Abstract
Periphyton colonization and sediment bioassessment were used ina survey to compare the relative environmental condition ofsampling sites located in Florida Bay and four peripheral sloughareas during the summer of 1995. Periphyton biomass, pigmentcontent, tissue quality and community composition weredetermined. In addition, benthic community composition and thetoxicities of whole sediments and associated pore waters weredetermined for two species of rooted macrophytes, an epibenthicinvertebrate and bioluminescent bacteria. Several locational differences were observed for the response parameters.Periphyton biomass was significantly greater in the Taylor Riverand the least in Shell Creek (P < 0.05). Most sediments were notacutely toxic to mysid shrimp nor phytotoxic. However, sedimentsfrom the Taylor River were more phytostimulatory than others (P< 0.05). Contaminant bioresidues were similar at most sites,however, mercury, chromium and nickel concentrations weregreater for periphyton colonized in the Taylor River and TroutCreek areas. Structural characteristics of the periphytic algalcommunity usually were statistically similar but a consistenttrend of lower density and diversity was evident for ShellCreek. The benthic community was the least diverse and dense inthe Canal C-111. The results of this study provide an initialindication of differences in the role of several slough areas aspossible sources of bioavailable contaminants to Florida Baywhich warrants additional investigation.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
American Public Health Association: 1995, 'AmericanWaterWorks Association,Water Environment Federation. Standard Methods for the Examination of Water andWastewater', 19th ed., American Public Health Association. Washington, DC.
American Society for Testing and Materials: 1991, 'Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Vol. 11.04, Water and Environmental Technology, D3731. Standard Practices for Measurement of Chlorophyll Content of Algae in Surface Waters,' ASTM, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Atkeson, T. D., Delfino, J. J., LaPoint, T. W., McCutcheon, S. C. and Rodgers, J. H.: 1998, Linking ecotoxicity and risk management to sustainable restoration of South Florida ecosystems. Advisory Panel Report, South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Task Force.
Boesch, D. F., Armstrong, N. E., D'Elia, C. F., Maynard, N. G., Paerl, H. W., Williams, S. L.: 1993, 'Deterioration of the Florida Bay ecosystem: An evaluation of the scientific evidence. Report to the interagency working group on Florida Bay', United States Department of Commerce.
Bousfield, E. L.: 1973, Shallow-Water Gammaridean Amphipods of New England, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York.
Browder, J. A., Gleason, P. J. and Swift, D. R.: 1994, 'Periphyton in the Everglades: Spatial Variation, Environmental Correlates and Ecological Implications. Everglades: The Ecosystem and its Restoration', in Davis, S. and Ogden, J. C. (eds.), St. Lucie Press, Delray Beach, Florida.
Campbell, P. H.: 1973, 'Studies on Brackish Water Phytoplankton', Sea Grant Program, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Clarke, K. R. and Warwick, R. M.: 1994, 'Change in Marine Communities: An approach to statisical analysis and interpretation', National Environment Research Council, U.K., 144 pp.
Dachnowski-Stokes, A. P. and Alligon, R. V.: 1928, 'A preliminary note on blue-green algal in southern Florida in relation to the problem of coastal subsidence', Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences 18, 4476-480.
Dillard, G. E.: 1989-1991, 'Freshwater Algae of the Southeastern United States', Bibliotheca Phycologica. J. Cramerin der Gebruder Borntraeger Verlagsvuchhandlung, Berlin, Germany. Part 104.
Ferris, V. R., Ferris, J. M. and Tjepkema, J. P.: 1973, 'Genera of Freshwater Nematodes (nematoda) of Eastern North America. Identification Manual No. 10', United States Government Printing Office, Washington, DC.
Florida Department of Environmental Protection: 1994a, 'Approach to the assessment of sediment quality in Florida coastal waters', Office of Water Policy, Tallahassee, Florida, Vol. 2, Application of the sediment quality assessment guidelines, 52 p.
Florida Department of Environmental Protection: 1994b, 'Florida coastal sediment contaminants atlas', Tallahassee, Florida.
Gleason, P. J. and Spackman Jr., W.: 1974, 'Calcareous periphyton and water chemistry in the Everglades', Gleason, P. J. (ed.), Environments of South Florida: Present and Past, Memoir No. 2, Miami Geological Society, Coral Gables, Florida, pp. 146-181.
Goodman, L., Lewis, M., Macauley, J., Smith, R. and Moore, J.: 1999, 'Preliminary survey of chemical contaminants in water, sediment and aquatic biota at selected sites in Northeastern Florida Bay', Gulf of Mexico Science 1, 1-161.
