Dataset Information

Benthic macroinvertebrate community response to environmental changes over seven decades in an urbanized estuary in the northeastern United States.

ABSTRACT: Narragansett Bay is representative of New England, USA urbanized estuaries, with colonization in the early 17th century, and development into industrial and transportation centers in the late 18th and early 20th century. Increasing nationwide population and lack of infrastructure maintenance led to environmental degradation, and then eventual improvement after implementation of contaminant control and sewage treatment starting in the 1970s. Benthic macroinvertebrate community structure was expected to respond to these environmental changes. This study assembled data sets from the 1950s through 2010s to examine whether quantitative aggregate patterns in the benthic community corresponded qualitatively to stressors and management actions in the watershed. In Greenwich Bay and Providence River, patterns of benthic response corresponded to the decline and then improvement in sewage treatment at the Fields Point wastewater treatment plant. In Mount Hope Bay, the benthos corresponded to changes in bay fish populations due to thermal discharge from the Brayton Point power plant. The benthos of the Upper West Passage corresponded to climatic changes that caused regime shifts in the plankton and fish communities. Future work will examine the effects of further environmental improvements in the face of continued climatic changes and population growth.

SUBMITTER: Pelletier M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8292207 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Benthic macroinvertebrate community response to environmental changes over seven decades in an urbanized estuary in the northeastern United States.

Pelletier Marguerite M Cobb Donald D Rocha Kenneth K Ho Kay T KT Cantwell Mark G MG Perron Monique M Charpentier Michael A MA Buffum Henry W HW Hale Stephen S SS Burgess Robert M RM

Marine environmental research 20210406

Narragansett Bay is representative of New England, USA urbanized estuaries, with colonization in the early 17th century, and development into industrial and transportation centers in the late 18th and early 20th century. Increasing nationwide population and lack of infrastructure maintenance led to environmental degradation, and then eventual improvement after implementation of contaminant control and sewage treatment starting in the 1970s. Benthic macroinvertebrate community structure was expec ...[more]

PMID: 33862568

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Project description:The habitat heterogeneity hypothesis states that increased habitat heterogeneity promotes species diversity through increased availability of ecological niches. We aimed at describing the local-scale (i.e. nest and adjacent substrate) effects of nests of the sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus L.) as ecosystem engineer on macroinvertebrate assemblages. We hypothesized that increased streambed physical heterogeneity caused by sea lamprey spawning would modify invertebrate assemblages and specific biologic traits and promote reach-scale diversity. We sampled thirty lamprey nests of the Nive River, a river of the south western France with a length of 79.3 km and tributary of the Adour River, in three zones: the unmodified riverbed (upstream) and zones corresponding to the nest: the area excavated (pit) and the downstream accumulation of pebbles and cobbles (mound). The increased habitat heterogeneity created by lamprey was accompanied by biological heterogeneity with a reduced density of invertebrates (3777 ± 1332 individuals per m2 in upstream, 2649 ± 1386 individuals per m2 in pit and 3833 ± 1052 individuals per m2 in mound) and number of taxa (23.5 ± 3.9 taxa for upstream, 18.6 ± 3.9 taxa in pit and 21.2 ± 4.5 taxa for mound) in the pit compared to other zones. However the overall taxa diversity in nest increased with 82 ± 14 taxa compared to the 69 ± 8 taxa estimated in upstream zone. Diversity indices were consistent with the previous results indicating a loss of α diversity in pit but a higher β diversity between a pit and a mound than between two upstream zones, especially considering Morisita index accounting for taxa abundance. Trait analysis showed high functional diversity within zones with a reduced proportion of collectors, scrapers, shredders, litter/mud preference and small invertebrates in mound, while the proportion of "slabs, blocks, stones and pebbles" preference and largest invertebrates increased. Pit presented the opposite trend, while upstream had globally intermediate trait proportions. Our results highlight important effects on species and functional diversity due to habitat heterogeneity created by a nest-building species, what can ultimately influence food webs and nutrient processes in river ecosystems.

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Dataset Information

Benthic macroinvertebrate community response to environmental changes over seven decades in an urbanized estuary in the northeastern United States.

Publications

Benthic macroinvertebrate community response to environmental changes over seven decades in an urbanized estuary in the northeastern United States.

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