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Relationship between Hypoxia and Macrobenthic Production in Chesapeake Bay

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Abstract

Human development has degraded Chesapeake Bay's health, resulting in an increase in the extent and severity of hypoxia (≤2 mg O2 l-1). The Bay's hypoxic zones have an adverse effect on both community structure and secondary production of macrobenthos. From 1996 to 2004, the effect of hypoxia on macrobenthic production was assessed in Chesapeake Bay and its three main tributaries (Potomac, Rappahannock, and York Rivers). Each year, in the summer (late July − early September), 25 random samples of the benthic macrofauna were collected from each system, and macrobenthic production in the polyhaline and mesohaline regions was estimated using Edgar's allometric equation. Fluctuations in macrobenthic production were significantly correlated with dissolved oxygen. Macrobenthic production was 90 % lower during hypoxia relative to normoxia. As a result, there was a biomass loss of ~7,320–13,200 metric tons C over an area of 7,720 km2, which is estimated to equate to a 20 % to 35 % displacement of the Bay's macrobenthic productivity during the summer. While higher consumers may benefit from easy access to stressed prey in some areas, the large spatial and temporal extent of seasonal hypoxia limits higher trophic level transfer, via the inhibition of macrobenthic production. Such a massive loss of macrobenthic production would be detrimental to the overall health of the Bay, as it comes at a time when epibenthic and demersal predators have high-energy demands.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the staff at Versar and the Old Dominion University for data from the Chesapeake Bay Program's Long-Term Benthic Monitoring Program. Maryland Department of Natural Resources and Virginia DEQ funded the benthic monitoring program. This study was supported in part by NOAA grant NA05NOS4781202 to R.J.D.

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  1. Division of Marine Science and Conservation, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, 135 Duke Marine Lab Rd., Beaufort, NC, 28516, USA

    S. Kersey Sturdivant

  2. Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary, Route 1208 Greate Road, Gloucester Pt., VA, 23062, USA

    Robert J. Díaz

  3. Versar, 9200 Rumsey Rd, Columbia, MD, 21045, USA

    Roberto Llansó

  4. Department of Biological Sciences, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, 23529, USA

    Daniel M. Dauer

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  1. S. Kersey Sturdivant
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Correspondence to S. Kersey Sturdivant.

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Sturdivant, S.K., Díaz, R.J., Llansó, R. et al. Relationship between Hypoxia and Macrobenthic Production in Chesapeake Bay. Estuaries and Coasts 37, 1219–1232 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-013-9763-4

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