Grimshaw, H. J., Rosen, M., Swift, R. R., Rodberg, K. and Noel, J. J.: 1993, 'Marsh phosphorus concentrations, phosphorus content and species composites of Everglades periphyton communities', Archiv fuer Hydrobiologie 128, 257-276.
Haddad, K., Matthews, D., Culleton, T. and Thomas, J.: 1994, 'Interagency spatial information workshop on the South Florida ecosystem', September, West Palm Beach, Florida, Vol. 1. Workshop proceedings.
Heard, Richard, W.: 1979, 'Guide to Common Tidal Marsh Invertebrates of the Northeastern Gulf of Mexico', Sea Grant No. 04-8-M01-92: University of South Alabama, Mobile, Alabama.
Hoagland, D. R. and Arnon, D. I.: 1938, 'The Water Culture Method for Growing Plants Without Soil', California Experiment Station Circular 347, Berkeley, CA.
Hopkins, Thomas, S.: 1989, 'An Illustrated Guide with Keys to Selected Benthic Invertebrate Fauna of Northern Gulf of Mexico', Sea Grant No. MASGP-87-010. Marine Environmental Sciences Consortium of Alabama, Dauphin Island Sea Laboratory, Dauphin Island, Alabama.
Kucklick, J. R., Fulton, M., Scott, G. I., Siversten, S. and Strozier, E.: 1996, 'Endosulfan and other organic contaminants in Florida Bay and adjacent surface waters', Abstract. Presented at 17th Annual Meeting of The Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, Washington, DC.
Lewis, M. A. and Weber, D.: 1998A, 'In situ phytoassessment as an indicator of nutrient bioavailability in coastal areas receiving wastewaters', J. Applied Phycology (submitted).
Lewis, M. A., Weber, D. E. and Stanley, R.: 1998B, 'spatial and temporal variation in periphyton biometrics for three urbanized estuaries in the Gulf of Mexico', Water, Air and Soil Pollut. (in press).
Lapointe, B. E. and Clark, M. W.: 1992, 'Nutrient inputs from the watershed and coastal eutrophication in the Florida Keys', Estuaries 15, 465-476.
Long, E. R. and Morgan, L. G.: 1990, 'The potential for biological effects of sediment-sorbed contaminants tested in the national Status and Trends Program', NOAA Tech.Memo. NOS QMA 52. United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Seattle, Washington, 175 p.
Long, E. R., Robertson, A., Wolfe, D., Hameedi, J. and Sloane, G.: 1996, 'Estimates of the spatial extent of sediment toxicity in major U.S. estuaries', Environ. Science and Technology 30, 3585-3592.
Margalef, R.: 1958, 'Information theory in ecology', General Systematics 3, 36-71.
Marshall, H.: 1986, 'Identification Manual for Phytoplankton of the United States Atlantic Coast', EPA-600-4-86-003, National Technical Information Service, PB86-151222, Springfield, Virginia.
McCormick, P. V., Rawlik, P. S., Lurding, K., Smith, E. P. and Sklar, F. H.: 1996, 'Periphyton-water quality relationships along a nutrient gradient in the northern Florida Everglades', Journal of the North American Benthological Society 15, 433-449.
McIvor, C., Ley, J. A. and Bjork, R. D.: 1994, 'Changes in Freshwater Inflow From the Everglades to Florida Bay Including Effects on Biota and Biota Processes: A Review', in: Everglades: The Ecosystem and Its Restoration, St. Lucie Press, Delray Beach, Florida.
Microbics Corporation: 1992, Microtox Manual-A toxicity testing handbook, Microbics Corporation, Carlsbad, California.
Miles, C. J. and Pfeuffer, R. J.: 1997, 'Pesticides in canals of South Florida', Archives of Environ. Contamination and Toxicology 32, 337-345.
Parsons, T. R., Maita, Y. and Lalli, C. M.: 1984, A Manual of Chemical and Biological Methods for Seawater Analysis, Pergamon Press, Oxford, England.
Patrick, R. and Reimer, C. W.: 1966, Diatoms of the United States, Vol. 1. The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. No. 13, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Philips, E. J. and Badylak, S.: 1996, 'Spatial variability in phytoplankton standing crop and composition in a shallow inner-shelf lagoon, Florida Bay, Florida', Bulletin of Marine Science 58, 203-216.
Philips, E. J., Lynch, T. C. and Badylak, S.: 1995, 'Chlorophyll a, tripton, color, and light availability in a shallow tropical inner-shelf lagoon, Florida Bay', Marine Ecological Progress Series 127, 223-234.
