The condition of South Carolina's estuarine and coastal habitats during 2003-2004 : technical report

There are several specific, yet critical, attributes of the SCECAP initiative that set it apart from other ongoing monitoring programs being conducted in South Carolina by SCDHEC (primarily for water quality) and SCDNR (primarily for fishery stock assessments). These include: sampling sites throughout the coastal zone using a random, probability-based approach, using integrated measures of environmental and biological condition that provide a more complete evaluation of overall habitat quality, and monitoring tidal creek habitats. This technical report is the third in a series of reports describing the status of South Carolina’s estuarine habitats

The condition of South Carolina's estuarine and coastal habitats during 2009-2010

The South Carolina Estuarine and Coastal Assessment Program (SCECAP) was established in 1999 to begin evaluating the overall health of the state’s estuarine habitats on a periodic basis using a combination of water quality, sediment quality, and biotic condition measures. This collaborative program involves the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) and the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) as the two lead state agencies, as well as the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration National Ocean Service (NOAA/NOS) laboratories located in Charleston (Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research and the Hollings Marine Laboratory). This technical report is part of a series of bi-annual reports describing the status of South Carolina’s estuarine habitats

The condition of South Carolina's estuarine and coastal habitats during 1999-2000 : summary report

Results obtained from the 1999-2000 SCECAP survey indicate that most of South Carolina’s estuarine habitats are in good condition. Portions of the state’s estuaries that coded as marginal were primarily located in developed watersheds, although a few sites had no obvious sources of human influence. The data obtained from the 1999-2000 survey, combined with future data to be collected by the SCECAP program, provides a valuable database on the environmental and biological conditions in tidal creek and open water habitats located in both pristine areas and sites near industrial and residential development

Patterns of Coastal Land Cover and Estuarine Habitat Quality: Application of Long-term Monitoring Data

2008 S.C. Water Resources Conference - Addressing Water Challenges Facing the State and Regio

A temporal and spatial study of invertebrate communities associated with hard-bottom habitats in the South Atlantic Bight

Species composition, biomass, density, and diversity of benthic invertebrates from six bard-bottom areas were evaluated. Seasonal collections using a dredge, trawl, and suction and grab samplers yielded 432, 525, and 845 taxa, respectively. Based on collections wltb the different gear types, species composition of invertebrates was found to change bathymetrically. Inner- and mlddle-shelf sites were more similar to each other in terms of invertebrate species composition than they were to outer-shelf sites, regardless of season. Sites on the inner and outer shelf were grouped according to latitude; however, results suggest that depth is apparently a more important determinant of invertebrate species composition than either season or latitude. Sponges generally dominated dredge and trawl collections in terms of biomass. Generally, cnidarians, bryozoans, and sponges dominated at sites In terms of number of taxa collected. The most abundant smaller macrofauna collected in suction and grab samples were polychaetes, amphipods, and mollusks. Densities of the numerically dominant species changed botb seasonally and bathymetrically, with very few of these species restricted to a specific bathymetrlc zone. The high diversity of invertebrates from hard-bottom sites is attributed to the large number of rare species. No consistent seasonal changes in diversity or number of species were noted for individual stations or depth zones. In addition, H and its components showed no definite patterns related to depth or latitude. However, more species were collected at middle-shelf sites than at inner- or outer-shelf sites, which may be related to more stable bottom temperature or greater habitat complexity in that area. (PDF file contains 110 pages.

An environmental monitoring study of hard bottom reef areas near the Charleston Ocean Dredged Material Disposal Site

In order to monitor conditions in and around the Charleston Ocean Dredged Material Disposal Site and its potential impact on surrounding hard bottom reef habitats a large monitoring effort has been ongoing. The current hard bottom reef monitoring study is part of a larger program to monitor conditions in and around the Charleston ODMDS. Specific objectives of the current hard bottom reef monitoring project described here were to document any changes in sedimentation rates, sponge/coral density, sponge/coral condition, finfish assemblages, and areal extent of six hard bottom reef areas over a five year period

An environmental assessment of the Charleston Ocean Dredged Material Disposal Site and surrounding areas : physical and biological conditions after completion of the Charleston Harbor Deepening Project

A monitoring program of the physical and biological condition of bottom habitats within and surrounding the Charleston Ocean Dredged Material Disposal Site was completed after the conclusion of disposal activities associated with the 1999-2002 Charleston Harbor Deepening Project. Approximately 20-25 million cubic yards of inner harbor and entrance channel materials were placed at the ODMDS as part of the project. Findings presented here include analyses of sediment characteristics, sediment contaminants, and benthic assemblages in the disposal zone, inner boundary zone, and outer boundary zone

Final report Comprehensive Spatial Data on Biological Resources and Uses in Southeastern Coastal Waters of the U.S.

This study was part of a broader initiative by the Governors’ South Atlantic Alliance to begin a comprehensive spatial management plan and provide information critical to that effort through a Regional Information Management System. The primary objectives of the SCDNR component were to develop and assemble various regional databases that provide information on the distribution and relative abundance of key biological resources and evaluate the distribution and level of activity (where relevant) of selected human uses. The purpose of this document is to provide a brief description of the GIS data layers developed by the SCDNR or assembled from other sources, and how they were analyzed

Application of six detection methods for analysis of paralytic shellfish toxins in shellfish from four regions within Latin America

With the move away from use of mouse bioassay (MBA) to test bivalve mollusc shellfish for paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) toxins, countries around the world are having to adopt non-animal-based alternatives that fulfil ethical and legal requirements. Various assays have been developed which have been subjected to single-laboratory and multi-laboratory validation studies, gaining acceptance as official methods of analysis and approval for use in some countries as official control testing methods. The majority of validation studies conducted to date do not, however, incorporate shellfish species sourced from Latin America. Consequently, this study sought to investigate the performance of five alternative PSP testing methods together with the MBA, comparing the PSP toxin data generated both qualitatively and quantitatively. The methods included a receptor binding assay (RBA), two liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (LC-FLD) methods including both pre-column and post-column oxidation, liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and a commercial lateral flow assay (LFA) from Scotia. A total of three hundred and forty-nine shellfish samples from Argentina, Mexico, Chile and Uruguay were assessed. For the majority of samples, qualitative results compared well between methods. Good statistical correlations were demonstrated between the majority of quantitative results, with a notably excellent correlation between the current EU reference method using pre-column oxidation LC-FLD and LC-MS/MS. The LFA showed great potential for qualitative determination of PSP toxins, although the findings of high numbers of false-positive results and two false negatives highlighted that some caution is still needed when interpreting results. This study demonstrated that effective replacement methods are available for countries that no longer wish to use the MBA, but highlighted the importance of comparing toxin data from the replacement method using local shellfish species of concern before implementing new methods in official control testing programs