How a Simple Question About Freshwater Inflow to Estuaries Shaped a Career

Chance and good luck led to a career studying how freshwater inflow drives estuary processes. In 1986, someone asked me: How much fresh water has to flow to a bay for it to be healthy? The question shaped my career. There is probably no better place on Earth to compare effects caused by inflow differences than the Texas coast, because the major estuarine systems lie in a climatic gradient where runoff decreases 56—fold from the Louisiana border in the northeast to the Mexico border in the southwest. This estuary—comparison experiment was used to study inflow effects. The science evolved from the idea in the 1990’s that organisms responded directly to inflow rates to the domino theory in the 2000’s of indirect effects where inflow drives estuary conditions and that organisms respond to those habitat conditions. Today it is hypothesized that climate drives hydrology, which drives estuary dynamics; and thus, climatic factors can indirectly shape estuarine structure and function. Assuming change along the inflow gradient is analogous to effects of altering estuaries over time, we can now predict ecosystem change with changing climate or land—use change

The bioavailability of riverine dissolved organic matter in coastal marine waters of southern Texas

Abstract(#br)To examine the bioavailability of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and nitrogen (DON) in riverine dissolved organic matter (DOM) discharged to the coastal ocean, we conducted a series of month-long (24 days) incubation experiments with filtered samples collected from five southern Texas rivers (Lavaca, San Antonio, Mission, Aransas, and Nueces) inoculated using the same natural coastal microbial assemblages during summer (June) and winter (January) in 2016. The bioavailable fractions of DOC and DON (BDOC% and BDON%) varied substantially in different rivers and seasons, ranging respectively from 6 to 11%, and 15–38% during winter, and 0–6% and 9–15% during summer. Relatively higher BDOC% and BDON% occurred in the San Antonio and Aransas Rivers, which are impacted more by human activities through discharge from wastewater treatment plants. Seasonally, the riverine DOM was more bioavailable in winter than in summer when DOM may have been extensively degraded in situ due to the low base flow (or long residence time) and the elevated temperature in river water in summer. The principal component analysis on amino acid composition further confirmed that DOM was less degraded in winter than in summer. Functional gene abundance data revealed that winter riverine DOM was relatively labile as evidenced by an increase in N-metabolism pathways and functional genes during the winter incubation, whereas the opposite pattern was observed in summer. The findings of the varying bioavailability of DOM among rivers and seasons have important implications about the fate of riverine DOM and their potential contributions to nutrient supplies as southern Texas bays and estuaries are often nitrogen limited

Variability in the Condition of Fundulus Grandis Across Alabama\u27s Coastal Waters: A Potential Indicator of Ecosystem Health

Monitoring indicator species can be a useful way of assessing the effects of multiple interacting stressors on ecosystem health. As a widespread, ecologically important species, with individuals showing high site fidelity, the Gulf killifish, Fundulus grandis, has potential to be a good indicator species of environmental health in coastal regions in the Gulf of Mexico. This study investigated variability in F. grandis body condition, including length to weight ratio, hepatosomatic index, gonadosomatic index, liposomatic index, total energy bodies index (developed in this study), and caloric content, in relation to natural environmental gradients, catchment land use, and local seascape composition, within coastal Alabama waters. F. grandis were collected from 14 sites across environmental and urbanization gradients across coastal Alabama. F. grandis tended to be lighter than predicted for their length at low salinity sites in the upper Mobile Bay, and had a lower mass of energy bodies in sites with more urbanization within the local catchment. While caloric content seemed promising as a condition metric, complications arising from methodology resulted in inconclusive data. Overall, F. grandis is a viable indicator species for environmental health within the coastal regions of the Gulf of Mexico

Application of watershed analyses and ecosystem modeling to investigate land–water nutrient coupling processes in the Guadalupe Estuary, Texas

Estuarine nutrient enrichment is thought to be controlled by land use patterns in coastal watersheds. Hence, the objective of this work was to conduct a watershed analysis in two adjacent river basins with different land use characteristics to determine their influence on estuarine ecosystem response in the Guadalupe Estuary, Texas, U.S.A. All data sources for this study were available electronically on the Internet; the data were mined, managed, analyzed and transformed to simulate the estuarine ecosystem response to watershed-derived nutrient loads. Between 1992 and 2001, developed land use/land cover increased the most while forest cover decreased the most in both basins. Two hydrologic units nearest the coast were responsible for the greatest change in land cover. Nutrient concentrations and loads were significantly higher in the San Antonio River Basin than in the Guadalupe River Basin. Both river basins exhibited the highest flows ever recorded in 1992, however the magnitude of difference in loads between the two coastal hydrologic units for a wet and dry year was much greater in the Guadalupe River Basin (GRB) than in the San Antonio River Basin (SARB); this difference supports the concept that the GRB is a nonpoint source dominated system and SARB is a point source dominated system. There was a strong correlation between developed land use and nutrient concentrations in river water; the GRB had less developed land use and lower nutrient concentrations while the SARB had more developed land use and higher nutrient concentrations. Estuarine ecosystem response differed in the timing, duration and magnitude of DIN, phytoplankton and zooplankton when nitrogen loads from the Lower Guadalupe River were used as opposed to the Lower San Antonio. The two basins studied differ in their fundamental characteristics, i.e. precipitation, flow, human population density, etc., resulting in different drivers of nitrogen loading, point sources in the San Antonio River Basin and nonpoint sources in the Guadalupe River Basin, therefore, differing estuarine ecosystem responses

Modeling Impacts of Land-Use/Land-Cover Change and Variable Precipitation on Hydrology and Water Quality of a Coastal Watershed in Texas

Land use/land cover (LULC) change and variations in precipitation can alter the quantity and quality of freshwater flows. The Mission-Aransas (M-A) estuary depends on inputs of freshwater and material from streams in order to maintain its ecological integrity. Freshwater inflow estimates for the M-A estuary have been established, but no analyses using scenarios of LULC change and precipitation variability have been conducted that inform how freshwater inflows could be impacted. A land change analysis for the M-A region was conducted by classifying two Landsat images for the years 1990 and 2010. A large degree of LULC change occurred within the M-A region during this time; with 27.1% of the land area experiencing LULC change. Furthermore, developed land increased by 44.9%. A SWAT hydrological model was developed to model the quantity and quality of freshwater inflows. SWAT was calibrated at a monthly scale using data from a stream gage. Model evaluations indicated that the model had a good performance rating with a Nash-Sutcliffe model efficiency coefficient (NS) of 0.66 and coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.66 for the calibration period; and an NS of 0.76 and R2 of 0.78 for the validation period. Three LULC change scenarios and three precipitation scenarios were developed to be used in a scenario analysis with the calibrated SWAT model. Each LULC change scenario represents a different amount of developed land (3.4, 3.7, and 4.7% of watershed area). Precipitation data was analyzed to select weather data for each precipitation scenario that each had different amounts of annual precipitation (763, 907, and 996 mm). A scenario analysis was conducted that analyzed how stream/channel flows and loads of sediment, total nitrogen, and total phosphorus were impacted under scenario conditions. A general increase in all output variables was exhibited as the amount of precipitation and developed land increased; with impacts from precipitation variability outweighing impacts from varying amounts of developed land. Furthermore, sediment loads were the variable most impacted by differing amounts of developed land. This study provides information on how LULC and precipitation can influence watershed hydrology that can be used in watershed management for the M-A region