Journal
MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN
Volume 145, Issue -, Pages 185-199Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.05.027
Keywords
Dredging; Sedimentation; Coral reefs; Remote sensing; Port of Miami
Funding
- NSF [OCE-1358699]
- University of Miami
- Waitt Foundation
- Curtis and Edith Munson Foundation
- NASA [NNX14AL98G, NNX14AK08G, 80NSSC18K0340]
- Patagonia
- NASA [680745, NNX14AK08G] Funding Source: Federal RePORTER
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Dredging poses a potential threat to coral reefs, yet quantifying impacts is often difficult due to the large spatial footprint of potential effects and co-occurrence of other disturbances. Here we analyzed in situ monitoring data and remotely-sensed sediment plumes to assess impacts of the 2013-2015 Port of Miami dredging on corals and reef habitat. To control for contemporaneous bleaching and disease, we analyzed the spatial distribution of impacts in relation to the dredged channel. Areas closer to dredging experienced higher sediment trap accumulation, benthic sediment cover, coral burial, and coral mortality, and our spatial analyses indicate that > 560,000 corals were killed within 0.5 km, with impacts likely extending over 5-10 km. The occurrence of sediment plumes explained similar to 60% of spatial variability in measured impacts, suggesting that remotely-sensed plumes, when properly calibrated against in situ monitoring data, can reliably estimate the magnitude and extent of dredging impacts.
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