Environmental Monitoring Commons^™

08 - Blue Carbon Sequestration And Sediment Storage In Seagrass Meadows Of South Bay, Luke C. Clements, Adriana Amrhein, Richard P. Hale

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Blue carbon is stored in coastal and marine ecosystems like seagrass meadows and salt marshes, which helps combat climate change by preventing greenhouse gas emissions. This study examines the role of seagrass in carbon storage by comparing sediment cores from a mud channel and a seagrass meadow in South Bay.

We collected a 100 cm core from the mud channel and a 55 cm core from the seagrass area, taking samples every 10 cm to analyze grain size and organic carbon content. Using a wet sieving method, we separated sand from mud and measured organic carbon through loss on ignition. …

The Elizabeth River Marine Debris Stakeholder Roundtable, Wie Yusuf, Joseph Barnes, Robin Dunbar, Jennifer L. Whytlaw, Tom Allen

School of Public Service Faculty Publications

Convened by Virginia Sea Grant, Old Dominion University, Clean Virginia Waterways (CVW), Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program (CZM), and the Virgina Marine Resources Commission. Supported by Sea Grant Marine Debris Community Action Coalition funding (for project titled From Learning to Willing to Doing: A Collaborative Approach to implementing the Virginia Marine Debris Reduction Plan.

Unveiling Hidden Mercury And Methylmercury Sources: The Role Of Submarine Groundwater Discharge In Coastal Lagoons, Céline Lavergne, Júlia Rodriguez-Puig, Clara Ruiz-González, Maria Montero-Curiel, Gemma Casas, Daniel Romano-Gude, Irene Alorda-Montiel, Júlia Dordal-Soriano, Aaron Alorda-Kleinglass, Marc Diego-Feliu, Javier Gilabert, Alex Campillo-De La Maza, Cristina Romera-Castillo, Natalia Torres-Rodriguez, Lars-Eric Heimbürger-Boavida, Jordi Garcia-Orellana, Valenti Rodellas, Andrea G. Bravo

OES Faculty Publications

Mercury loads from Submarine Groundwater Discharge (SGD) may represent an overlooked source of methylmercury (MeHg) to the ocean, affecting human and ecosystem health. The SGD process involves the flow of fresh, saline, or mixed groundwater from coastal aquifers into the oceans classified in different components. Existing studies rarely report the fluxes supplied by the different SGD components; therefore, the relevance of SGD as a source of mercury remains unclear. We aimed to quantify SGD-driven mercury/methylmercury fluxes to the coast, focusing on the largest coastal lagoon in the western Mediterranean. We measured total dissolved mercury and MeHg in surficial and porewaters …

Challenges Associated With Pfas Detection Method In Africa, Abdullahi Tunde Aborode, Ridwan Olamilekan Adesola, Ibrahim Idris, Waheed Sakariyau Adio, Segun Olapade, Gladys Oluwafisayo, Israel Ayobami Onifade, Sodiq Fakorede, Taiwo Bakare-Abidola, Jelil Olaoye, Adedeji Daniel Ogunyemi, Oluwaseun Adeolu Ogundijo, Olamilekan Gabriel Banwo, Adetolase Azizat Bakre, Peter Oladoye, Grace Adegoye, Noimat Abeni Jinadu

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of man-made chemicals that are widely present in many industries. Monitoring and analyzing PFAS in Africa is challenging due to the limited availability of mass spectrometry (MS), which is an essential technique for detecting PFAS. This review assesses the scope and impact of the shortage of mass spectrometry instruments in Africa, emphasizing the resulting limitations in monitoring environmental and public health threats. The review analyzes the existing PFAS monitoring, the accessibility of MS instruments, and the technical capabilities within the continent. This study suggests that fewer African countries have sufficient MS instruments, …

