Physical attributes of nearshore waters across greater Puget Sound, with an emphasis on dissolved oxygen and pH
Presentation Abstract
The pelagic zone is a major part of the Puget Sound ecosystem that is sensitive to human influences, yet our understanding of relationships among its abiotic features, water quality, biota, and anthropogenic influences in spatial and temporal context is limited. To characterize the pelagic zone in greater detail, we conducted a multi-trophic level assessment that measured over 20 potential indicators of pelagic ecosystem health at 79 sites in six oceanographic basins of Puget Sound from April to October 2011. Among the many strong spatiotemporal patterns observed were basin and seasonal differences in temperature, salinity, and turbidity linked to freshwater influences; and inorganic nutrient concentrations. DO concentrations also followed distinct seasonal patterns within oceanographic basins. Seasonally, the monthly percentage of sites with DO concentrations below the threshold for biological stress of 5 mg L-1 increased from 0% in April to 45% in October. Spatially, DO concentrations below 5 mg L-1 were recorded at sites within all basins with the exception of the Central basin. By October, the proportion of sites with biologically stressful DO concentrations was highest among sites in Rosario (100%), Hood Canal (77%), and Whidbey (75%) basins. A persistent significant positive correlation between DO and pH was observed across Puget Sound. Both the strength (R2) and magnitude (slope) of the relationship increased with depth. This linkage was also observed in independently collected water column profiles by the Washington State Department of Ecology (WDOE) in 2011 over the same geographic extent. Furthermore, a 22-year long WDOE dataset (1990-2011) indicates that the relationship between DO and pH may be a persistent predictable feature in Puget Sound with biological implications, given that biological stress associated with low DO is likely to be accompanied by low pH stress.
Session Title
Session S-01D: Pelagic Ecology in the Salish Sea I
Conference Track
Species and Food Webs
Conference Name
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2014 : Seattle, Wash.)
Document Type
Event
Start Date
30-4-2014 10:30 AM
End Date
30-4-2014 12:00 PM
Location
Room 611-612
Genre/Form
conference proceedings; presentations (communicative events)
Contributing Repository
Digital content made available by University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Subjects – Topical (LCSH)
Water--Dissolved oxygen--Washington (State)--Puget Sound; Hydrogen-ion concentration; Water quality--Washington (State)--Puget Sound
Geographic Coverage
Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)--Environmental conditions; Puget Sound (Wash.)--Environmental conditions
Rights
This resource is displayed for educational purposes only and may be subject to U.S. and international copyright laws. For more information about rights or obtaining copies of this resource, please contact University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9103, USA (360-650-7534; heritage.resources@wwu.edu) and refer to the collection name and identifier. Any materials cited must be attributed to the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference Records, University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Type
Text
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
Physical attributes of nearshore waters across greater Puget Sound, with an emphasis on dissolved oxygen and pH
Room 611-612
The pelagic zone is a major part of the Puget Sound ecosystem that is sensitive to human influences, yet our understanding of relationships among its abiotic features, water quality, biota, and anthropogenic influences in spatial and temporal context is limited. To characterize the pelagic zone in greater detail, we conducted a multi-trophic level assessment that measured over 20 potential indicators of pelagic ecosystem health at 79 sites in six oceanographic basins of Puget Sound from April to October 2011. Among the many strong spatiotemporal patterns observed were basin and seasonal differences in temperature, salinity, and turbidity linked to freshwater influences; and inorganic nutrient concentrations. DO concentrations also followed distinct seasonal patterns within oceanographic basins. Seasonally, the monthly percentage of sites with DO concentrations below the threshold for biological stress of 5 mg L-1 increased from 0% in April to 45% in October. Spatially, DO concentrations below 5 mg L-1 were recorded at sites within all basins with the exception of the Central basin. By October, the proportion of sites with biologically stressful DO concentrations was highest among sites in Rosario (100%), Hood Canal (77%), and Whidbey (75%) basins. A persistent significant positive correlation between DO and pH was observed across Puget Sound. Both the strength (R2) and magnitude (slope) of the relationship increased with depth. This linkage was also observed in independently collected water column profiles by the Washington State Department of Ecology (WDOE) in 2011 over the same geographic extent. Furthermore, a 22-year long WDOE dataset (1990-2011) indicates that the relationship between DO and pH may be a persistent predictable feature in Puget Sound with biological implications, given that biological stress associated with low DO is likely to be accompanied by low pH stress.
