accumulate in sediments and elsewhere
(Albers 2002). Antifouling paints and primer bases on vessel
hulls are sources of trace metals to estuarine waters. Tur-
bulence frompressure waves and propeller wash remobilizes,
resuspends and facilitates dispersal of contaminants from
estuarine oors (Kennish 2002b). Such contaminants
potentially pose lethal and sublethal threats to estuarine
organisms, most prominently in the benthos.
The most serious benthic-habitat impacts of boat use in
estuaries are attributed to propeller scarring and vessel
groundings (Kenworthy et al. 2002; Whiteld et al. 2002).
Propeller cutting of the substrate produces narrow (0.51 m
wide) linear single or twin scars that may extend for tens to
hundreds of metres along the estuarine oor. Vessel
groundings create excavations known as blowholes, which
commonly disturb hundreds to thousands of square metres
of estuarine bottom habitat. Propeller scarring and vessel
groundings most evidently affect seagrass meadows, where
propellers can redistribute bottom sediments and tear and
excavate leaves, roots and rhizomes (Dunton & Schonberg
2002; Kenworthy et al. 2002; Orth et al. 2002); recovery
may take 510 years (Kennish 2002a). Boating damage of
estuarine habitats is escalating, especially in developed
nations where more afuent societies have greater access to
recreational pursuits.
Fishing-gear impacts are also detrimental to benthic
habitats in estuaries, as in the case of hydraulic clamdredging
(Godcharles 1971), use of bull rakes and pea-digger rakes for
hard clam harvesting (Peterson et al. 1983, 1987), cockle
dredging (De Jonge & De Jonge 1992), scallop dredging
(Fonseca et al. 1984) and trawling (Guillen et al. 1994).
Recovery of scarred beds may take 3 or more years.
Aquaculture is also potentially damaging to estuarine
embayments. For example, shrimp-farm efuents may
cause hypernutrication of estuarine waters, and the
chemicals may adversely affect endemic ora and fauna.
The introduction of aquaculture stocks can disrupt indi-
genous shrimp stocks via escapement and the spread of
diseases. Excessive water use and entrainment of estuarine
organisms at shrimp farms are also detrimental (Hopkins
et al. 1995). Suspended culture of mussels (e.g. Mytilus
edulis and M. trossulus) and net-pen culture of salmonids
enrich the surrounding benthic substrate with organic
carbon through deposition of faeces and pseudofaeces
(Grant et al. 1995), resulting in benthic microbial and
macrofaunal community shifts (Findlay et al. 1995).
Addition of gravel, shell and other substrate to mudats
or sandats to enhance clam production physically alters
the bottom habitat and can also disrupt benthic
PORT PHILLIP BAY
Melbourne
Melbourne
St. Kilda
Brighton
Sandringham
Red Bluff
Cerborus
Black Rock
Mordialloc
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Patterson R
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Altona
salt works
Werribee
Werribee
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Kirk Pt.
The Sand Hummocks
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Norlane
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Pt.
Pt. Richards
ruined
piers
Portarlington
Clifton
St. Leonards
Edwards Pt
Swan I.
Queenscliff
Point
KEY TO SYMBOLS
sea walls
stream inflow
piers and jetties
beach resloration projects
0 5 10 15 20 km.
Lonsdale
Porlsea
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PORT
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Fig. 13.2. Map of Port Phillip Bay displaying the location of articial coastline structures and beach restoration projects. (From
J. R. Clark 1995.)
communities (Simenstad & Fresh 1995). The adverse effects
of aquaculture activities on estuaries are expected to increase
substantially in future with the growth in aquaculture.
Pollution impacts
Because estuaries are heavily used for recreational and
commercial activities, they are subject to pollution
(GESAMP [Joint Group of Experts on the Scientic
Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection] 1982). Most
marine pollutants derive from the 20% of the worlds
population living in industrialized countries where societal
afuence is greatest (Taylor 1993). The commonly
reported pollutants enter the environment by six principal
pathways: (1) non-point-source runoff from land; (2) direct
pipeline discharges; (3) riverine inow; (4) atmospheric
deposition; (5) maritime transportation; and (6) waste
dumping at sea (McIntyre 1992, 1995; Goldberg 1994,
1995; Kennish 1997). Land-based sources of pollution
predominate, with runoff responsible for 44% of the
inputs, atmospheric deposition for 33%, maritime trans-
portation for 12%, waste dumping for 10%, and offshore
production for 1% (GESAMP 1990).
Nutrient enrichment, organic carbon loading (for
example sewage), oil spills and leakages, and toxic chemicals
(for example PAHs, halogenated hydrocarbons and heavy
metals) account for many of the most acute and insidious
pollution problems in estuaries (Table 13.2). Together with
pathogens, these pollutants can signicantly compromise
water quality, degrade habitats, have lethal and sublethal
impacts on biota and alter the functioning of estuarine sys-
tems. Other pollutants such as litter are more aesthetically
displeasing, but they are also potentially hazardous to marine
mammals, birds and other organisms that ingest or become
entangled in them (Shaw & Day 1994).
NUTRI ENT ENRI CHMENT AND ORGANI C- CARBON
LOADI NG
Estuarine eutrophication is an emerging global problem
associated with nutrient enrichment and organic-carbon
loading (Dederen 1992; Rabalais 1992; McComb 1995;
Nixon 1995; Valiela 1995; National Estuary Programme
1997a, b; Valiela et al. 1997; V. H. Smith et al. 1999;
Livingston 2002). Non-point-source inputs of nutrients to
estuaries, such as agricultural and urban runoff, contribute
signicantly to observed eutrophication problems (Carpenter
et al. 1998). As human coastal populations have increased, the
severity of nutrient enrichment and organic-carbon loading
from watersheds has worsened, with impacts in estuaries
commonly persisting for years (Balls et al. 1995). Acute
imbalances in the trophic structure of estuarine systems
can arise from hypereutrophication (Ingrid et al. 1996;
Livingston 1996, 2000, 2002). Nitrogen and phosphorus
enter estuaries via surface water inows (streams, rivers and
direct land runoff), ocean water, groundwater discharges and
atmospheric deposition (both wet and dry). Anthropogenic
sources include wastewaters, sewer overows, malfunction-
ing septic systems and fertilized lawns and farmlands.
Untreated or partially treated sewage also substantially raises
concentrations of organic carbon, heavy metals and other
contaminants in estuaries (Kennish 1992, 1997). In addition,
it degrades water quality by increasing estuarine biochemical
oxygen demand and densities of pathogenic microorganisms
(Chapman et al. 1996; Kennish 1997; Eganhouse &Sherblom
2001) as, for example, in San Francisco Bay (Livingston
2002).