Monitoring Plastic Pollution Using Bioindicators: A Global Review And Recommendations For Marine Environments, Matthew S. Savoca, Neil Angelo Abreo, Andres H. Arias, Laura Baes, Matteo Baini, Elisa Bergami, Susanne Brander, C. Anela Choy, Illaria Corsi, Bavo De Witte, Camila Domit, Sarah Dudas, Emily M. Duncan, Claudia E. Fernández, Maria Cristina Fossi, Ostin Garcés-Ordóñez, Brendan J. Godley, Daniel Gonzalez-Parades, Victoria González Carman, Bonnie M. Hamilton, Britta Denise Hardesty, Sang Hee Hong, Shirel Kahane-Rapport, Lauren M. Kashiwabara, Mariana Baptista Lacerda, Guillermo Luna-Jorquera, Clara Manno, Sarah E. Nelms, Cristina Panti, Diego J. Pérez-Venegas, Christopher K. Pham, Jennifer F. Provencher, Sara Purca, Harunur Rashid, Yasmina Rodríguez, Conrad Sparks, Chengjun Sun, Martin Thiel, Catherine Tsangaris, Robson G. Santos

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Monitoring the movement of plastic into marine food webs is central to understanding and mitigating the plastic pollution crisis. Bioindicators have been a component of the environmental monitoring toolkit for decades, but how, where, and which bioindicators are used in long-term monitoring programs has not yet been assessed. Moreover, these programs have yet to be synthesized and evaluated globally. Doing so is imperative if we are to learn from these pioneering programs and expand on their efforts. We reviewed global monitoring programs using bioindicators that focus on plastic pollution and found 11 worldwide that met our definition of long-term monitoring. …

Trends In Atmospheric Composition Between 2004-2023 Using Version 5 Ace-Fts Data, Matthew Schmidt, Peter Bernath, Chris Boone, Michael Lecours, Johnathan Steffen

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

The Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment (ACE) is a satellite mission that has been in orbit since 2003. The primary instrument on ACE is a Fourier transform spectrometer (FTS) that records infrared atmospheric transmittance spectra in the limb geometry using the Sun as a light source. Version 5 of ACE-FTS data processing contains improved volume mixing ratio (VMR) profiles for 46 molecules and 24 isotopologues, including HFC-32 (CH₂F₂) and HOCl as new routine data products. VMR trends for each of the 46 molecules are reported for regions of atmospheric interest. Specifically, the longevity of the ACE mission has …

An Integrative Salt Marsh Conceptual Framework For Global Comparisons, Erik S. Yando, Scott F. Jones, W. Ryan James, Denise D. Colombano, Diana I. Montemayor, Stefanie Nolte, Jacqueline L. Raw, Shelby L. Ziegler, Luzhen Chen, Daniele Daffonchio, Marco Fusi, Kerrylee Rogers, Liudmila Sergienko

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Salt marshes occur globally across climatic and coastal settings, providing key linkages between terrestrial and marine ecosystems. However, salt marsh science lacks a unifying conceptual framework; consequently, historically well-studied locations have been used as normative benchmarks. To allow for more effective comparisons across the diversity of salt marshes, we developed an integrative salt marsh conceptual framework. We review ecosystem-relevant drivers from global to local spatial scales, integrate these multi-scale settings into a framework, and provide guidance on applying the framework using specific variables on 11 global examples. Overall, this framework allows for appropriate comparison of study sites by accounting for …

Five Years Measuring The Muck: Evaluating Interannual Variability Of Nutrient Loads From Tidal Flooding, Alfonso Macías-Tapia, Margaret R. Mulholland, Corday R. Selden, J. Derek Loftis, Peter W. Bernhardt

OES Faculty Publications

Due to sea level rise, tidal flooding is now common in low-lying coastal systems around the world. Yet, the contribution of tidal flooding to non-point source nutrient loads and their impact on the quality of adjacent waters remains poorly constrained. Here, we quantified dissolved nutrient loading and Enterococcus abundance during annual autumnal king tides (i.e., perigean spring tides), between 2017 and 2021, in a sub-watershed of the lower Chesapeake Bay. To calculate nutrient loading from tidal flooding, we used geospatial inundation depths from a street-level hydrodynamic model to estimate floodwater volumes during each of the five sampling events and the …

Nestedness And Modularity Of Avian Metacommunities Across Gradients Of Chesapeake Bay Island Characteristics, Grant Walter Bowers

