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Evaluation of the Impacts of Dock Structures and Land Use on Tidal Creek Ecosystems in South Carolina Estuarine Environments

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Abstract

Tidal creeks and their associated salt marshes are the primary link between uplands and estuaries in the southeastern region. They are also critical nursery and feeding grounds. In addition, the uplands surrounding creeks are preferred sites for homebuilding because of their natural beauty and the ability to access the estuary from a personal dock structure. The objective of this study was to evaluate the cumulative impacts of docks on tidal creek nursery habitats for both small and large tidal creeks. The number of docks was associated with the amount of impervious cover in both small and large creeks. The presence of docks had little measurable effect on sediment metal concentrations at the scale of small and large creeks. In small and large creeks, sediment polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentrations were related to the human activity in the upland that includes the presence of docks at the scale of small and large creeks. Some impacts on the benthic community were associated with docks and human activity in small creeks but not in large creeks. Suburban development may reduce fish and crustacean abundances, but the dock may potentially mediate the development effect. Individually, the harm to the marine environment resulting from dock shading, chrominated copper arsenate leachates, and PAH contamination was small at the scale of tidal creeks. However, impacts from dock structures could not be separated from anthropogenic watershed-scale effects. These results demonstrate that suburban development with its accompanying dock construction does represent a major source of environmental degradation to tidal creeks and associated salt marsh habitats.

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Acknowledgments

Funding for this project was provided by the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, as amended, administered by the Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, through Grant-in-Aid award number NA07OZ0133 to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control’s Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management. We thank the TCP team and the SCECAP team for enabling this synthesis of high quality data to take place. We also thank Dr. Robert Van Dolah, Dr. John Weinstein, and two anonymous reviewers for reviewing and improving the study and/or manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marine Resources Division/South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, South Carolina Marine Resources Research Institute, P.O. Box 12559 Charleston, South Carolina 29422, USA

    Denise M. Sanger & A. Fredrick Holland

  2. Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, 1362 McMillan Avenue, Suite 400 Charleston, South Carolina 29405, USA

    Denise M. Sanger & Debra L. Hernandez

  3. Hollings Marine Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 331 Fort Johnson Road Charleston, South Carolina 29412, USA

    A. Fredrick Holland

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  1. Denise M. Sanger
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  2. A. Fredrick Holland
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  3. Debra L. Hernandez
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Correspondence to Denise M. Sanger.

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Sanger, D., Holland, A. & Hernandez, D. Evaluation of the Impacts of Dock Structures and Land Use on Tidal Creek Ecosystems in South Carolina Estuarine Environments. Environmental Management 33, 385–400 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-003-0019-0

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