Treated municipal wastewater and urban stormwater
runoff may contain more than 100 enteric pathogens (NRC
[National Research Council] 1993) and pose a serious
threat to human health, being responsible for cholera and
hepatitis, as well as gastroenteric diseases.
Various acute and insidious impacts are coupled with
nutrient enrichment and organic carbon loading. For
example, nutrient-enriched growth and biomass of micro-
phytes and macrophytes are followed by accelerated organic
carbon decomposition and benthic respiration which
promote widespread and recurring hypoxia (<2 mg per
litre dissolved oxygen) and anoxia (0 mg per litre dissolved
oxygen). These changes often adversely affect the structure
and function of biotic communities (Dauer et al. 1992; Diaz
& Rosenberg 1995; Ritter & Montagna 1999).
Dissolved oxygen is declining in many estuarine
systems worldwide (Holmer 1999) and hypoxia is a wide-
spread problem (Kennish 1997). Other biotic impacts
linked to nutrient and organic-carbon enrichment include
algal blooms, shading effects, mortality of benthic and
pelagic species, reduced biodiversity and habitat
use, diminished secondary production and diminution of
recreational and commercial sheries, as well as altered
species compositions and distributions (Weston 1990;
Costello & Read 1994; Alongi 1998; Kennish 1998a, 2000;
Holmer 1999; Chesney et al. 2000; Howarth et al. 2000b).
Harmful algal blooms have been linked to shellsh
contamination, sh kills and human health impacts
(Burkholder 1998). Phytoplankton blooms in response to
nutrient enrichment create shade conditions unfavourable
for the proliferation of submerged aquatic vegetation, and
affected locations may gradually become phytoplankton
dominated with the ongoing loss of critically important
benthic habitat.
Nutrient overenrichment of estuarine systems of the
north-eastern Gulf of Mexico (Rabalais 1992) has over sev-
eral decades triggered phytoplankton blooms, destabilization
of plankton populations, dissolved-oxygen depletion,
unbalanced food webs, general reduction of useful product-
ivity and profound alteration of system function (Livingston
2000, 2002). Estuarine eutrophication has been reported for
the Dutch Wadden Sea (Netherlands) (De Jonge 1990;
Kennish 1998a), the HarveyPeel Estuary (Australia)
(McComb 1995), and for portions of the Maryland coastal
bay system (Boynton et al. 1996), Chesapeake Bay (Malone
et al. 1996) and the Barnegat BayLittle Egg Harbor
Estuary in the USA (Kennish 2001c). Shallow poorly ushed
estuaries with long residence times are generally the most
severely impacted by eutrophication.
CHEMI CAL CONTAMI NANTS
Halogenated hydrocarbons, PAHs and heavy metals are
three classes of persistent particle-reactive contaminants.
Being rapidly attached to ne-grained sediments and other
particles (Thomas & Bendell-Young 1999; Turner 2000;
Kennish 2001b), they tend to accumulate in the system
(Kennish 2002b, c). As a result, benthic organisms may be
exposed to elevated concentrations of the contaminants at
heavily impacted sites and in the sea surface microlayer
(see Kucklick & Bidleman 1994).
Because estuarine sediments are a major repository of
chemical contaminants, they have been the target of vari-
ous monitoring and assessment programmes. In the USA,
for example, programmes of the National Oceanic and
Table 13.2. Common pollutants recorded in estuarine environments
(1) Excessive nutrients causing progressive enrichment and periodic eutrophication problems
(2) Sewage and other oxygen-demanding wastes (principally carbonaceous organic matter) which promote anoxia and
hypoxia of coastal waters
(3) Pathogens (e.g. certain bacteria, viruses and parasites) and other infectious agents often associated with sewage
wastes
(4) Petroleum hydrocarbons originating from oil-tanker accidents and other major spillages, routine operations
during oil transportation, efuent from non-petroleum industries, municipal wastes and non-point runoff from
land
(5) Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons entering estuarine and marine ecosystems from sewage and industrial efuents,
urban stormwater runoff, oil spills, creosote oil, combustion of fossil fuels and forest res
(6) Halogenated hydrocarbon compounds (e.g. organochlorine pesticides) principally originating from agricultural and
industrial sources
(7) Heavy metals accumulating from smelting, sewage-sludge dumping, ash and dredged-material disposal, antifouling
paints, seed dressings and slimicides, power-station corrosion products, oil-renery efuents and other industrial
processes
(8) Radioactive substances generated by uranium mining and milling, nuclear power plants, and industrial, medical
and scientic uses of radioactive materials
(9) Thermal loading of natural waters, owing primarily to the discharge of condenser cooling waters from electric
generating stations
(10) Debris/litter and munitions introduced by various land-based and marine activities
(11) Fly ash, colliery wastes, ue-gas desulphurization sludges, boiler bottom ash and mine tailings
(12) Acid mining wastes
(13) Drilling muds and cuttings
(14) Pharmaceuticals and alkali chemicals
(15) Pulp and paper-mill efuents
(16) Suspended solids, turbidity and siltation/sedimentation
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) have investigated chemical
contaminants in sediment and biotic media to detect
changes in environmental quality of estuarine and coastal
marine waters (US EPA 2001). Sediment grabs and cores
have been used to derive information on current and his-
torical chronological records of past contaminant levels in
estuaries (Bricker 1993; Valette-Silver 1993; Daskalakis &
OConnor 1995; Moser & Bopp 2001), and estuarine
sediment toxicity has also been extensively investigated
(Long et al. 1996; Kennish 1997; Thompson et al. 1999;
OConnor & Paul 2000; Winger 2002).
Heavy metals and persistent organic contaminants elicit
an array of adverse responses from estuarine and marine
organisms. Heavy metals have been coupled with feeding,
digestive and respiratory dysfunctions; aberrant physio-
logical, neurological and reproductive activities; tissue
inammation and degeneration; and neoplasm formation
and genetic derangement (Kennish 1992, 1997). In par-
ticular, high-molecular-weight PAHs and halogenated
hydrocarbons have substantial biological impacts and
possess signicant carcinogenic, mutagenic and teratogenic
potential (Eisler 1987, 2000; Kennish 1992; Fernandes
et al. 1997).
It is not merely the concentration of chemical con-
taminants that must be considered when assessing biotic
impacts, but also their bioavailability. This is affected by
the physical and chemical characteristics of environmental
media (Hamelink et al. 1994). Sediment pore-water
chemistry, redox potential, pH, organic matter content,
acid volatile sulphides and sediment particle size all
strongly inuence the bioavailability of contaminants in
estuarine sediments and pore waters (Winger 2002).
Laboratory toxicity testing of estuarine organisms can
effectively augment data derived from measurements in
eld environmental matrices.
Some contaminants, notably halogenated hydrocarbons
such as dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and
polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), are also biomagnied in
food chains in addition to being very widespread and
persistent.