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Islands are not only great models for understanding the ways in which communities are linked by the dispersal of their members to form metacommunities, but are of particular interest to conservationists. One important aspect of metacommunity structure is the degree of nestedness—whether or not less speciose communities are perfect subsets of more speciose communities. Another important metric of metacommunity structure is modularity—the degree to which communities belong to modules composed of other communities that share the same species but have little species overlap with communities from different modules. Environmental gradients have received insufficient attention as predictors of metacommunity nestedness and …

Nutrient Improvements In Chesapeake Bay: Direct Effect Of Load Reductions And Implications For Coastal Management, Rebecca R. Murphy, Jennifer Keisman, Jon Harcum, Renee R. Karrh, Mike Lane, Elgin S. Perry, Qian Zhang

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

In Chesapeake Bay in the United States, decades of management efforts have resulted in modest reductions of nutrient loads from the watershed, but the corresponding improvements in estuarine water quality have not consistently followed. Generalized additive models were used to directly link river flows and nutrient loads from the watershed to nutrient trends in the estuary on a station-by-station basis, which allowed for identification of exactly when and where responses are happening. Results show that Chesapeake Bay’s total nitrogen and total phosphorus conditions are mostly improving after accounting for variation in freshwater flow. Almost all of these improving nutrient concentrations …

Emerging Technologies And Approaches For In Situ, Autonomous Observing In The Arctic, Craig M. Lee, Michael Degrandpre, John Guthrie, Victoria Hill, Ron Kwok, James Morison, Christopher J. Cox, Hanumant Singh, Timothy P. Stanton, Jeremy Wilkinson

OES Faculty Publications

Understanding and predicting Arctic change and its impacts on global climate requires broad, sustained observations of the atmosphere-ice-ocean system, yet technological and logistical challenges severely restrict the temporal and spatial scope of observing efforts. Satellite remote sensing provides unprecedented, pan-Arctic measurements of the surface, but complementary in situ observations are required to complete the picture. Over the past few decades, a diverse range of autonomous platforms have been developed to make broad, sustained observations of the ice-free ocean, often with near-real-time data delivery. Though these technologies are well suited to the difficult environmental conditions and remote logistics that complicate Arctic …

Swimming Point Benthic Community Condition Elizabeth River (2019), Daniel M. Dauer

Elizabeth River Reports

Executive Summary

The subtidal macrobenthic communities off Swimming Point in the Elizabeth River were quantitatively sampled in summer 2019. The primary objective of this study was to characterize the ecological condition of the benthos compared to benthic data collected in summer 2010 (Dauer 2011).

The estimated the level of degraded benthic bottom of the Swimming Point stratum (BIBI < 3.0) in 2019 was 64% ± 18.8% a decrease from the 2010 value of 84% ± 14.0%. The level of severely degraded bottom (BIBI ≤ 2.0) in 2019 was 28% ± 17.6% compared to the 2010 value of 52% ± 19.6%. The ecological condition of benthic communities at Swimming Point in 2019 were comparable to the values for the Mainstem segment of the Elizabeth River in 2019 which had an estimated degraded benthic bottom of 52% ± 19.6% and a value of 36% ± 18.8 of severely degraded bottom.

The BIBI and its metrics showed a mixture of improvements and degradations in benthic community condition. Compared to the previous benthic community condition reported in Dauer (2011) the 2019 Swimming Point benthos: (1) the average BIBI value improved significantly from 2.2 ± …

Benthic Biological Monitoring Of The Elizabeth River Watershed (1999 And 2019), Daniel M. Dauer

Elizabeth River Reports

Executive Summary

A study of the macrobenthic communities of the Elizabeth River watershed was conducted in summer 1999 and again in summer 2019 – a 20-year span. The primary objective of the Benthic Biological Monitoring Program of the Elizabeth River watershed was to characterize the ecological condition of regional areas of the tidal waters of the Elizabeth River watershed as indicated by the structure of the benthic communities. These characterizations are based upon application of the Benthic Index of Biotic Integrity (BIBI) developed for the Chesapeake Bay to five primary strata - the Mainstem of the river, the Lafayette River, …

