scholarly journals Crassostrea virginica dredge efficiency in Texas estuaries

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Beseres Pollack ◽  
Terence A. Palmer

AbstractQuantifying and comparing stocks of oysters (Crassostrea virginica) within and among estuaries across the Gulf of Mexico is difficult because the sampling equipment used is either inconsistent among studies, or inefficient. In Texas, USA, stock assessments of oyster populations are made using an oyster dredge, which is an inefficient sampling tool. We compared sampling densities estimated by oyster dredges with more accurate estimates taken by diver-quadrat samples to determine a dredge efficiency rate. Our calculated efficiency rate (0.125) was negatively affected by the number of dead oysters, and the number and volume of total oysters in an area, but not affected by sediment grain size, water quality, and other oyster metrics. The dredge efficiency rate calculated in this study can be applied to past and future dredge-collected oyster quantity data to provide more realistic estimates of oyster densities and allow more accurate stock assessments and comparisons among studies and regions.

2020 ◽  
Vol 640 ◽  
pp. 79-105
Author(s):  
ET Porter ◽  
E Robins ◽  
S Davis ◽  
R Lacouture ◽  
JC Cornwell

Anthropogenic disturbances in the Chesapeake Bay (USA) have depleted eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica abundance and altered the estuary’s environment and water quality. Efforts to rehabilitate oyster populations are underway; however, the effect of oyster biodeposits on water quality and plankton community structure are not clear. In July 2017, we used 6 shear turbulence resuspension mesocosms (STURMs) to determine differences in plankton composition with and without the daily addition of oyster biodeposits to a muddy sediment bottom. STURM systems had a volume-weighted root mean square turbulent velocity of 1.08 cm s-1, energy dissipation rate of ~0.08 cm2 s-3, and bottom shear stress of ~0.36-0.51 Pa during mixing-on periods during 4 wk of tidal resuspension. Phytoplankton increased their chlorophyll a content in their cells in response to low light in tanks with biodeposits. The diatom Skeletonema costatum bloomed and had significantly longer chains in tanks without biodeposits. These tanks also had significantly lower concentrations of total suspended solids, zooplankton carbon, and nitrite +nitrate, and higher phytoplankton carbon concentrations. Results suggest that the absence of biodeposit resuspension initiates nitrogen uptake for diatom reproduction, increasing the cell densities of S. costatum. The low abundance of the zooplankton population in non-biodeposit tanks suggests an inability of zooplankton to graze on S. costatum and negative effects of S. costatum on zooplankton. A high abundance of the copepod Acartia tonsa in biodeposit tanks may have reduced S. costatum chain length. Oyster biodeposit addition and resuspension efficiently transferred phytoplankton carbon to zooplankton carbon, thus supporting the food web in the estuary.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 2799
Author(s):  
Yanping Chen ◽  
Wenzhe Lyu ◽  
Tengfei Fu ◽  
Yan Li ◽  
Liang Yi

The Huanghe River (Yellow River) is the most sediment laden river system in the world, and many efforts have been conducted to understand modern deltaic evolution in response to anthropological impacts. However, the natural background and its linkage to climatic changes are less documented in previous studies. In this work, we studied the sediments of core YDZ–3 and marine surface samples by grain-size analysis to retrieve Holocene dynamics of the Huanghe River delta in detail. The main findings are as follows: The mean value of sediment grain size of the studied core is 5.5 ± 0.9 Φ, and silt and sand contents are 5.2 ± 2.3% and 8.2 ± 5.3%, respectively, while the variance of clay particles is relatively large with an average value of 86.4 ± 8.5%. All grain-size data can be mathematically partitioned by a Weibull-based function formula, and three subgroups were identified with modal sizes of 61.1 ± 28.9 μm, 30.0 ± 23.9 μm, and 2.8 ± 1.6 μm, respectively. There are eight intervals with abrupt changes in modal size of core YDZ–3, which can be correlated to paleo-superlobe migration of the Huanghe River in the Holocene. Based on these observations, the presence of seven superlobes in the history are confirmed for the first time and their ages are well constrained in this study, including Paleo-Superlobes Lijin (6400–5280 yr BP), Huanghua (4480–4190 yr BP), Jugezhuang (3880–3660 yr BP), Shajinzi (3070–2870 yr BP), Nigu (2780–2360 yr BP), Qikou (2140–2000 yr BP), and Kenli (1940–1780 and 1700–1650 yr BP). By tuning geomorphological events to a sedimentary proxy derived from core YDZ–3 and comparing to various paleoenvironmental changes, we proposed that winter climate dominated Holocene shifts of the Huanghe River delta on millennial timescales, while summer monsoons controlled deltaic evolution on centennial timescales.


