Living in a Contaminated Estuary: Behavioral Changes and

Ecological Consequences for Five Species

Wang Chao

30 Sep. 2013

Publishing

Authors:

Judith S. Weis,

Lauren Bergey,

Jessica Reichmuth,

Allison Candelmo

Source: BioScience, Vol. 61, No. 5

(May 2011), pp. 375-385

Topic

1. One side is from the estuary

pollution.

2. The other side is from the effect

to species by pollution.

Estuary Pollution

Urban areas often grow up around estuaries.

Industrial development often leaves a legacy

of pollution in these areas.

The Georges River Estuary

http://www.georgesriver.org.au/Estuary-Management-Plan.html

Estuary Pollution

http://estuaries.noaa.gov/Estuarylive/VideoGallery.aspx?ID=43

http://estuaries.noaa.gov/Estuarylive/VideoGallery.aspx?ID=33

First，let’s watch a video.

After watch the video

Do you think what things are

the major sources of pollution to the estuary?

Metals, oils, toxic organic compounds

such as （PCB）…

and high levels of nutrients......

Estuary Pollution

Note: PCB stand for polychlorinated biphenyl

Main Topic--Behavioral Changes

This paper focus on the feeding behavior

and predator-prey relations in contaminated

and clean estuaries and examining population

and community-level consequences.

Questions and discussion

Questions and discussion

http://www.flickr.com/photos/neilfisher/5977061232/

http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/photos/sea-urchins/

http://www.seafriends.org.nz/images/urchin.htm

Top-downurchin

kelpSea otter

Questions and discussion

Feeding habits and diet, physiology, body

size, and reproductive rate affect how a

species responds to contaminant stress,

but all of those traits can themselves be

altered by contamination.

Plasticity of traits, especially feeding

habits, is important in a changing

environment.

Questions and discussion

Body size

Questions and discussion

Feeding

Questions and discussion

Questions and discussion

Questions and discussion

Questions and discussion

Are organisms at higher trophic levels more likely to be affected?

Reynolds PL, Bruno JF (2012) Effects of Trophic Skewing of Species Richness on Ecosystem Functioning

in a Diverse Marine Community. PLoS ONE 7(5): e36196. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0036196

Questions and discussion

Are certain taxonomic groups more likely to be

successful under contaminant stress?

Different special have different tolerance to the

contaminated estuary.

For example, Bergey et al. (2007) pointed that one

trait of crustacean that may promote their greater

success could be the ability to move contaminants

into their exoskeletons before molting.