Among heavy metals, mercury is a ubiquitous con-
taminant, elevated mercury concentrations occurring in
many estuaries in the USA (OConnor & Beliaeff 1995;
Locarnini & Presley 1996; Kannen et al. 1998; Livingston
2002). Organometal methylmercury is the most toxic form,
posing signicant danger to estuarine and marine organ-
isms, even at parts per billion (ppb) levels of exposure.
Methylmercury also bioaccumulates in aquatic food chains
(Wren et al. 1995), and humans may be at risk from this
process (Kennish 1997). Aside from natural sources of the
element (e.g. volcanic, hydrothermal and geothermal
emissions), various anthropogenic activities, such as com-
bustion of fossil fuels and certain industrial operations,
contribute to the contaminant pool.
Without also dealing with the myriad land-based
sources of estuarine PAHs and heavy metals, remedial
actions to address their impacts are unlikely to be effective
(Eisler 1987, 2000; Bryan & Langston 1992; Kennish 1992,
1997, 1998b; DeGroot 1995; Dickhut & Gustafson 1995;
Wild & Jones 1995; Bothner et al. 1998; Wania et al. 1998;
Cearreta et al. 2000). Chemical contamination problems
have been most acute in urban industrialized estuaries such
as in the USA and Europe, for example the Tees and Tyne
Rivers (UK) (Tapp et al. 1993; Mathiessen et al. 1998), the
Bay of Cadiz, and the Barbate, Odiel and Bilbao Rivers
(Spain) (Drake et al. 1999; Cearreta et al. 2000).
Fisheries overexploitation
Estuaries have suffered severe depletion of sheries
resources (Sissenwine & Rosenberg 1996; Botsford et al.
1997; Rose 2000; Kennish 2002c). Thus, in the USA, various
recreationally and commercially important nsh and
shellsh species have dramatically declined in abundance
owing to intensive shing. For example, several species of
sh in the AlbermarlePamlico Sound system of North
Carolina (Dean 1996), oysters (Crassostrea virginica) in
Chesapeake and Delaware Bays (J. Kraeuter, Rutgers Uni-
versity, personal communication 2001), hard clams (Mer-
cenaria mercenaria) in the Barnegat BayLittle Egg Harbor
Estuary (New Jersey) (Kennish 2002a), red drum (Sciaenops
ocellatus) and sea trout (Cynoscion arenarius and C. nebulosus)
in Tampa Bay (Florida) (Kennish 2000), blue crabs (Calli-
nectes sapidus) in Corpus Christi Bay (National Estuary
Programme 1997c) and major sh species in San Francisco
Bay (Monroe & Kelly 1992; San Francisco Estuary Project
1998; Kennish 2000) have all been shed down.
Overshing also generates imbalances in biotic com-
munity structure and ecosystem function (Menge 1995;
Jennings & Kaiser 1998). It can induce indirect trophic
(food web) interactions that may have far-reaching conse-
quences for biotic systems in estuaries beyond mere
removal of target species (Jennings & Lock 1996; Botsford
et al. 1997; Hall 1999; Pinnegar et al. 2000). In north-
eastern Gulf of Mexico estuaries, shing has caused shifts
in trophic interactions as a consequence of both topdown
and bottomup food-web effects (Livingston 2002). It is
difcult to understand the cumulative impact of oversh-
ing on multiple species in a region when evaluating biotic
community responses in specic estuarine systems, but
shing may be the anthropogenic factor of overriding
importance in ecological extinctions (Jackson et al. 2001;
Chapter 1).
Freshwater diversions
Development of coastal watersheds typically alters the
amount of fresh water entering estuarine basins. The
increase of impervious cover associated with building and
roadway constructions accelerates freshwater runoff.
Stormwater management systems, notably catchment and
retention structures, decrease freshwater discharge rates.
Reservoirs and dams in upland drainage basins likewise
decrease downstream ows. The implementation of ood
control measures such as channelization also modies
water-ow regimes (Chapters 2 and 4). Impounded marsh
and destruction of wetland habitat can contribute to
changes of natural water-storage capacity in areas border-
ing estuarine shorelines. Wastewater discharges, water
withdrawal for domestic uses and water diversions for
agricultural, municipal and industrial purposes also impact
estuaries. Excessive groundwater withdrawal in coastal
watersheds reduces base ow to tributary streams and
rivers (Chapters 24), signicantly decreasing freshwater
inputs to estuaries (Bryant & Chabreck 1998; Carpenter
et al. 1998; Lane et al. 1999; Chesney et al. 2000; Kennish
2000, 2001b, c).
The water ow from coastal watersheds inuences the
physical, chemical and biological conditions in adjoining
estuaries. Diversion of freshwater ows reduces the resi-
dence time of water in estuaries, which leads to reduction
of the area of habitat suitable for biota (Valiela 1995).
Salinity in estuarine embayments uctuates in response to
variable freshwater input, and with it, estuarine circula-
tion patterns and biotic communities change. The loading
of nutrients, chemical contaminants, sediments and other
particulate matter also varies with the volume of fresh-
water inow, and the ux of these substances can dra-
matically affect the species composition and abundance of
estuarine organisms, as well as the trophodynamics of the
system.
These effects are most conspicuous in estuaries, where
large volumes of fresh water are diverted to meet the
domestic, agricultural and industrial demands of coastal
and inland communities. Human use diverts more than
1.7 10
10
m
3
of fresh water from the supply of San
Francisco Bay each year primarily for irrigation of farm-
lands during the MayOctober dry period. In dry years,
freshwater diversion reduces inow to the bay by 6070%
(Nichols et al. 1986). Biotic effects of the diminished
inow include decreased phytoplankton biomass and
zooplankton abundance in the upper estuary, diminished
reproductive success and variable abundance of some sh
species, and a depressed pelagic food web (Kennish
2000).
In watershed areas surrounding Charlotte Harbor
(Florida), and elsewhere in the USA, diversion of fresh
water for agricultural and domestic needs has signicantly
reduced discharges to estuaries, particularly during the
dry season, resulting in substantially higher salinities and
near-marine conditions. Hydrologic modication (i.e.
channelization) also contributes greatly to the ux of
freshwater ow to Narragansett Bay (Rhode Island). In
Tampa Bay (Florida), altered freshwater inow is mainly
attributed to the damming of rivers for ood control
(Chapters 2 and 4) and hydrologic modication of tidal
creeks (Kennish 2000). Freshwater ows into Galveston
Bay (Texas) are largely ascribed to surface-water with-
drawals and stormwater runoff, both of which are
substantial in nearby watersheds (National Estuary Pro-
gramme 1997b).
