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Toxicity of creosote‐contaminated sediment to field‐ and laboratory‐colonized estuarine benthic communities
Author(s) -
Tagatz Marlin E.,
Plaia Gayle R.,
Deans Christine H.,
Lores Emile M.
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
environmental toxicology and chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1552-8618
pISSN - 0730-7268
DOI - 10.1002/etc.5620020409
Subject(s) - creosote , benthic zone , dominance (genetics) , estuary , ecology , biology , microcosm , diversity index , environmental chemistry , sediment , species richness , chemistry , biochemistry , gene , paleontology
Macrobenthic animal communities that colonized uncontaminated and creosote‐contaminated sand (177, 844 and 4,420 μg/g, nominal) during 8 weeks were compared to assess effects of marine‐grade creosote on community structure. Aquaria were colonized in the laboratory by planktonic larvae entrained in continuously supplied unfiltered seawater and in the field by animals that occurred naturally. Individuals and species in aquaria that contained 844 and 4,420 μg creosote/g sand were significantly fewer (α = 0.05) than those in the control. Abundance of animals in field‐colonized communities contaminated with 177 μg/g creosote, but not in laboratory‐colonized communities, also was less than that in the control. The lowest creosote concentration at either site that affected numbers of individuals or species was 844 μg/g for mollusks and 177 μg/g for echinoderms, annelids and arthropods. The Shannon‐Weaver index of diversity, Simpson's index of dominance and the Bray‐Curtis dissimilarity index differences were greater with each increase in creosote concentration. Rarefaction indices of diversity indicated that the distribution of individuals within species was about the same for laboratory and field assemblages of animals. Initial measured concentrations of creosote in sand (midrange concentration) decreased by 30% in the laboratory and by 42% in the field at the end of the 8‐week test.