Journal
MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN
Volume 129, Issue 2, Pages 573-591Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.10.033
Keywords
Sediment quality guidelines; Contamination; Impaired sediments; Sydney estuary; Biologic response; Diversity
Funding
- Australian Research Council [C00002612]
- Sydney Olympic Coordination Authority
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Synoptic sediment quality triad (contaminants, benthic assemblages, toxicity testing) data were collected for sites in Sydney estuary, adjacent Cooks River and five less-modified southern estuaries. Matching data tested relationships between contaminants and benthic assemblages, correlations with specific contaminants, and the ability of sediment quality guidelines to predict the risk of adverse effects. Significant but weak relationships occurred in complex patterns between assemblages, contaminant concentrations and environmental variables. Maximum benthos abundance occurred where sediment contamination was high and was dominated by polychaetes. Spionidae (polychaete) and Galeommatidae (mollusc) abundances were strongly correlated with site environmental characteristics and with varying mixtures of metals and organic contaminants. The risk of adverse effects on benthic assemblage structure increased with increasing sediment toxicity except for areas of very high contamination and for non-bioavailable anthropogenic chemicals. The overall weight-ofevidence scores differentiated the highly modified sites from less-contaminated southern estuaries, where toxicity scores were higher than predicted.
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