Altered freshwater ows in coastal watersheds are linked
to biotic impacts in adjoining estuaries, as in Apalachicola
River and Bay in the Gulf of Mexico coastal system
(Livingston 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002). In the Apalachicola
system, freshwater inow is correlated with nutrient and
organic-carbon loading, salinity levels, phytoplankton
production, and the distribution and abundance of benthic
invertebrates and nsh (Livingston 2001, 2002). Trophic
relationships in the estuary are also indirectly affected by
freshwater inputs, changes in salinity, nutrient concen-
trations, turbidity and other physicalchemical factors
(Livingston et al. 1997). Altered freshwater ows in coastal
watersheds appear to be an emerging global problem (e.g.
Chapters 24) with serious implications for the ecological
well-being of estuaries worldwide.
Major alteration of freshwater and seawater inow
to estuarine systems in the south-west Netherlands has
been implemented to avert ooding, such as that which
killed more than 1800 people in 1953. As a result of
the Delta Plan, three estuaries in the region have
been closed off by dykes, notably the Haringvliet,
Grevelingenmeer and Oosterschelde (Fig. 13.3). Subse-
quent to dyking, the Haringvliet basin became a highly
polluted freshwater body, the Grevelingenmeer became a
saltwater system and the Oosterschelde remained a pro-
ductive estuary bordered seaward by a storm-surge bar-
rier. Acute hydrologic modication in the Oosterschelde
associated with construction of a storm-surge barrier
across the estuarine mouth and compartment dams up
estuary clearly demonstrates how anthropogenic controls
can severely alter freshwater and seawater inow to an
estuary and disrupt natural conditions. For example,
saltmarshes and tidal at habitats have declined appre-
ciably in the Oosterschelde owing in large part to the
aforementioned human-induced changes in the system
(J. R. Clark 1995).
Introduced/invasive species
Biotic invasions of estuarine and coastal marine environments
grew markedly during the past century with expansion of
marine transportation, commerce, mariculture and other
human activities (e.g. Chapters 1012). Numerous organisms
have entered new environments accidentally or on the hulls
and in the ballast water of ships; others have been inten-
tionally introduced via mariculture. Few estuaries are not
affected in some way by introduced/invasive species (Carlton
1989; Carlton & Geller 1993).
NORTH SEA
NOORDZEE
STORM - SURGE
BARRIER
Rotterdam
COMPARTMENT
DAMS
Antwerpen
0 10 Km
H
A
R
I
N
G
V
L
I
E
T
GREV
E
L
I
N
G
E
N
M
E
ER
O
O
S
T
E
R
S
C
H
E
L
D
E
W
E
S
T
E
R
S C
H
E
L
D
E
Fig. 13.3. Map of the delta region in the south-west Netherlands illustrating dyke-altered areas of the Haringvliet, Grevelingenmeer and
Oosterschelde systems. (From J. R. Clark 1995.)
The introduction of exotic species can have profound
effects on estuarine ecosystems, causing: (1) decreases in
abundances and survival of native species; (2) local
extinction of susceptible native ora and fauna through
competition, grazing, predation and habitat modication;
(3) spread of parasitic diseases; and (4) alteration of
nutrient cycling, hydrology and energy budgets of native
ecosystems (Mack et al. 2000). The trophic structure of
heavily invaded systems has often changed, with dominant
species commonly being outcompeted or replaced by non-
indigenous forms. In some cases, invaders have radically
transformed habitats. For example, the European peri-
winkle (Littorina littorea) has been responsible for trans-
forming mudat and saltmarsh habitats to rocky shores
along coastal inlets in the north-east USA (Bertness 1984;
Mack et al. 2000). Invasion of non-endemic marsh grasses
has modied wetland processes, including sediment
transport and deposition, organic-carbon ux and associ-
ated faunal communities. Human-induced biotic invasions
have potentially signicant global impacts as well because
they may collectively pose a threat to biodiversity over
extensive regions or provinces.
Introduced/invasive species have frequently increased
dramatically in abundance in their adapted estuarine
environments because of the lack of natural biotic controls.
Some of these species have been intentionally introduced
to estuaries to establish new recreational or commercial
sheries (Nybakken 1988; Day et al. 1989; Kennish 2000).
An example is the import of the Pacic oyster (Crassostrea
gigas) from Japan to the state of Washington (USA).
However, the remarkable success of introduced/invasive
species can decimate historically important sheries. A
viable strategy to control the spread of non-indigenous
species is to prevent their entry into a new range (Mack
et al. 2000). Post-entry control of invasive species remains
an expensive and generally impractical approach to min-
imize estuarine impacts.
Although most estuaries harbour non-indigenous
species, those that are sites of shipping ports or centres of
aquaculture and commercial shing generally exhibit the
greatest number of biotic invasions (National Estuarine
Research Reserve System 2001). San Francisco Bay, with
nearly 250 introduced species, ranks among the most
heavily invaded estuaries on Earth (Cohen & Carlton 1998;
San Francisco Estuary Project 1998). Non-indigenous
species now comprise 40100% of the benthic and
fouling communities in different areas of the Bay, with
most macroinvertebrate species along the inner shallows
consisting of introduced forms (Kennish 2000, 2001a).
Among the most detrimental invaders in this heavily used
estuary is the Asian clam (Potamocorbula amurensis), which
has greatly impacted the phytoplankton community and
may have signicantly altered bottomup controls in the
system. It has also outcompeted more favourable bivalve
species such as Macoma balthica and Mya arenaria,
attaining densities as high as 30 000 individuals per m
2
,
and disrupting planktonic and benthic communities and
nsh assemblages (San Francisco Estuary Project 1998).
Impacts of the Asian clam cost c. US$ 1 billion each year
(Orsi & Mecum 1986; Cohen & Carlton 1998).
Other prominent invasive species in San Francisco Bay
are the striped bass (Morone saxatilis) and the smooth
cordgrass (Spartina alterniora). Invasive plants include S.
alterniora elsewhere in the USA and in England
(Thompson 1991) and Phragmites australis in the USA
(Weinstein & Kreeger 2000; see Chapter 11), and animals
include the bivalves Perna perna and Dreissena polymorpha
(Carlton & Geller 1993; Kennish 2000). The parasitic
protist Haplosporidium nelsoni has nearly destroyed the
American oyster (Crassostrea virginica) shery in a number
of mid-Atlantic estuaries of the USA. Subtropical ship-
worm species (Teredo bartschi and T. furcifera) have des-
troyed many untreated wooden structures in New Jersey
(Kennish & Lutz 1984). The European green crab
(Carcinus maenas) and Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir
sinensis) have become established in various estuaries of the
USA, disrupting native communities.
