Source Identification of Nutrient Impairment in North Biscayne Bay, Florida, USA
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 146, Issue 9
Abstract
The limiting nutrient in North Biscayne Bay identified using the Redfield ratio does not correspond to a significant quantitative relation between measured concentrations of the identified nutrient and chlorophyll . Strategies for reducing chlorophyll could focus on the nutrients that are significantly correlated with chlorophyll . To identify the terrestrial sources of nutrient loads, a novel application of the load-duration curve (LDC) is shown to effectively differentiate between surface runoff and groundwater sources of nutrients in urban drainage canals. It is shown that septic tanks and stormwater-management exfiltration trenches can yield comparable nutrient loadings to groundwater, which might subsequently impact nutrient concentrations in the adjacent bay.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code used during the study were provided by a third party. These data include surface and ground water quality data, and flow-rate data in the canals. Direct request for these materials may be made to the provider as indicated in the Acknowledgments.
Acknowledgments
Data used in this study were mostly provided by Virginia Walsh of the Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department, and various data were collected by DERM, SFWMD, and USGS. Manuel Arias was exceptionally helpful in uploading data and providing shape files for GIS analyses, and Omar Abdelrahman of DERM was generous in providing supplemental data.
References
Avila, C., G. Varona, M. Pierre, O. Abdelrahman, and J. Monty. 2017. “A review of seagrass losses and algal blooms in Biscayne Bay.” In Proc., Greater Everglades Ecosystem Restoration. Coral Springs, FL: Greater Everglades Ecosystem Restoration.
Boyer, J., C. Kelble, P. Ortner, and D. Rudnick. 2009. “Phytoplankton bloom status: Chlorophyll a biomass as an indicator of water quality conditions in the southern estuaries of Florida, USA.” Ecol. Indic. 9 (6): S56–S67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2008.11.013.
Brand, L. 1988. Assessment of plankton resources and their environmental interactions in Biscayne Bay, Florida.. Miami, FL: Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, Univ. of Miami.
Brand, L., M. Gottfried, C. Baylon, and N. Romer. 1991. “Spatial and temporal distribution of phytoplankton in Biscayne Bay, Florida.” Bull. Mar. Sci. 49 (1–2): 599–613.
Brown, R. 1984. “Relationships between suspended solids, turbidity, light attenuation, and algal productivity.” Lake Reservoir Manage. 1 (1): 198–205. https://doi.org/10.1080/07438148409354510.
Caccia, V. G., and J. N. Boyer. 2005. “Spatial patterning of water quality in Biscayne Bay, Florida as a function of land use and water management.” Mar. Pollut. Bull. 50 (11): 1416–1429. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2005.08.002.
Caccia, V. G., and J. N. Boyer. 2007. “A nutrient loading budget for Biscayne Bay, Florida.” Mar. Pollut. Bull. 54 (7): 994–1008. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2007.02.009.
Carey, R., K. Migliaccio, Y. Li, B. Schaffer, G. Kikere, and M. Brown. 2011. “Land use disturbance indicators and water quality variability in the Biscayne Bay Watershed, Florida.” Ecol. Indic. 11 (5): 1093–1104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2010.12.009.
Chin, D. 2013. Water-quality engineering in natural systems. 2nd ed. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Duarte, C. 1991. “Seagrass depth limits.” Aquat. Bot. 40 (4): 363–377. https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-3770(91)90081-F.
Fitz, H., and F. Sklar. 1999. “Ecosystem analysis of phosphorus impacts and altered hydrology in the Everglades: A landscape modeling approach.” In Phosphorus biogeochemistry in subtropical ecosystems, edited by K. Reddy, G. O’Connor, and C. Schelske, 585–620. Boca Raton, FL: Lewis.
Kendall, M. 1975. Rank correlation methods. London: Griffin.
Kleppel, G., and The Estuarine Theme Panel. 1996. State of Florida’s estuaries and future needs in estuarine research. Part 1: A synopsis of Florida estuarine resources with recommendations for their conservation and management.. Gainesville, FL: The Florida Sea Grant College Program.
Langevin, C. 2001. Simulation of ground-water discharge to Biscayne Bay, Southeastern Florida.. Washington, DC: USGS.
MacDonald, R. 2015. “Turbidity and light attenuation in coastal waters of the Great Barrier Reef.” Ph.D. thesis, College of Science, Technology, and Engineering, James Cook Univ.
Mann, H. 1945. “Nonparametric tests against trend.” Econometrica 13 (3): 245–259. https://doi.org/10.2307/1907187.
Meyers, T., J. Sickles, R. Dennis, K. Russell, J. Galloway, and T. Church. 2001. “Atmospheric nitrogen deposition to coastal estuaries and their watersheds.” In Nitrogen loading in coastal water bodies: An atmospheric perspective, edited by R. Valigura, R. Alexander, M. Castro, T. Meyers, H. Paerl, P. Stacey, and R. Turner, 1–10. Washington, DC: American Geophysical Union American Geophysical Union.
Millette, N., C. Kelble, A. Linhoss, S. Ashby, and L. Visser. 2019. “Using spatial variability in the rate of change of chlorophyll a to improve water quality management in a subtropical oligotrophic estuary.” Estuaries Coasts 42 (7): 1792–1803. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-019-00610-5.
Rudnick, D., Z. Chen, D. Childers, J. Boyer, and T. Fontaine, III. 1999. “Phosphorus and nitrogen inputs to Florida Bay: The importance of the everglades watershed.” Estuaries 22 (2B): 398–416. https://doi.org/10.2307/1353207.
Steward, J., and W. Green. 2007. “Setting load limits for nutrients and suspended solids based upon seagrass depth-limit targets.” Estuaries Coasts 30 (4): 657–670. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02841963.
USEPA. 2007. An approach for using load duration curves in the development of TMDLs. Washington, DC: Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds.
Vermaat, J. 1997. “The capacity of seagrasses to survive increased turbidity and siltation: The significance of growth form and light use.” Ambio 26 (8): 499–504.
Wang, J., and J. van de Kreeke. 1986. “Tidal circulation in North Biscayne Bay.” J. Waterw. Port Coastal Ocean Eng. 112 (6): 615–631. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-950X(1986)112:6(615).
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 146 • Issue 9 • September 2020
Copyright
© 2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 1, 2020
Accepted: Apr 28, 2020
Published online: Jul 6, 2020
Published in print: Sep 1, 2020
Discussion open until: Dec 6, 2020
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.