The Holocene ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 095968362110190
Author(s):  
Tsai-Wen Lin ◽  
Stefanie Kaboth-Bahr ◽  
Kweku Afrifa Yamoah ◽  
André Bahr ◽  
George Burr ◽  
...  

The East Asian Winter Monsoon (EAWM) is a fundamental part of the global monsoon system that affects nearly one-quarter of the world’s population. Robust paleoclimate reconstructions in East Asia are complicated by multiple sources of precipitation. These sources, such as the EAWM and typhoons, need to be disentangled in order to understand the dominant source of precipitation influencing the past and current climate. Taiwan, situated within the subtropical East Asian monsoon system, provides a unique opportunity to study monsoon and typhoon variability through time. Here we combine sediment trap data with down-core records from Cueifong Lake in northeastern Taiwan to reconstruct monsoonal rainfall fluctuations over the past 3000 years. The monthly collected grain-size data indicate that a decrease in sediment grain size reflects the strength of the EAWM. End member modelling analysis (EMMA) on sediment core and trap data reveals two dominant grain-size end-members (EMs), with the coarse EM 2 representing a robust indicator of EAWM strength. The downcore variations of EM 2 show a gradual decrease over the past 3000 years indicating a gradual strengthening of the EAWM, in agreement with other published EAWM records. This enhanced late-Holocene EAWM can be linked to the expansion of sea-ice cover in the western Arctic Ocean caused by decreased summer insolation.


2010 ◽  
Vol 30 (18) ◽  
pp. 1941-1950 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanni De Falco ◽  
Renato Tonielli ◽  
Gabriella Di Martino ◽  
Sara Innangi ◽  
Simone Simeone ◽  
...  

2009 ◽  
Vol 67 (3) ◽  
pp. 594-605 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor Quintino ◽  
Rosa Freitas ◽  
Renato Mamede ◽  
Fernando Ricardo ◽  
Ana Maria Rodrigues ◽  
...  

Abstract Quintino, V., Freitas, R., Mamede, R., Ricardo, F., Rodrigues, A. M., Mota, J., Pérez-Ruzafa, Á., and Marcos, C. 2010. Remote sensing of underwater vegetation using single-beam acoustics. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 67: 594–605. A single-beam, acoustic, ground-discrimination system (QTC VIEW, Series V) was used to study the distribution of underwater macrophytes in a shallow-water coastal system, employing frequencies of 50 and 200 kHz. The study was conducted in Mar Menor, SE Spain, where the expansion of Caulerpa prolifera has contributed to the silting up of the superficial sediments. A direct relationship was identified between algal biomass and sediment-fines content. Acoustic information on sediment grain size and data on algal biomass were obtained in muddy and sandy sediments, including vegetated and non-vegetated seabed. Non-vegetated muddy areas were created by diving and handpicking the algae. The multivariate acoustic data were analysed under the null hypotheses that there were no acoustic differences between bare seabeds with contrasting superficial sediment types or among low, medium, and high algal-biomass areas, having in mind that grain size can act as a confounding factor. Both null hypotheses were rejected, and the results showed that 200 kHz was better than 50 kHz in distinguishing cover levels of algal biomass. The relationship between the 200-kHz acoustic data and algal biomass suggests utility in modelling the latter using the former.


2013 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 29-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Kasperek ◽  
Marian Mokwa ◽  
Mirosław Wiatkowski

Abstract The aim of the study was to determine the contamination transport condition with sediment in the Widawa River, which inflows to the Odra River below Wrocław city. The transport simulations have been performed by means of HEC-RAS model, which was calibrated. Study and geochemical analyses indicate that pollutions are cumulated mainly in sediment of grain size, less than 0,20 mm. It was stated that the main sources of contaminations occurring in the Widawa River bottoms are: superficial run-off, municipal and industrial wastes. Sediment bed quality from the Widawa River in selected cross-sections has been analyzed. Samples of suspended load were collected and divided into eight fractions, for which the phosphorus concentration P was calculated. Deposit particles less than 0,20 mm contained most phosphorus, i.e. 73% (3,52 ppm), and particles greater than 0,20 mm about 27% (1,30 ppm) for the whole sample volume. Relationship between the phosphorus concentration P and the sediment grain size was determined. Analysis showed that the initiation of contamination-sediment suspension in the Widawa River is well described by Engelund criterion. Simulations of the migration of pollutions together with deposits in the Widawa River showed that during average flow discharge, the transport intensity of pollution was equal 2 mg/s, and sediments 6 kg/s. In the present work the water quality of the Widawa River has been also presented.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document