Sea-level rise
More than 100 million people now reside within 1 m of mean
sea-level, and thus global sea-level rise poses a great threat to
coastal communities during the twenty-rst century
(Douglas & Peltier 2002). Many coastal watersheds bordering
estuaries are under attack by rising sea level associated with
anthropogenically induced global warming, as well as altered
hydrological and geological processes in the coastal zone
induced by an array of more localized human activities
(Nuttle et al. 1997; Kennish 2001b). By the year 2050, global
warming may result in an overall 10-cm rise in relative sea
level (Titus & Narayanan 1995), but the extent of movement
will depend on vertical displacements of the coastal zone
(Nuttle et al. 1997). In the USA, relative sea-level rise has
been 24 mm per year along the Atlantic coast (Stevenson
et al. 1986) and up to c.10 mm per year in coastal Louisiana
(Boesch et al. 1994). Superimposed on changes in relative
sea-level rise are responses of shorter duration, such as sea-
level variations generated by El Nino, hurricanes and other
major storms (Nuttle et al. 1997).
Despite the eustatic rise in sea level, many estuarine
wetland systems in the USA and elsewhere are maintaining
their position or expanding because of high accretion
rates fostered by sediment supply, relatively low wetland
elevation, frequent tidal inundation, nutrient supply, and
high in situ organic-matter production, generally accounting
for more than 90% of the sediment volume (Bricker-Urso
et al. 1989; Nyman et al. 1993).
The eustatic sea-level rise was 1025 cm over the past
century (Douglas & Peltier 2002) and c.1.8 0.3 mm per
year during the 1980s and 1990s (Douglas 1991; Baltuck
et al. 1996; IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change] 1996). The increase in the global mean surface
temperature (0.6 0.2
C) has been largely responsible for

the rise (IPCC 2001b). With global mean temperature
expected to rise by 0.51.7
C by 2040 (Kennish 2002c),

eustatic sea level is projected to rise by 5.630.0 cm over
the same period (IPCC 2001b). This is likely to threaten
saltmarshes (Chapter 11) and some mangroves (Chapter 12),
lacking sufcient accretion.
The landward progression of estuarine shorelines owing
to rising sea level could substantially reduce the areal
coverage of intertidal habitat and signicantly modify the
conguration of the basins involved. Some wetlands will be
converted to open-water habitat as estuaries widen and
deepen. These physiographical changes will increase the tidal
prism, tidal range and salinity in the system. The altered
wetland and intertidal habitats, along with modied salinity
regimes, could have devastating consequences for biotic
communities, trophic interactions and shery resources. For
example, birds that depend on benthic intertidal fauna for
forage would probably decline in abundance. In addition, the
loss of wetland nursery habitat could lead to declining stocks
of important nsh and shellsh species.
Estuaries located between the equator and 20
N and
20
S latitude will be more impacted by future global

warming effects than others (see Ledley et al. 1999), spe-
cically experiencing more extreme weather conditions
including severe droughts and periods of excessive pre-
cipitation (Kickert et al. 1999). Freshwater inow to estu-
aries between latitudes 20
N and 20
S will vary markedly

as a consequence of climatic shifts expected to the 2025
time horizon, thereby affecting nutrient, sediment and
contaminant inputs. Fluctuating salinities will create
unstable conditions for estuarine organisms. Greater fre-
quency of severe storms and storm surges will accelerate
shoreline erosion, reduction of estuarine beaches, loss of
wetland habitat and coastal ooding. Advancing seas will
increase the probability of saltwater intrusion in coastal
groundwater supplies. They will also affect the composition
of plant and animal communities, promoting the establish-
ment and proliferation of salt-tolerant species.
Sea-level effects will be a function of the local envir-
onmental conditions and also of the physical characteristics
of estuaries, such as their size and shape, orientation to
fetch and local currents, occurrence of barrier islands,
extensiveness of coastal wetlands and state of development
of adjoining watersheds (Jones 1994). Human intervention
may delay or obscure effects of sea-level rise, as with the
construction of sea walls and other engineering structures
to minimize wave and current impacts.
Subsidence
Subsidence problems are emerging in many coastal cities
of developing countries, such as Manila, Rangoon and
Jakarta, but also of developed countries. Houston (Texas,
USA), the Po Delta (Italy) and Tokyo (Japan) have
respectively subsided by 2.7 m, 3.2 m and 4.6 m (Baeteman
1994). The frequency of coastal subsidence impacts on
estuaries is on the rise worldwide, mainly because of poor
watershed development and other human activities.
Subsidence effects are local or regional in nature, but
impacted estuaries often exhibit major modications such
as acute shoreline retreat, loss of fringing wetland habitat,
and increase in basin volume and open-water habitat.
Habitat alteration is a major concern.
The subsidence results from sediment compaction,
crustal (tectonic) movements, groundwater withdrawal,
and oil and gas extraction. Areas surrounding coastal
metropolitan centres, where excessive groundwater with-
drawal has occurred to meet domestic and industrial water
demands, are common sites of subsidence (Stevenson et al.
2000). Gas and oil withdrawal has exacerbated the
subsidence over an area c.130 km in diameter in Galveston
Bay (Texas), where shoreline erosion and retreat have
taken place, mudats and open bay waters have expanded,
fringing saltmarsh habitat has been lost, and sediment
distribution and bay circulation have changed (Shipley &
Kiesling 1994; Kennish 2000). Relative sea-level rise in
the Dutch Wadden Sea has increased owing to extraction
of natural gas, and the south-east coast of England has
likewise subsided for several reasons (Adam 2002).
Sediment compaction is the primary agent of subsid-
ence in coastal Louisiana (DeLaune & Pezeshki 1994),
where relative sea-level rise has been as high as 2 cm per
year over the past century (Boesch et al. 1994), the average
rate of relative sea-level rise exceeding the global rate over
ve-fold (Penland & Ramsey 1990).
Sediment input/turbidity
Most often associated with silviculture operations and con-
struction/development in coastal watersheds, high inputs of
sediment can smother benthic communities and create high
turbidity which limits light penetration in the water column.
The net effect is frequently diminished primary production.
Estuarine shellsh beds (e.g. oysters and clams) can also be
signicantly impacted by high rates of sedimentation,
commonly shown by yielding reduced harvests. Elevated
rates of deposition at tidal inlets and river mouths may
generate tidal deltas and sand bars that often affect estuarine
current patterns and alter physicalchemical conditions.
Timbering and logging operations on Palawan Island
(Philippines) have led to serious soil erosion in watershed
areas and sedimentation problems in Bacuit Bay (Fig. 13.4).
The high turbidity and sedimentation in the bay have had
devastating consequences for the biotic communities. For
example, extensive mortality of corals has occurred, and the
food chain has been seriously disrupted as evidenced by
declining reef sh populations. Offshore pelagic species
also appear to have been impacted by the deforestation and
logging activities (J. R. Clark 1995).