Mercury Concentrations In Bat Guano From Caves And Bat Houses In Florida And Georgia, Amy E. Edwards, Jenise L. Swall, Charles H. Jagoe

Virginia Journal of Science

Previous studies have indicated that several pollutants are bioaccumulating in insectivorous bats, including the heavy metal mercury. This has resulted in an increased presence of mercury in bat waste (guano). In this study, we collected bat guano from ten caves in Florida and Georgia and two bat houses in Florida and analyzed the samples for mercury concentrations (ppm). Since the predominant bat species using caves (Myotis austroriparius) versus bat houses (Tadarida braziliensis) were different, the objective of this study was to make statistical comparisons of the mercury concentrations among caves, between caves and bat houses, and between …

Fostering University Collaboration And Building Capacity To Respond To Coastal Resilience Challenges In Virginia: Findings From The Rotating Resilience Roundtables Workshop Spring 2019, Wie Yusuf, Michelle Covi, Anamaria Bukvic, Tom Allen, Taiwo Oguntuyo

Presentations, Lectures, Posters, Reports

[from Background and Overview]

Communities in coastal Virginia, particularly in the urban region of Hampton Roads and the rural Eastern Shore peninsula, are experiencing the impacts of climate change as part of everyday life. Among the most apparent impacts are sea level rise and associated flooding, but increasingly residents of the region are observing changing ecosystems, health impacts and complex social challenges are made more difficult. The region is experiencing the fastest rate of relative sea level rise on the U.S. east coast due to interactions between ocean currents, global sea level rise, high-water tables and ground subsidence (Adapt Virginia …

High Frequency Temperature Variability Reduces The Risk Of Coral Bleaching, Aryan Safaie, Nyssa J. Silbiger, Timothy R. Mcclanahan, Geno Pawlak, Daniel J. Barshis, James L. Hench, Gareth J. Williams, Kristen A. Davis

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Coral bleaching is the detrimental expulsion of algal symbionts from their cnidarian hosts, and predominantly occurs when corals are exposed to thermal stress. The incidence and severity of bleaching is often spatially heterogeneous within reef-scales (km), and is therefore not predictable using conventional remote sensing products. Here, we systematically assess the relationship between in situ measurements of 20 environmental variables, along with seven remotely sensed SST thermal stress metrics, and 81 observed bleaching events at coral reef locations spanning five major reef regions globally. We find that high-frequency temperature variability (i.e., daily temperature range) was the most influential factor in …

Community Invited To Discuss King Tide Event, Amy Matzke-Fawcett

News Items

No abstract provided.

Community Discussion: Catch The King Tide, Amy Matzke-Fawcett

News Items

No abstract provided.

Biological Condition Of Money Pont Benthic Communities, Southern Branch Of The Elizabeth River (2010, 2013, 2016), Daniel M. Dauer

Elizabeth River Reports

Executive Summary

This report summarizes the ecological condition of the subtidal macrobenthic communities off Money Point in the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River based upon quantitative sampling in summer 2016. The designated Money Point study area was part of a sediment contaminant remediation effort. The primary objectives were to: (1) characterize the biological health of the benthos of Money Point comparing pre-remediation condition (2010) to post-remediation condition in 2013 and again in 2016, and (2) assess the effectiveness of the sediment contamination remediation efforts with respect to the ecological condition of the Money Point benthos.

Prior to sediment contaminant …

Link Between Local Phenology And Climate Change, Blake Steiner, Tatyana Lobova

Virginias Collegiate Honors Council Conference

The SouthEast Virginia Phenology Project was initiated as collaboration between Norfolk Botanical Garden and Old Dominion University in 2010 to document phenology of seven native plants and potential effects of the climate change on their life cycle. The air temperature in Norfolk has increased on average by 0.02ºC per year since 1980. Four out of seven of taxonomically diverse plant species (Mayapple, Flowering Dogwood, Highbush Blueberry, and Common ButtonBush) exhibited significant sensitivity to warming temperatures. Of these four, only Common Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) had shown significant phenophases shift. Specifically, first flowering and first fruiting dates had shifted 2.7 …

