Chesapeake and San Francisco Bays A study in contrasts and parallels

Biomonitoring of Trace Aquatic Contaminants

“…Many trace elements are now being mined at a pace which exceeds their natural mobilisation rates by greater than an order of magnitude. For example, the catchment of San Francisco Bay has been radically altered through extensive urbanisation, the introduction of massive water management schemes, the agricultural development of the naturally arid Central Valley of California, and the loss of some 96% of the historical area of wetlands Wright and Phillips, 1988). The contributions of anthropogenic ally-derived metals to the total metals present have been quantified for certain local environments, and are seen to be very considerable for many of the more toxic elements (Fig.…”

Assessment of Dredged Material Toxicity in San Francisco Bay

“…Forecasting potential impacts at this level of biological organization is problematic and the predictive capabilities are not well developed. This is particularly true for benthic communities in a physically active system such as San Francisco Bay (Nichols 1985, Phillips 1987, Wright and Phillips 1988. Bioassessments at lower levels of complexity (molecularbiochemical) are often very sensitive, but their ecological relevance is uncertain.…”