P A L A W A N
P
H
I
L
I
P
P
I
N
E
S
EI
Nido
N
Palawan
Manlag
River
Bacuit
Bay
Km
Logging concession
Drainage basin
Illegal (?) logging
Coral reef
Diving resort
0 5
SOUTH
CHINA SEA
Fig. 13.4. Map of Palawan Island, Philippines, delineating timber harvesting and logging areas in proximity to Bacuit Bay. (From
J. R. Clark 1995.)
FUTURE ANTHROPOGENIC THREATS
Habitat loss and alteration
Human impacts on estuaries are expected to increase
considerably to the year 2025 owing to the burgeoning
coastal human population (Weber 1994; Hameedi 1997),
more than 75% of which may live within 60 km of the
coast by the year 2020 (Roberts & Hawkins 1999), many of
these people in urban areas (Postel 2000). The population
growth and urbanization is projected to be more rapid in
developing nations of the tropics and in the southern
hemisphere. Although a disproportionately large number
of estuarine anthropogenic impacts now occur in urbanized
systems of developed nations in the northern hemisphere,
the geographical shift in population growth indicates that
estuaries in the southern hemisphere will be subject to far
greater impacts in the years ahead (Alongi 1998).
Based on published studies (e.g. Day et al. 1989; McIn-
tyre 1992, 1995; Windom 1992; Yap 1992; Jones 1994;
Goldberg 1995, 1998; Kennish 1997, 1998a, 2000, 2001a, b,
2002a, b), the 10 most important future anthropogenic
stresses on estuarine environments include the serious Tier
I stressors and less threatening Tier II stressors (Table
13.3). Many of the impacts are directly coupled to human
activities in coastal watersheds, but others are the result of
human uses of the estuarine water bodies themselves. An
expanding coastal population will invariably hasten habitat
degradation. The loss and alteration of estuarine habitat are
projected to be the most serious threat to the future health
and viability of estuaries worldwide because they cause
environmental fragmentation andfunctional deteriorationas
well as the decimation of biotic communities. They also
promote water-quality impairment by facilitating nutrient
and contaminant transfer. In addition, the destruction of
fringing habitat renders coastal communities more vulner-
able to stochastic natural events, such as hurricanes, storm
surges and coastal ooding (Kennish 2001a; Chapters 11, 12
and 16). Habitat destruction differs from most other stres-
sors in terms of intensity and scale of ecological conse-
quences, being capable of restructuring the function and
controls of estuarine systems at all temporal and spatial
scales (Valiela 1995).
Eutrophication
Eutrophication is similar to habitat destruction in that it
can thoroughly restructure the function and controls of
estuarine systems and, on an aggregate basis, may elicit
global scale changes. With about half of the total nutrient
inux to the sea deriving from anthropogenic sources
including municipal and industrial wastewaters (Windom
1992), nutrient enrichment is an emerging problem in
estuaries worldwide (McIntyre 1995). The most serious
sewage pollution occurs in developing countries that lack
sewage-treatment capacity (Yap 1992). In developed coun-
tries such as the USA and UK, where government controls
restrict the release of sewage waste to aquatic systems,
sewage and associated organic and nutrient loading are less
and should decline further to the year 2025 and beyond
(Ofce of Technology Assessment 1986; National Academy
Press 1993; National Estuary Program 1997b, c; Kennish
2000, 2001a).
Excessive nutrient loading will promote algal blooms,
benthic primary production, and hypoxic and anoxic events
in estuaries that increase mortality of benthic and pelagic
organisms (Goldberg 1995; Nixon 1995; Livingston 2000).
Estuarine eutrophication has already become more prevalent
for example in Korea, Japan, China, India, the Mediterra-
nean and the Caribbean (Galloway et al. 1994; Valiela 1995;
Alongi 1998). Moderate to high eutrophic conditions exist
in more than 80 estuaries in the conterminous USA (Bricker
et al. 1999). Eutrophic conditions are likely to worsen in 86
estuaries in the USA by 2020 (Bricker et al. 1999). With
greater intensity of agriculture, mariculture, livestock rear-
ing and industrial activity in many developing countries,
eutrophication will increase further during the next 20 years
in these already nutrient-enriched estuaries. The most ser-
ious eutrophic conditions are anticipated in estuaries of
developing nations in South America, Africa and Asia,
where sewage waste disposal from rapidly growing coastal
human populations will probably escalate substantially.
Fisheries overexploitation
Overshing will become an even more serious problem to
the 2025 time horizon as more countries adapt the latest
technology to their commercial shing. Many sheries in
developed countries today are heavily overcapitalized, with
numerous and well-equipped vessels capable of depleting
shery resources. Important elements in the long-term
protection of these resources are effective shery manage-
ment and regulation programmes. In addition, measures
must be undertaken to stem the degradation of estuarine
habitat vital to the survival of numerous sh species.
The sheries of estuarine systems appear to be pro-
ducing at or near their maximum sustainable yield.
Hence, the harvest of shery species here cannot be
sustained, and continued shing pressure will likely lead
to collapse, especially of high-value species. Depletion of
piscivorous sh is likely to promote population growth
of prey and competitor species (Day et al. 1989; Valiela
1995), and may dramatically alter estuarine food webs.
Overshing is another anthropogenic factor capable of
mediating global-scale change to the biotic structure of
estuaries.
The rapid human population growth in coastal water-
sheds does not bode well for the future of estuarine
sheries. By 2025, the world demand for sh will exceed
110120 Mt per year (FAO [Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations] 1996). It is highly
unlikely that shery landings can meet this demand,
unless they can be augmented substantially by aquaculture
production. Because of weak or non-existent sheries
management programmes during the next 20 years, stock
depletion and collapsed sheries in developing countries
may occur at an even greater rate than in developed
countries, with imbalances likely in biotic community
structure and ecosystem function of estuaries.
Table 13.3. Ranking of principal anthropogenic stressors to estuarine environments based on assessment of published literature (see
McIntyre 1992, 1995; Windom 1992; Yap 1992; Jones 1994; Kennish 1997, 1998a, 2000, 2001a, b; Goldberg 1995, 1998).
