The 1993 Regional Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (R-EMAP) study of Galveston Bay, Texas

Date

1999 1998 Mar 26

Authors

Gorham-Test C

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Abstract

The Regional Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (R-EMAP) Study of Galveston Bay, Texas addresses the ecological health of this estuary by identifying benthic community structure, measuring toxicity of sediments, and measuring concentrations of various pollutants in the sediments. The Sediment Quality Triad approach was used in this study to differentiate between degraded sites and undegraded sites. For comparison of the main body of Galveston Bay with other systems and the Louisianian Province as a whole, twenty-nine randomly selected sites were chosen to represent 1305 km super(2) of the Galveston Bay System. Random sites are located in Galveston Bay, Trinity Bay, East Bay and West Bay. In addition, a sample was taken for each of four important small bays associated with Galveston Bay, and for five marinas. This study does not include an analysis of the upper Houston Ship Channel, the Trinity River, or any other major tributaries. The Benthic Index, the Benthic Diversity Index, and abundance of Amphipods at each site proved useful in demonstrating that communities living in contaminated sediments had a community structure indicating poor conditions. The proportions of the two indices in the Galveston Bay area were similar to the proportions reported for the Louisianian Province in the 1993 EMAP Study

Description

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Keywords

ASW,USA,Texas,Galveston Bay, Environmental monitoring, Environmental protection, Monitoring, O 4090 Conservation and Environmental Protection, Q1 01463 Habitat community studies, Q5 01522 Protective measures and control, Water quality

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