Identification of Microdetritus Derived from Spartina and Its Occurrence in the Water Column and Intertidal Sediments of Cumberland Basin, Bay of Fundy

Four experimental trawls were made at highwater over the intertidal zone of the Minas Basin and the effects assessed when the tide was out to determine the physical and biological impacts of groundfish trawling on the benthos. The trawl doors made furrows 30–85 cm wide and up to 5 cm deep. The rollers compressed surficial sediments but did not scour a depression. The bridle caused no obvious disturbance. Door furrows and roller marks remained visible for 2–7 mo. No significant impacts were observed on either benthic diatoms or macrobenthos. The macrobenthos was dominated by polychaetes, some of which may have the ability to take evasive action as a trawl approaches. There were few molluscs, crustaceans, or echinoderms present; these taxa have been shown to be more susceptible to trawling damage in studies done elsewhere. Nematode numbers were initially depressed in the door furrows but did recover with time. It is not known whether nematodes were killed or displaced but the latter is thought more likely. Overall, the impacts in this particular environment are judged to be minor, especially since the intertidal sediments of the Minas Basin are already exposed to similar natural stresses imposed by storms and winter ice.

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Intertidal Sediments from the South Shore of Cobequid Bay, Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia, Canada

Tidal Deposits ◽

10.1007/978-3-642-88494-8_6 ◽

1975 ◽

pp. 47-55 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

R. John Knight ◽

Robert W. Dalrymple

Keyword(s):

Nova Scotia ◽

Bay Of Fundy ◽

Intertidal Sediments ◽

The South ◽

South Shore

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HYDROCARBON AND ECOTOXICITY IN SEAWATER AND SEDIMENT SAMPLES OF GUANABARA BAY AFTER THE OIL SPILL IN JANUARY 2000

International Oil Spill Conference Proceedings ◽

10.7901/2169-3358-2001-2-941 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 2001 (2) ◽

pp. 941-950 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Irene Terezinha Gabardo ◽

Maria de Fátima Guadalupe Meniconi ◽

Leticia Veiga Falcão ◽

Neusa A. A. Vital ◽

Rosana Cardoso Lopez Pereira ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Water Column ◽

Oil Spill ◽

Complex Mixture ◽

Guanabara Bay ◽

Acute Effects ◽

Intertidal Sediments ◽

Toxicological Study ◽

Marine Fuel ◽

Anthropogenic Inputs ◽

Polycyclic Aromatic

ABSTRACT On January 18, 2000, approximately 340,000 gallons (1,300 m3) of marine fuel (MF-380) spilled into Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The spill originated from a leak in the pipeline from the PETROBRAS refinery to the oil terminal. This paper presents the results for the water column and sediment monitoring 10 days after the spill, including n-alkanes, unresolved complex mixture (UCM), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and toxicological essays. Chemical and toxicological monitoring of the water column was performed at 14 sampling stations throughout the impacted area in Guanabara Bay. The chemical analysis of PAHs by ultraviolet fluorescence showed results from <0.04–11.56 μg/L−1in chrysene equivalents. The toxicological essays for three species (Artemia sp., Mysidium gracile, and Vibrio fisheri, Microtox) indicate no acute effects for the water samples studied. To monitor sediments, 57 samples were collected from intertidal and sub tidal sites. For the 30 intertidal sediments, 73% contained PAHs (GC-MS) below 2 μg/g−1, 20% were in the range 2–5 μg/g−1, and only two stations (7%), located in the vicinity of the spill point, contained levels up to 20 μg/g−1. For the 27 subtidal sediments, results were in the range of 0.2–9.6 μg/g−1 for PAHs, 0.7–43.3 μg/g−1 for n-alkanes, and 17.8–1,250 μg/g−1 for UCM. The toxicological study for the sediments based on Vibrio fisheri (Microtox) indicated no acute toxicity effects. When comparing the post-spill results with previous hydrocarbon data, no significant impact was observed in sediments and water column because of the oil spill. There is, however, a significant background of chronic anthropogenic inputs to Guanabara Bay.

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Primary Production and Respiration in Pelagic and Benthic Communities at Two Intertidal Sites in the Upper Bay of Fundy

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences ◽

10.1139/f83-286 ◽

1983 ◽

Vol 40 (S1) ◽

pp. s229-s243 ◽

Cited By ~ 51

Author(s):

B. T. Hargrave ◽

N. J. Prouse ◽

G. A. Phillips ◽

P. A. Neame

Keyword(s):