Current Status And Long-Term Trends In Water Quality And Living Resources In The Virginia Tributaries And Chesapeake Bay Mainstem From 1985 Through 2015, Daniel M. Dauer, Todd A. Egerton, John R. Donat, Michael F. Lane, Suzanne C. Doughten, Cindy Johnson, Monika Arora

Status and Trends for Virginia Chesapeake Bay

(First paragraph) The period prior to the implementation of the Chesapeake Bay Monitoring Program was characterized by a marked decline in the water quality of the Chesapeake Bay. The disappearance of submerged aquatic vegetation in certain regions of the Bay, declines in the abundance of some commercially and recreationally important species, increases in the incidence of low dissolved oxygen events, changes in the Bay's food web, and other ecological problems have been related to the deteriorating water quality (e.g. USEPA, 1982,1983;Officer et al.,1984; Orth and Moore, 1984). The results of concentrated research efforts in the late 1970s and early 1980s …

Current Status And Long-Term Trends In Water Quality And Living Resources In The Virginia Tributaries And Chesapeake Bay Mainstem From 1985 Through 2014, Daniel M. Dauer, Todd A. Egerton, John R. Donat, Michael F. Lane, Suzanne C. Doughten, Cindy Johnson, Monika Arora

Status and Trends for Virginia Chesapeake Bay

The period prior to the implementation of the Chesapeake Bay Monitoring Program was characterized by a marked decline in the water quality of the Chesapeake Bay. The disappearance of submerged aquatic vegetation in certain regions of the Bay, declines in the abundance of some commercially and recreationally important species, increases in the incidence of low dissolved oxygen events, changes in the Bay's food web, and other ecological problems have been related to the deteriorating water quality (e.g. USEPA, 1982,1983;Officer et al.,1984; Orth and Moore, 1984). The results of concerted research efforts in the late 1970s and early 1980s stimulated the …

Understanding Ocean Acidification Impacts On Organismal To Ecological Scales, Andreas J. Andersson, David I. Kline, Peter J. Edmunds, Stephen D. Archer, Nina Bednarsek, Robert C. Carpenter, Meg Chadsey, Philip Goldstein, Andrea G. Grottoli, Thomas P. Hurst, Andrew L. King, Janet E. Kübler, Ilsa B. Kuffner, Katherine R.M. Mackey, Bruce A. Menge, Adina Paytan, Ulf Riebesell, Astrid Schnetzer, Mark E. Warner, Richard C. Zimmerman

OES Faculty Publications

Ocean acidification (OA) research seeks to understand how marine ecosystems and global elemental cycles will respond to changes in seawater carbonate chemistry in combination with other environmental perturbations such as warming, eutrophication, and deoxygenation. Here, we discuss the effectiveness and limitations of current research approaches used to address this goal. A diverse combination of approaches is essential to decipher the consequences of OA to marine organisms, communities, and ecosystems. Consequently, the benefits and limitations of each approach must be considered carefully. Major research challenges involve experimentally addressing the effects of OA in the context of large natural variability in seawater …

Current Status And Long-Term Trends In Water Quality And Living Resources In The Virginia Tributaries And Chesapeake Bay Mainstem From 1985 Through 2013, Daniel M. Dauer, Todd A. Egerton, John R. Donat, Michael F. Lane, Suzanne C. Doughten, Cindy Johnson, Monika Arora

Status and Trends for Virginia Chesapeake Bay

The period prior to the implementation of the Chesapeake Bay Monitoring Program was characterized by a marked decline in the water quality of the Chesapeake Bay. The disappearance of submerged aquatic vegetation in certain regions of the Bay, declines in the abundance of some commercially and recreationally important species, increases in the incidence of low dissolved oxygen events, changes in the Bay's food web, and other ecological problems have been related to the deteriorating water quality (e.g. USEPA, 1982,1983;Officer et al.,1984; Orth and Moore, 1984). The results of concentrated research efforts in the late 1970s and early 1980s stimulated the …