Stressor Principal impacts
Tier I stressors
(1) Habitat loss and alteration Elimination of usable habitat for estuarine biota
(2) Eutrophication Exotic and toxic algal blooms, hypoxia and anoxia of estuarine waters,
increased benthic invertebrate mortality, sh kills, altered community
structure, shading, reduced seagrass biomass, degraded water quality
(3) Sewage Elevated human pathogens, organic loading, increased eutrophication,
degraded water and sediment quality, deoxygenated estuarine waters,
reduced biodiversity
(4) Fisheries overexploitation Depletion or collapse of sh and shellsh stocks, altered food webs, changes
in the structure, function, and controls of estuarine ecosystems
(5) Sea level rise Shoreline retreat, loss of wetlands habitat, widening of estuary mouth,
altered tidal prism and salinity regime, changes in biotic community
structure
Tier II stressors
(6) Chemical contaminants
Higher priority
synthetic organic compounds
Adverse effects on estuarine organisms including tissue inammation and
degeneration, neoplasm formation, genetic derangement, aberrant growth
and reproduction, neurological and respiratory dysfunction, digestive
disorders and behavioural abnormalities; reduced population abundance;
sediment toxicity
Lower priority
oil (PAHs)/metals/radionuclides
(7) Freshwater diversions Altered hydrological, salinity, and temperature regimes; changes in
abundance, distribution, and species composition of estuarine organisms
(8) Introduced/invasive species Changes in species composition and distribution, shifts in trophic structure,
reduced biodiversity, introduction of detrimental pathogens
(9) Subsidence Modication of shoreline habitat, degraded wetlands, accelerated fringe
erosion, expansion of open-water habitat
(10) Sediment input/turbidity Habitat alteration; reduced primary production; shading impacts on benthic
organisms
Sea-level rise and climate change
Eustatic sea-level rise is expected to continue unabated
through the twenty-rst century, increasing by an estimated
988 cm (IPCC 2001b). On a local or regional scale, tectonic
and isostatic adjustments (i.e. land subsidence, emergence
and ocean-basin deformation) also cause relative sea-level
changes. The anticipated eustatic sea-level rise (IPCC 2001b)
will affect essentially all estuaries, although their responses
will vary depending on factors such as the conguration, size
and depth of the estuarine basin, the occurrence of barrier
islands, and the morphology of adjoining watersheds.
Physical effects of a global sea-level rise of 2.615.3 cm
by the year 2020 (IPCC 2001b) will include increases in
estuarine basin areas, shoreline retreat, reductions in
estuarine beach habitat, losses of fringing wetland habitat
and altered tidal prisms. These changes will also affect
biotic communities, notably those inhabiting intertidal and
fringing wetland habitats.
Chemical contaminants
Estuarine and coastal marine environments will continue to
receive chemical contaminants from agricultural and
industrial activities and urbanization, especially in
developing nations. While a wide array of contaminants will
enter estuaries via land runoff, river discharges and
atmospheric deposition, the most important in terms of
potential biotic and habitat impacts will include halogen-
ated hydrocarbon compounds, PAHs and heavy metals,
with adverse effects on estuarine organisms (Kennish 1992;
McDowell 1993). The most severe effects will continue to
be manifest in biotic communities locally subjected to high
levels of contaminants near urban centres (OConnor &
Beliaeff 1995; Long et al. 1996; Kennish 1997, 1998a,
2001a), the effects being however less prevalent than those
of overshing, eutrophication and habitat degradation.
As agricultural production and industrial applications
increase in developing countries, many pristine and low-
impacted estuaries will be exposed to greater inputs of
these contaminants. Tighter controls on chemical-con-
taminant releases in developed countries will reduce con-
taminant accumulation in many estuaries, particularly in
North America and Europe. Developing countries in
tropical regions and elsewhere now use many contaminants
banned in developed countries, and new chemical com-
pounds will be introduced at least to the year 2025. Based
on organochlorine-pesticide use increasing at a rate of
78% per year (Tolba & El-Kholy 1992), amounts of some
of the most toxic and persistent compounds will quadruple
in the environment of developing countries by 2025.
Estuarine bottom sediments will provide a sink for many of
these contaminants.
Other contaminants such as heavy metals and radio-
nuclides are less threatening to estuaries than halogenated
hydrocarbons (GESAMP 1990), but will remain a more
localized problem, being found in highest concentrations
near source inputs (e.g. smelters, mines, nuclear power
stations and fuel reprocessing plants) (McIntyre 1992).
Fossil-fuel combustion and subsequent atmospheric
transport and deposition will be responsible for the more
widespread regional distribution of certain contaminants
such as cadmium, lead and mercury.
Freshwater diversions and inputs
Although coastal freshwater diversions are on the rise,
their impacts appear to be local and regional rather than
global. Many developing countries do not have the tech-
nology or the nancial base necessary to divert freshwater
ows on a large scale (e.g. Chapters 24). The most sig-
nicant freshwater diversions now occur in developed
countries, which will remain the principal sites of impact
during the next several decades. However, the volume of
diverted freshwater ows will also increase in some
developing countries, especially those where development
pressures are excessive and freshwater supplies are limited.
As development continues in these watersheds during
the twenty-rst century, human modication of freshwater
ows to estuaries will take on an increasingly important
role that may have devastating consequences for the biotic
organization and function of estuaries.
Introduced/invasive species
Changes in abundance and distribution of invasive species
can be expected to continue to result in dramatic shifts in
the trophic organization of estuaries with potential ongoing
repercussions (Carlton 1989; Cohen & Carlton 1998;
Kennish 2000). It is anticipated that the number of estu-
aries impacted by introduced species will increase con-
siderably worldwide to the 2025 time horizon and beyond,
concomitant with escalating shipping activity, mariculture
ventures and recreational pursuits. Although introduced
species have the potential to reduce biodiversity (via
ecological extinction) and cause other biotic problems in
estuaries, their impacts are unlikely to be of greater global
signicance than those associated with habitat degradation,
eutrophication and sheries overexploitation.
Coastal subsidence
Compaction of subsurface sediments, tectonic (crustal)
movements and withdrawal of groundwater, oil and gas
have had greater effect on relative sea-level changes than
eustatic sea-level rise in some coastal regions. Subsidence
will play a greater role in relative sea-level rise in some
regions up to the year 2025 as demands of burgeoning
human populations for groundwater and oil and gas
supplies increase. This will result in an expansion of
open-water habitat and alteration of shoreline and wetland
habitats in affected estuaries due to submergence. Biotic
communities will be impacted most notably in fringing
habitats.
Sediment input/turbidity
It is anticipated that sediment inputs/turbidity will
increase most signicantly in developing countries where
activities such as deforestation and urbanization will lead to
accelerated erosion. However, the problems will also con-
tinue in developed countries where the construction of
coastal industrial facilities and homes will continue. The
overall effect will be greater alteration of estuarine habitats
and related impacts on biotic communities to the 2025 time
horizon and beyond.
MULTIPLE STRESSORS AND THE
ESTUARI NE SYSTEM
Habitat loss and alteration, eutrophication, sewage, sh-
eries overexploitation and (now) sea-level rise represent
Tier I stressors, because they can have far-reaching eco-
logical consequences, potentially modifying the structure,
function and controls of estuarine systems, and contrib-
uting to a decrease in biodiversity (Table 13.3). Tier II
stressors include chemical contaminants (especially syn-
thetic organic compounds), which will continue to be most
problematic in urbanindustrialized regions, and altered
freshwater ows coupled to freshwater diversions, which
will cause changes in the structure and function of biotic
communities over broader geographical areas. Stressors
that will be less acute, but still damaging, are introduced/
invasive species, coastal subsidence and sediment input/
turbidity, but all of these factors together will result in
shifts in the composition of estuarine biotic communities
and/or degradation of valuable estuarine habitat at global
scales.