Pielou, E. C.: 1975, Ecological Diversity, Wiley, New York.
Robblee, M. J., Barber, T. R., Carlson, P. R., Durako, M. J., Fourqurean, J. W., Muechlstein, L. K., Porter, D., Yabro, L. A., Zieman, R. T. and Zieman, J. C.: 1991, 'Mass mortality of the tropical sea grass Thalassia testudinium in Florida Bay', Marine Ecological Progress Series 71, 297-299.
SAS Institute, Inc.: 1989, SAS/STAT Users Guide, Version 6, 4th ed., Vol. 1, SAS Institute, Inc., Cary, NC.
Shannon, C. E. and Weaver, W.: 1949, The Mathematical Theory of Communication, University of Illinois Press, Urbana, Illinois.
Simpson, E. H.: 1949, 'Measurement of diversity', Nature 163, 688.
Stober, J., Scheidt, D., Jones, R., Thorton, K., Ambrose, R. and France, D.: 1996, 'South Florida ecosystem assessment: Monitoring for adaptive management, implications for ecosystem restoration', United States Environmental Protection Agency, Region IV, Atlanta, EPA 904-R-96-008.
Swartz, R. C., Schults, D. W., Ozretich, R. J., Lamberson, J. O., Cole, F. A., DeWitt, T. H., Resmond, M. S. and Ferraro, S. P.: 1995, ΣPAH: A model to predict the toxicity of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon mixtures in field-collected sediments', Environ. Toxicology and Chemistry 14, 1977-1987.
Traunspurger, W. and Drew, C.: 1996, 'Toxicity analysis of freshwater and marine sediments with meio and macrobenthic organisms: A review', Hydrobiologia 328, 215-261.
Uebelacker, J. M. and Johnson, P. G. (eds.): 1984, 'Taxonomic Guide to the Polychaetes of the Northern Gulf of Mexico', Final Report to the Minerals Management Service, Contract 14-12-001-29091. Barry A. Vittor and Associates, Inc., Mobile, Alabama, Vols, 1-7.
U.S. EPA: 1994, 'Framework for the National Sediment Inventory', EPA 823-R-94-003. United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water, Washington, DC.
U.S. EPA: 1996a, 'The National Sediment Quality Survey: A report to congress on the extent and severity of sediment contamination in surface waters of the United States', EPA 823-D-96-002, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Science and Technology, Washington, DC.
U,S. EPA: 1996b, 'The national sediment contaminant point source inventory: analysis of facility release data', EPA 823-D-96-001, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Science and Technology, Washington, DC.
U.S. EPA: 1998, Field operations and methods for measuring the ecological conditions of wadeable streams, EPA/620/R-941004F, Washington, DC.
Van Meter-Kasanof, N. N.: 1973, 'Ecology of the micro-algae of the Florida Everglades Part I. Environment and some aspects of freshwater periphyton', Nova Hedwigia 24, 619-664.
Vollenweider, R. A. (ed.).: 1969, A Manual on Methods for Measuring Primary Production in Aquatic Environments Including a Chapter on Bacteria, IBP Handbook No. 12. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, U.K.
Vymazal, J. and Richardson, C. J.: 1995, 'Species composition, biomass and nutrient content of periphyton in the Florida Everglades', Journal of Phycology 31, 343-354.
Washington, H. G.: 1984, 'Diversity, biotic and similarity indices: A review with special releavance to aquatic ecosystems', Water Research 6, 653-694.
Weitzel, R. L.: 1979, Methods and measurements of periphyton communities: A review, STP 690, American Society for Testing and Materials, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Weber, D. E., Walsh, G. E. and MacGregor, M. A.: 1994, 'Use of Vascular Aquatic Plants in Phytotoxicity Studies with Sediments', in: J. S. Hughes, G. R. Biddinger and E. Mones (eds.), Environmental Toxicology and Risk Assessment, 3rd vol., ASTM STP 1218, American Society for Testing and Materials, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Wood, E. J. F. and Maynard, N. G.: 1974, 'Ecology of the micro-algae of the Florida Everglades', in: P. J. Gleason (ed.), Environments of South Florida: Present and Past, Memoir No. 2, Miami Geological Society, Coral Gables, Florida, pp. 123-145.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lewis, M.A., Weber, D.E., Goodman, L.R. et al. Periphyton and Sediment Bioassessment in North Florida Bay. Environ Monit Assess 65, 503–522 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006367828911
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006367828911