Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Nearshore macrobenthos of northern Kotzebue Sound, Alaska, with reference to local sewage disposal

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Polar Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Macrobenthos of the shallow (<10 m) nearshore marine waters of northern Kotzebue Sound was examined in 2002–2004 to (1) determine nearshore community structure and (2) assess the influence of sewage disposal. A variable number of benthic stations were sampled during three summers, with extensive effort at the disposal zone in 2003. The benthic community structure is similar to other nearshore Arctic locations, and was similar to a previous benthic study done in 1986–1987. The potential of sewage impact was assessed at the request of the community, because sewage is occasionally discharged into the Sound, in volumes of up to 38 million liters, typically through the ice in early spring. Only minimal effects of disposal on the benthos were evident and the effects could not be separated from the impacts of low salinity and relatively high water pigments. Low diversity (H′) and species richness (d) and high biomass characterized stations in the sewage area. Parameters often associated with extreme sewage pollution, particularly hypoxic and/or anoxic conditions and high abundance of opportunistic taxa, were not observed. Local traditional ecological knowledge was solicited throughout the study, and was used to help define the area potentially affected by sewage disposal.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ambrose WG, Renaud PE (1995) Benthic response to water column productivity patterns: evidence for pelagic-benthic coupling in the Northeast Water. Polynya J Geophy Res 100:4411–4421

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blake JA, Hilbig B, Scott PV (2000) Taxonomic atlas of the benthic fauna of the Santa Maria Basin and the Western Santa Barbara Channel, vol 7. The Annelida part 4, Polychaete: Flabelligeridae to Sternaspidae. Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Santa Barbara

  • Bousfield EL (1989) Revised morphological relationships within the amphipod genera Pontoporeia and Gammaracanthus and the “glacial relict” significance of their postglacial disturbances. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 46:1714–1725

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burch ES (1998) The Iñupiaq Eskimo Nations of Northwest Alaska. University of Alaska Press, Fairbanks

  • Cavalieri DJ, Gloersen P, Parkinson CL et al (1997) Observed hemispheric asymmetry in global sea ice changes. Science 278:1104–1106

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Clark KR (1993) Non-metric multivariate analyses of changes in community structure. Austr J Ecol 18:117–143

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coachman LK, Aagaard K, Tripp RB (1975) Bering Strait: the regional physical oceanography. Univ. Washington Press, Seattle, WA

    Google Scholar 

  • Coan EV, Scott PV, Bernard FR (2000) Bivalve seashells of Western North America, marine bivalve mollusks from Arctic Alaska to Baja California. Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Santa Barbara

  • Conlan KE, Kim SL, Lenihan HS, Oliver JS (2004) Benthic changes during 10 years of organic enrichment by McMurdo Station, Antarctica. Mar Poll Bull 49:43–60

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fair LF, Nelson A (1999) Southeast Chukchi Sea and Kotzebue Sound trawl survey, 1998. Alaska Department of Fish and Game Regional Information, report no. 3A99-34. Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Commercial Fisheries Division, Anchorage

  • Feder HM, Naidu AS, Baskaran M et al (1991) Bering Strait-Hope Basin: habitat utilization and ecological characterization. Institute of Marine Science technical report 92-2, University of Alaska, Fairbanks

  • Feder HM, Naidu AS, Jewett SC et al (1994) The northeastern Chukchi Sea: benthos-environmental interactions. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 111:171–190

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feder HM, Jewett SC, Blanchard A (2005) Southeastern Chukchi Sea (Alaska) epibenthos. Polar Biol 28:402–421

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feder HM, Jewett SC, Blanchard A (2007) Southeastern Chukchi Sea (Alaska) macrobenthos. Polar Biol 30:261–275

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Field JG, Clark KR, Warwick RM (1982) A practical strategy for analyzing multispecies distribution patterns. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 8:37–52

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fleming RH, Heggarty D (1966) Oceanography of the southeastern Chukchi Sea, Chap. 25. In: Wilimovsky NJ, Wolfe JN (eds) Environment of the Cape Thompson Region, Alaska. US Atomic Energy Commission, Division of Technical Information, Oak Ridge, pp 697–754

