Living in a Contaminated Estuary: Behavioral Changes and Ecological Consequences for Five Species

Judith S. Weis, Lauren Bergey, Jessica Reichmuth and Allison Candelmo

Authors

Judith S. Weis, PhD

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Jessica Reichmuth, PhD

Lauren Bergey, PhD

Allison Candelmo, PhD

Study

oHow pollutants found in estuaries affect behavior and diet on common estuary species?

oWhat are the mechanisms of action which lead towards this change in behavior and dieting patterns?

oHow this changes will affect the size and growth rates of the specimens?

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Locations

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Piles Creek

Hackensack Meadowlands

Locations

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Piles Creek Hackensack Meadowlands

Heavy Industrialized

Sediments:

Lead: 200 ppm

Mercury: 5.0 ppm

Fishing Ban Area

Sediments:

Lead: 100 ppm

Mercury: 3.5 ppm

Locations (Clean)

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Tuckerton

Government Protected

Sediments:

Lead: 80 ppm

Mercury: 311 ppb

PCBs: 25 ppb

PAHs: 671 ppb

Information retrieve from: http://www.bgs.ac.uk/research/climatechange/coastpol/newJersey.html

Species

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Killifish

Grass Shrimp

Fiddler Crab

Bluecrab

Bluefish

Contaminants

−Metals

−Cooper

−Lead

−Zinc

−Cadmium

−Chromium

−Mercury

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−PCBs

−PAHs

−Dioxins

−Chlorinated Hydrocarbons Pesticides

Hypothesis Organisms in polluted environments would have reduced feeding

and predator avoidance, which would lead to reduced growth

and population size.

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Data (Killifish)

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Piles Creek:

− Lower activity

− Lower prey consumption

− Vulnerable to predation

− Abnormal Thyroid gland

− Abnormal Neurotransmitters (Serotonin)

− Ate 2 to 3 times less than non contaminated

Data (Fiddler Crab)

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Activity budget of Piles Creek (PC) and Tuckerton (TK) fiddler crabs in

the field sites.

Median sizes, interquartile range, range, and outliers (o)

for adult female fiddler crabs collected from Piles Creek

(PC) and Tuckerton (TK).

Data (Blue Crabs)

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Capture of juvenile blue crabs, killifish, fiddler crabs, and

mussels by Hackensack and Tuckerton adult blue crabs. Black

columns represent Hackensack, white represent Tuckerton.Diet of Hackensack and Tuckerton blue crabs collected in the field. Black

columns represent Hackensack, white represent Tuckerton. Asterisk

represent significant differences between the two populations in how much

they ate of a particular food item.

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PCBs levels (ng/g) in mummichog Fundulus

heteroclitus (Fh) and menhaden Brevoortia

tyrannus (Bt) taken from the stomachs of

bluefish versus collected in seines or traps (field)

from the Hackensack Meadowlands (HM).

Asterisk indicates significant difference between

the PCB levels.

Data (Blue Fish)

Feeding by Hackensack-fed (HM) and Tuckertonfed (TK)

bluefish. Each bar represents the mean time taken

(seconds) to consume the entire ration (ration 1–3) of

mummichogs for the Tuckerton-fed and Hackensack-fed

bluefish. The mean is ± standard error of 16 timed

feeding trials. The bars with different letters are

significantly different.

Data Summary

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Future Projects

−Are organisms at higher trophic levels affected more than those lower down?

−Are certain taxonomic groups more successful under contaminant stress?

−Are certain traits associated with being more successful in contaminated areas?

−Are the particular contaminants at a given site important in determining which

organisms are more susceptible than others?

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Questions

−Who do you think are the most affected prey or predators?

−What contaminants you think are more common for Puerto Rico?

−Where do you think the most contaminated areas of Puerto Rico are placed?

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Thanks for listening

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