Biological Condition Of Money Pont Benthic Communities, Southern Branch Of The Elizabeth River (2010 And 2013), Daniel M. Dauer

Elizabeth River Reports

Executive Summary

The subtidal macrobenthic communities off Money Point in the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River were quantitatively sampled in summer 2010 (Dauer 2011). The designated Money Point study area was part of a sediment contaminant remediation effort. The primary objectives of the present study were to: (1) characterize the biological health of the benthos of Money Point comparing pre-remediation (2010) and post-remediation (2013) conditions and (2) assess the effectiveness of the sediment contamination remediation efforts with respect to Money Point benthos. In this report the macrobenthic communities off Money Point were resampled in the summer of 2013 after …

Current Status And Long-Term Trends In Water Quality And Living Resources In The Virginia Tributaries And Chesapeake Bay Mainstem From 1985 Through 2012, Daniel M. Dauer, Todd A. Egerton, John R. Donat, Michael F. Lane, Suzanne C. Doughten, Cindy Johnson

Status and Trends for Virginia Chesapeake Bay

The period prior to the implementation of the Chesapeake Bay Monitoring Program was characterized by a marked decline in the water quality of the Chesapeake Bay. The disappearance of submerged aquatic vegetation in certain regions of the Bay, declines in the abundance of some commercially and recreationally important species, increases in the incidence of low dissolved oxygen events, changes in the Bay's food web, and other ecological problems have been related to the deteriorating water quality (e.g. USEPA, 1982,1983;Officer et al.,1984; Orth and Moore, 1984). The results of concentrated research efforts in the late 1970s and early 1980s stimulated the …

Determination Of The Ecological Condition Of Benthic Communities Affected By Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons In The Elizabeth River, Chesapeake Bay, Usa, Adam M. Webb

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

The Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River, a tributary of Chesapeake Bay, has historically been polluted with hydrocarbon based industrial by-products. My study compared benthic community condition from two locations in the Southern Branch: the subtidal region near Money Point, historically affected by pollution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), to a subtidal region near Blows Creek on the opposite shore that is putatively designated as unimpacted by P AH contamination. Samples from both study sites in the Southern Branch were compared to the benthic community condition of samples from the same habitat type designations collected as part of the Chesapeake …

Investigations Of Phytoplankton Diversity In Chesapeake Bay, Todd Arthur Egerton

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Characterizing the diversity of a community in relation to environmental conditions and ecosystem functions are core concepts in ecology. While decades of research have led to a growing comprehension of diversity in many ecosystems, our understanding in aquatic habitats and microbial organisms remains relatively limited. Phytoplankton represent a diverse and important group that contribute approximately half of global primary productivity and are intrinsically connected to changing environmental conditions, especially in systems as dynamic as estuaries. To better understand the ecological processes governing phytoplankton composition and diversity, spatial and temporal patterns of environmental parameters and their relation to the algal community …

Corrected Numbers For Fish On Red List, Bruce B. Collette, Beth Polidoro, Kent Carpenter

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

(First paragraph) Kelly Swing gives inaccurate numbers for marine fish species on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. He also mistakenly conflates the scientific process of species assessment for the Red List with the separate political process of IUCN member voting (Nature 494, 314; 2013).

Current Status And Long-Term Trends In Water Quality And Living Resources In The Virginia Tributaries And Chesapeake Bay Mainstem From 1985 Through 2011, Daniel M. Dauer, Harold G. Marshall, John R. Donat, Michael F. Lane, Suzanne C. Doughten, Cindy Johnson

Status and Trends for Virginia Chesapeake Bay

The period prior to the implementation of the Chesapeake Bay Monitoring Program was characterized by a marked decline in the water quality of the Chesapeake Bay. The disappearance of submerged aquatic vegetation in certain regions of the Bay, declines in the abundance of some commercially and recreationally important species, increases in the incidence of low dissolved oxygen events, changes in the Bay's food web, and other ecological problems have been related to the deteriorating water quality (e.g. USEPA, 1982,1983;Officer et al.,1984; Orth and Moore, 1984). The results of concentrated research efforts in the late 1970s and early 1980s stimulated the …