  • Folk RL (1980) Petrology of sedimentary rocks. Hemphill, Austin

  • Georgette S, Shiedt A (2005) Whitefish: traditional ecological knowledge and subsistence fishing in the Kotzebue Sound Region, Alaska. Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Subsistence Division, Technical paper no. 290, pp 1–141

  • Grassle JF, Grassle JP (1974) Opportunistic life histories and genetic systems in marine benthic polychaetes. J Mar Res 32:253–284

    Google Scholar 

  • Grebmeier GM, McRoy CP, Feder HM (1989) Pelagic-benthic coupling in the northern Bering and southern Chukchi seas. II. Benthic community structure. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 51:253–268

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holm-Hansen O, Lorenzen CJ, Holmes RW, Strickland JD (1965) Fluorometric determination of chlorophyll. J Conseil 30:3–15

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Holte B, Oug E (1996) Soft-bottom macrofauna and responses to organic enrichment in the subarctic waters of Tromsø, northern Norway. J Sea Res 36:227–237

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holte B, Dahle S, Gulliken B, Naes K (1996) Some macrofaunal effects of local pollution and glacier-induced sedimentation, with indicative chemical analyses, in the sediments of two Arctic fjords. Polar Biol 16:549–557

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huntington HP (2000) Using traditional ecological knowledge in science: methods and applications. Ecol Appl 10:1270–1274

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jewett SC, Feder HM (1981) Epifaunal invertebrates of the continental shelf of the Eastern Bering and Chukchi seas. In: Hood DW, Calder JA (eds) The Eastern Bering Sea shelf: oceanography and resources, vol 2. Office of Marine Pollution Assessment, NOAA, US Department Commerce, pp 1131–1153

  • Jewett SC, Dean TA, Laur DR (1996) The effects of the Exxon Valdez oil spill on benthic invertebrates in an oxygen-deficient embayment in Prince William Sound, Alaska. In: Rice SD, Spies RB, Wolfe DA, Wright BA (eds) Proceedings of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Symposium. American Fisheries Society Symposium, vol 18, pp 440–447

  • Johannessen OM, Miles M, Bjorgo E (1995) The Arctic’s shrinking sea ice. Nature 376:126–127

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson M (1992) Research on traditional environmental knowledge: its development and its role. In: Johnson M (ed) Lore: capturing traditional environmental knowledge. Dene Cultural Institute, Hay River

  • Johnson JC, Weller S (2002) Elicitation techniques in interviewing. In: Gubrium J, Holstein J (eds) Handbook of interview research. Sage Publications, Newbury Park, CA, pp 491–514

    Google Scholar 

  • Kinder TH, Schumacher JD, Tripp TB, Pashinski D (1977) The physical oceanography of Kotzebue Sound, Alaska, during late summer, 1976. Technical report M77-99, University of Washington, Seattle

  • Lindström M, Fortelius W (2001) Swimming behaviour in Monoporeia affinis (Crustacea: Amphipoda)—dependence on temperature and population density. J Exp Mar Ecol 256:73–83

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Magurran A (2004) Measuring biological diversity. Blackwell Publishing, Malden, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Mölsä H, Häkkilä S, Puhakka M (1986) Reproductive success of Macoma balthica in relation to environmental stability. Ophelia Suppl 4:167–177

    Google Scholar 

  • Ockelmann KW, Muus K (1978) The biology, ecology and behavior of the bivalve Mysella bidentata (Montagu). Ophelia 17:1–93

    Google Scholar 

  • Oliver JS, Slattery PN, O’Connor EF, Lowry LF (1983) Walrus, Odobenus rosmarus, feeding in the Bering Sea: a benthic perspective. Fish Bull 81:501–512

    Google Scholar 

  • Pearson TH, Rosenberg R (1978) Macrobenthic succession in relation to organic enrichment and pollution of the marine environment. Oceanogr Mar Bio Annu Rev 16:229–311