Interactions between different stressor types are likely
to affect the biological and ecosystem responses to
anthropogenic change to the year 2025 and beyond,
changing the perceived relative importance of individual
stressors. Impacts regarded as less acute, or even benign,
may become signicant when they come to operate in
combination.
Multiple stressors now impact estuarine and other
aquatic systems (Breitburg et al. 1998, 1999; Folt et al.
1999; Lenihan et al. 1999; Ruiz et al. 1999; Schindler
2001), and the theory underpinning stressor interactions
is simple in concept. Interactions between stressors can be
synergistic, where the biota is affected more than could
be predicted from additive or multiplicative models of the
effects of the individual stressors, antagonistic where the
combined effects of several stressors is less than expected
from the models, or neutral where no interactions can be
detected.
Examples of antagonistic effects include the enhance-
ment of primary production of estuarine phytoplankton
through increased nutrient input (eutrophication), and
its reduction through toxic effects on phytoplankton by
elevated levels of copper, arsenic, cadmium, nickel and
zinc (Breitburg et al. 1999). Synergistic effects include: (1)
reduced ow rates and effects of an invasive protozoan
parasite Perkinsus on the growth rate of the eastern oyster
Crassostrea virginica in the Neuse estuary (North Carolina)
(Lenihan et al. 1999); (2) combined effects of thermal
stress and invasive invertebrate taxa facilitated by thermal
change in North America (Ruiz et al. 1999); (3) biological
competition between invertebrates and their consequent
vulnerability to metal contamination in Victoria (Australia)
(Johnston & Keough 2003); and (4) inuence of organic
enrichment of sediments on the susceptibility of benthic
infauna to macroalgal blooms in the Mondego estuary
(Portugal) (Cardoso et al. 2004). There seem to be no
reports of neutral effects, and they are probably under-
represented.
Multiple-stressor effects may also occur through dif-
ferent stressors acting at different phases of life cycles,
often in different sections of a riversea continuum.
Migratory sh species will be the most susceptible to these
interactive effects, including the many species that spawn
in estuaries or use them as nursery grounds but spend most
of their adult life offshore. The issue is well illustrated by
the sh totoaba (Totoaba macdonaldi), which spawns in the
Colorado estuary (USA) where adults are overexploited by
sheries, and the damming of the Colorado River has
reduced water ows to the extent that juvenile survival is
low (Cisneros-Mata et al. 1997; Roberts & Hawkins 1999).
Such diadromous species serve to reinforce the argument
that estuaries should be viewed as part of a much larger
system for management to be truly holistic.
There seem to be fewer documented examples of
multiple-stressor effects in estuaries compared to other
aquatic systems upstream (e.g. Chapters 2, 5 and 10). This
could be due, in part, to a lack of research in this area or
because the transitional and uctuating physical nature of
estuaries favours a robust biota in which such interactions
are less easily manifested. Nevertheless, the examples
given highlight the existence of multiple stressor effects in
estuaries worldwide and the need to address them in
management policies, in spite of the outcomes of such
interactions not being easy to predict. Whether stressors
act synergistically, antagonistically or are neutral seems to
be context dependent, contingent on the stressor, bio-
logical taxon and background environment (Breitburg et al.
1999). In the face of such complexity and uncertainty, it
would be prudent to take a highly precautionary approach
to the management of multiple stressors in estuaries.
The concept of multiple stressors also shows the dir-
ection that environmental management must take for
estuaries. For example, where sea-level rise causes habitat
squeeze at defended coasts, hard marine structures would
further eliminate natural shoreline habitats. However, a
sediment supply derived from an offshore source could
buffer against further erosion, recreate lost habitats and
restore estuarine lter functions (Reise 2002).
The ecosystem paradigm remains a viable approach to
resource management issues in coastal areas. Because
ecosystem research is often used to answer questions that
are not necessarily asked at the beginning of the pro-
gramme, research relevant to management must remain
open-ended. The hypothesis development that underlies
reductionist approaches to estuarine research may need
some revision. Ecosystem processes cannot be dened
entirely by post hoc accumulation of information that is
often taken in a disparate manner with no real application
to the system as a whole. Accordingly, the usual method-
ology for ecosystem research, both in terms of data col-
lection and analysis, remains somewhat incomplete when
attempts are made to apply research results to practical
ecosystem problems. In many ways, the application of even
comprehensive scientic data to the management of coastal
systems is not direct, and requires a multidisciplinary
approach that often goes beyond the mere assembly of
facts. This application can be successful (Livingston 2002),
but it requires a broad array of approaches that incorporate
educational, economic and political factors.
CONCLUSI ONS
Estuaries are highly productive environments subject to a
wide array of human impacts from a burgeoning popula-
tion in coastal watersheds. Coastal development is accel-
erating at an alarming rate globally, with the coastal human
population expected to be 8 billion people by 2025. This
large population pool will exert considerable pressure on
estuarine resources. Because of their exceptional recre-
ational, commercial and aesthetic value, estuaries will be a
target of ongoing human activities that in some cases will
further threaten their long-term health and viability.
Human activities must be assessed in both estuarine
basins and adjoining coastal watersheds. Impacts origin-
ating from each source area can have devastating conse-
quences for biotic communities and habitats in estuaries.
Ten anthropogenic stressors deemed to be the principal
threats to estuarine environments up to the year 2025 are
in decreasing level of importance as follows: habitat loss
and alteration, eutrophication, sewage, sheries exploit-
ation, sea-level rise, chemical contaminants, freshwater
diversions, introduced/invasive species, subsidence and
sediment input/turbidity.
Habitat loss and alteration, eutrophication, sewage and
sheries overexploitation are Tier I stressors that will
continue to modify the structure, function and controls of
estuarine systems and reduce biodiversity at a global scale.
As Tier II stressors, chemical contaminants, freshwater
diversions, introduced species, sea-level rise, subsidence
and sediment input/turbidity will have more local or
regional impacts, arising in urbanized estuaries in relatively
close proximity to metropolitan centres. To protect estu-
arine environments effectively in the future, it is necessary
to address the Tier I stressors today by proposing and
implementing management strategies that will mitigate
their impacts. A concerted effort on the part of govern-
ment agencies, academic institutions, business, industry
and the general public to collaborate on the resolution of
these issues is required to ensure that estuaries are pro-
tected and maintained for future generations.

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