Primary Production ◽

Benthic Communities ◽

Late Summer ◽

Benthic Microalgae ◽

Phytoplankton Production ◽

Bay Of Fundy ◽

Intertidal Sediments ◽

Benthic Primary Production ◽

Benthic Respiration ◽

Undisturbed Sediments

Primary production by microalgae on intertidal sediments during ebb tide at two sites in Cumberland and Minas Basin, Bay of Fundy, amounted to 47–83 g C∙m−2∙yr−1 Phytoplankton production measured during flood tide over intertidal sediments in Cumberland Basin varied from 4–10 g C∙m−2∙yr−1 with respiration in the water column between 6 and 12 g∙C∙m−2∙yr−1 depending on concentrations of suspended matter. Respiration by undisturbed sediments (47–62 g C∙m−2∙yr−1) was measured at both locations to estimate aerobic metabolic consumption of organic matter.Maximum rates of benthic primary production occurred during early and late summer at both locations but Values at the Cumberland Basin sites were two to three times greater than those observed in Minas Basin; Chlorophyll a in surface sediments was also lower at the stations in Minas Basin where coarser grained deposits reflect extensive sediment transport. Annual benthic respiration at the two stations in Cumberland Basin, however, was only slightly greater than that at four stations in Minas Basin. Spartina marshes, phytoplankton, and benthic microalgae may provide supplies of organic matter for aerobic consumption in these intertidal sediments which are more similar than are measures of benthic primary production.Key words: benthic microalgae, primary production, intertidal community metabolism, Bay of Fundy

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Summer zooplankton distributions at the surface of the outer Bay of Fundy, eastern Canada

Canadian Journal of Zoology ◽

10.1139/z89-386 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 67 (11) ◽

pp. 2725-2730 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

R. G. B. Brown ◽

D. E. Gaskin

Keyword(s):

Nova Scotia ◽

New Brunswick ◽

Water Column ◽

Relative Abundance ◽

Dominant Species ◽

Calanus Finmarchicus ◽

Bay Of Fundy ◽

Eastern Canada

Copepods and cladocerans were collected, mainly in August, from the top 0.25 m of the water column in the outer Bay of Fundy, off Brier Island, Nova Scotia (ca. 44°15′N, 66°23′W) in 1975–1978, Deer Island, New Brunswick (ca. 45°00′N, 67°00′W) in 1977–1978, and Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick (ca. 44°40′N, 66°43′W) in 1981. In 1975–1977, the dominant species at the surface off Brier Island were stage CIV-I Calanus finmarchicus and CVI-V Pseudocalanus sp. The copepods Acartia spp., Anomalocera pattersonii, Centropages sp., Eurytemora spp., and Oithonia similis and the cladocerans Evadne sp. and Podon sp. also occurred regularly. The relative abundance of Calanus finmarchicus declined during the period July–October 1976, though the proportion of stages CVI-V increased. The relative proportions of Pseudocalanus sp., and of its stages CVI-V, both declined during the same period. The community at the surface was similar to that collected in other studies from subsurface tows in the Bay of Fundy as a whole, including Brier, Deer, and Grand Manan islands. This was not true of Brier Island in 1978: CVI-V Calanus finmarchicus predominated, and other species were scarce. Our samples from Deer and Grand Manan islands resembled those from Brier Island in 1978, though CVI-V Calanus finmarchicus predominated even more strongly. We discuss the differences between our samples from Brier Island in 1978 and 1975–1977, and between the latter and our New Brunswick data. However, there is no obvious explanation for most of these anomalies.

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North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) and its food: (I) a spatial climatology of Calanus biomass and potential foraging habitats in Canadian waters

Journal of Plankton Research ◽

10.1093/plankt/fbz024 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 41 (5) ◽

pp. 667-685 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

S Plourde ◽

C Lehoux ◽

C L Johnson ◽

G Perrin ◽

V Lesage

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Water Column ◽

North Atlantic ◽

Eubalaena Glacialis ◽

Bay Of Fundy ◽

North Atlantic Right Whale ◽

Main Prey ◽

Right Whale ◽

The North ◽

The North Atlantic

Abstract This study aimed at identifying potentially suitable foraging habitats for the North Atlantic right whale (NARW; Eubalaena glacialis) in the Gulf of St Lawrence (GSL), on the Scotian Shelf (SS) and in the Bay of Fundy (BoF), Canada, based on the distribution densities of their main prey, Calanus copepod species. More than 4800 historical Calanus spp. water column integrated samples as well as 221 vertically stratified sampling stations were used to create a 3D (latitude, longitude and vertical) climatology of Calanus spp. biomass densities for spring and summer–fall when NARW are feeding in Canadian waters. We then combined this 3D preyscape with bio-energetic considerations to highlight potentially suitable NARW foraging habitats in the region. Our 3D climatological approach successfully identified the known feeding areas of Grand Manan (BoF) and Roseway Basin (western SS), confirming its validity. Expanding our analyses to the GSL and other parts of the SS, we identified in both regions areas previously unknown where Calanus spp. biomass densities exceeded minimum levels suitable for foraging NARW. Our results represent a key contribution to the identification of important foraging areas for NARW in Canadian waters, especially in the context of climate change and the documented shift in NARW distribution.

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