    Google Scholar 

  • Rasmussen E (1973) Systematics and ecology of the Isefjord marine fauna (Denmark). Ophelia 11:1–507

    Google Scholar 

  • Samuelson GM (2001) Polychaetes as indicators of environmental disturbance on subarctic tidal flats, Iqaluit, Baffin Island, Nunavut Territory. Mar Poll Bull 42:733–741

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Savage C, Elmgren R, Larsson U (2002) Effects of sewage-derived nutrients on an estuarine macrobenthic community. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 243:67–82

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skog S, Varmo R (1980) Effects of pollution on the distribution of Macoma balthica (L.) in the sea area of Helsinki. Finnish Mar Res 247:124–134

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith SDA (2000) The effects of a small sewage outfall on an algal epifaunal community at Macquarie Island (sub-Antarctic): a drop in the southern ocean? Mar Poll Bull 40:873–878

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stark JS (2000) The distribution and abundance of soft-sediment macrobenthos around Casey Station, East Antarctica. Polar Biol 23:840–850

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stevensen M (1996) Indigenous knowledge in environmental assessment. Arctic 48:278–291

    Google Scholar 

  • Stringer WJ, Groves JE (1986) Statistical description of the summertime ice edge in the Chukchi Sea (Report prepared under contract DE-AC21-83MC20037 with the US Department of Energy). Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska, Fairbanks

  • Warwick RM, Clark KR (1991) A comparison of some methods for analyzing changes in benthic community structure. J Mar Biol Assoc UK 71:225–244

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wlodarska-Kowalczuk M, Szymelfenig M, Zajaczkowski M (2007) Dynamic sedimentary environments of an Arctic glacier-fed estuary (Adventfjorden, Svalbard). II: Meio- and macrobenthic fauna. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 74:274–284

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolotira RJ, Sample TM, Morin M Jr (1977) Demersal fish and shellfish resources of Norton Sound, the southeastern Chukchi Sea and adjacent waters in the baseline year 1976. NWAFS Proceedings report, 292 pp

Download references

Acknowledgments

We extend our appreciation to Willie and John Goodwin of Kotzebue as sampling vessel owner/operator in 2002 and 2003 and for sharing their knowledge of the Kotzebue Sound environment. We also thank Adam Boeckmann of Nome as the sampling vessel owner/operator in 2004. Seth Danielson of the School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences at University of Alaska Fairbanks composed Fig. 1. Several graduate (ECU) and undergraduate (ECU and Bates) students helped with field and laboratory analyses. Special thanks go to Dr. Maria Wlodarska-Kowalczuk and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions. This work was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, OPP-0138581 (to J. Johnson, L. Clough, D. Griffith and A. Whiting), OPP-0138676 (to S. Jewett), and OPP-0138596 (to W. Ambrose).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Marine Science, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, 99775-7220, USA

    Stephen C. Jewett, Arny L. Blanchard, Howard M. Feder & Max K. Hoberg

  2. Department of Biology, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, 27858-4353, USA

    Lisa M. Clough

  3. Department of Biology, Bates College, Lewiston, ME, 04240, USA

    William G. Ambrose

  4. Native Village of Kotzebue, Kotzebue, AK, 99752, USA

    Alex V. Whiting

Authors
  1. Stephen C. Jewett
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Lisa M. Clough
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Arny L. Blanchard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. William G. Ambrose
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Howard M. Feder
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Max K. Hoberg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Alex V. Whiting
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stephen C. Jewett.

Appendix

Appendix

See Table 6.

Table 6 A. Average macrobenthic community parameters and physical variables obtained from nearshore stations in Kotzebue Sound, 2002–2004 and B. macrobenthos values from nearshore stations in Kotzebue Sound, 1987 (Source: Feder et al. 2007)
Full size table

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Jewett, S.C., Clough, L.M., Blanchard, A.L. et al. Nearshore macrobenthos of northern Kotzebue Sound, Alaska, with reference to local sewage disposal. Polar Biol 32, 1665–1680 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-009-0667-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-009-0667-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation