Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The benthos of a portion of the Sacramento River (San Francisco Bay Estuary) during a dry year

  • Published:
Estuaries Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Early in 1976 benthic studies were initiated in a 20 kilometer long portion of the Western Sacramento-San Joaquin River Estuary. Water quality determinations indicated little vertical or horizontal differences in pH, temperature, or dissolved oxygen concentration within the study area. Low river outflows allowed the encroachment of seawater into the study area, an area normally exposed to fresh or slightly brackish water. The sediment composition changed dramatically at most stations during the year, being dominated by sands early in the year but by silts and clays in late summer. The shift in sediment composition was accompanied by an increase in grease and oilland metals content.

The benthic community of the study area was generally dominated by the Asiatic clam (Corbicula manilensis), Macoma balthica, oligochaetes, the amphipods Corophium stimpsoni and C. spinicorne, nematodes, and a spionid polychaete, Boccardia ligerica. These taxa comprised 98% on average of the total benthic macroinvertebrates collected at each study site. The benthic assemblages of each of the stations were generally very similar to one another. Faunal similarities and changes in benthos composition were related to substrate composition and salinity incursion. In general, the upstream-channel stations had higher abundance of benthos than the other stations in the study area. Total benthic abundance was lowest at the downstream end of the study area. Total standing crop peaked in June and was lowest in November. Our studies indicate that the most important factors controlling the size and species composition of the benthos of the study area are salinity and sediment composition.

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

Similar content being viewed by others

Literature Cited

  • Anderson, R. O. 1959. A modified flotation technique for sorting bottom fauna samples. Limnol. Oceanogr. 4:223–225.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • APHA. 1971. Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater. Amer. Public Health Assoc., New York, 874 p.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arthur, J. F. 1975. Preliminary studies on the entrapment of suspended materials in Suisun Bay, San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary, p. 17–36. In R. L. Brown (ed.), Proceedings of a Workshop on Algae Nutrient Relationships in the San Francisco Bay and Delta, San Francisco Bay and Estuarine Association.

  • —, And M. D. Ball. 1978. Entrapment of Suspended Materials in the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary. United States Department of the Internor, Bureau of Reclamation, Mid-Pacific Region. Sacramento, California. 106 p.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bryan, G. W., and L. G. Hummerstone. 1971. Adaptation of the polychaete Nereis diversicolor to estuarine sediments containing high concentrations of heavy metals. I. General observations and adaptation to copper. J. Mar. Biol. Ass. U.K. 51:845–863.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • California Department of Water Resources. 1977. Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Water Quality Surveillance Program 1976. 304 p.

  • Day, P. F. 1965. Particle fractionation and particle size analysis. In C. A. Black (ed.), Methods of Soil Analysis, Part I. Amer. Soc. Agron., Madison, Wisconsin, 545 p.

    Google Scholar 

  • Filice, F. 1954a. An ecological survey of the Castro Creek area in San Pablo Bay. Wasmann Jour. Biol. 12(1):1–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • — 1954b. A study of some factors affecting the bottom fauna of a portion of the San Francisco Bay Estuary. Wasmann Jour. Biol. 12(3):227–292.

    Google Scholar 

  • — 1958. Invertebrates from the estuarine portion of San Francisco Bay and some factors influencing their distribution. Wasmann Jour. Biol. 16(2):159–211.

    Google Scholar 

  • — 1959. The effect of wastes on the distribution of bottom invertebrates in San Francisco Bay Estuary. Wasmann Jour. Biol. 17(1):1–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fisk, L. O., and T. R. Doyle, 1962. Sacramento River Water Pollution Survey. Appendix D. Benthic Biology. Bul. No. 111, California Department of Water Resources. 78 p.

  • Girvin, D. C., A. T. Hodgson, and M. H. Panietz. 1975. Assessment of Trace Metal and Chlorinated Hydrocarbon Contamination in Selected San Francisco Bay Estuary Shellfish. Final Rept., S. F. Bay Region, Water Qual. Cont. Bd., 82 p.

  • Hazel, C. R., and D. W. Kelley. 1966. Zoobenthos of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, p. 113–133. In. D. W. Kelley (ed.), Ecological Studies of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Estuary. Part I. Calif. Dept. Fish and Game, Fish Bull. 133.

  • Moyer, B. R., and T. F. Budinger. 1974. Cadmium Levels in the Shoreline Sediments of San Francisco Bay. Lawrence Berkeley Lab., University of California, Berkeley, 37 p. (mimeo)

    Google Scholar 

  • Nichols, F. H. 1973. A review of benthic faunal surveys in San Francisco Bay. U.S. Geological Survey, Geological Survey Circ. 667, 20 p.

  • Nichols, M. M. 1972. Sediments of the James River Estuary, Virginia. Geological Soc. Amer. Memoir 133:169–212.

    Google Scholar 

  • Painter, R. E. 1966. Zoobenthos of San Pablo and Suisun Bays, p. 40–56. In D. W. Kelley (ed.), Ecological Studies of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Estuary. Calif. Dept. Fish and Game, Fish Bull. 133.

  • Remane, A., and C. Schlieper. 1971. Biology of Brackish Water. Die Binnengewasser, Vol. 25. John Wiley and Sons, New York, 372 p.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanders, H. L. 1960. Benthic studies in Buzzards Bay. III. The structure of the soft-bottom community. Limnol. Oceanogr. 5:138–153.

    Google Scholar 

  • Siegfried, C. A., A. W. Knight, and M. E. Kopache. 1978. Ecological studies on the Western Sacramento-San Joaquin Estuary during a dry year. Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, Water Science and Engineering Paper No. 4506, University of California, Davis. 121 p.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sokal, R. R., and P. H. Sneath. 1963. Principles of Numerical Taxonomy. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman and Co., 359 p.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steele, R. G. D., and J. H. Torrie. 1960. Principles and Procedures of Statistics. McGraw-Hill, New York, 481 p.

    Google Scholar 

  • Storrs, P. N., E. A. Pearson, and R. E. Selleck. 1966. Final Report: A comprehensive study of San Francisco Bay, Vol. II, Biological sampling and analytical methods, Univ. of Calif., Berkeley, Sanitary Eng. Res. Lab. Rep. 63(8), 75 p.

Download references

Author information

Author notes

  1. Clifford A. Siegried

    Present address: Biological Survey, State Museum and Science Service, 12230, Albany, New York

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hydrobiology Laboratory Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, University of California, 95616, Davis, California, USA

    Clifford A. Siegried, Mark E. Kopache & Allen W. Knight

Authors
  1. Clifford A. Siegried
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Mark E. Kopache
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Allen W. Knight
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Siegried, C.A., Kopache, M.E. & Knight, A.W. The benthos of a portion of the Sacramento River (San Francisco Bay Estuary) during a dry year. Estuaries 3, 296–307 (1980). https://doi.org/10.2307/1352085

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/1352085

Keywords

Search

Navigation