Habitat degradation from intermittent hypoxia: impacts on demersal fishes

Eby, Lisa A.; Crowder, Larry B.; McClellan, Catherine M.; Peterson, Charles H.; Powers, Monica J.

doi:10.3354/meps291249

Cited by 182 publications

(144 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…These modest improvements in bottom DO may have had a significant effect on fisheries habitat in the NRE, because fish kills were greatly reduced in 2002 relative to the long-term average. Although it is difficult to establish causality due to the complexity of factors controlling NRE fish kills and overall fishery response to hypoxia Eby et al 2005), extensive bottom-water hypoxia is one of the main correlates of fish kills in the system . It is important to note that a similar chain of events was observed in summer 2007, during the tempered 'spin-up' phase of the more severe autumn 2007-winter 2008 drought.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Severe droughts reduce estuarine primary productivity with cascading effects on higher trophic levels

Wetz

Hutchinson

Lunetta

et al. 2011

Limnology & Oceanography

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Using a 10-yr time-series data set, we analyzed the effects of two severe droughts on water-quality and ecosystem processes in a temperate, eutrophic estuary (Neuse River Estuary, North Carolina). During the droughts, dissolved inorganic nitrogen concentrations were on average 46-68% lower than the long-term mean due to reduced riverine input. Phytoplankton productivity and biomass were slightly below average for most of the estuary during a spring-autumn drought in 2002, but were dramatically lower than average throughout the estuary during an autumn-winter drought in [2007][2008]. Droughts affected upper trophic levels through alteration of both habitat condition (i.e., bottom-water dissolved oxygen levels) and food availability. Bottomwater dissolved oxygen levels were near or slightly above average during the 2002 drought and during summer 2007. Concomitant with these modest improvements in bottom-water oxygen condition, fish kills were greatly reduced relative to the long-term average. Low-oxygen bottom-water conditions were more pronounced during summer 2008 in the latter stages of the 2007-2008 drought, and mesozooplankton abundances were eight-fold lower in summer 2008 than during nondrought years. Below-average mesozooplankton abundances persisted for well over 1 yr beyond cessation of the drought. Significant fish kills were observed in summer 2008 and 2009, perhaps due to the synergistic effects of hypoxia and reduced food availability. These results indicate that droughts can exert both ephemeral and prolonged multiyear influence on estuarine ecosystem processes and provide a glimpse into the future, when many regions of the world are predicted to face increased drought frequency and severity due to climate change.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Severe droughts reduce estuarine primary productivity with cascading effects on higher trophic levels

Wetz

Hutchinson

Lunetta

et al. 2011

Limnology & Oceanography

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“…Estuary experiences severe and recurring hypoxia during the summer months that leads to fish kills and other ecological effects (Paerl et al 1998;Lenihan et al 2001;Eby et al 2005). The data consist of surface and bottom measurements of dissolved oxygen, temperature, salinity, and other water quality variables at a 15-minute sampling interval from 1999 to 2005 from three moorings in the Neuse River.…”

Section: Modeling the Economic Costs Of Hypoxiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring Welfare Losses from Hypoxia: The Case of North Carolina Brown Shrimp

Huang¹,

Nichols

Craig

et al. 2012

Marine Resource Economics

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While environmental stressors such as hypoxia (low dissolved oxygen) are perceived as a threat to the productivity of coastal ecosystems, policy makers have little information about the economic consequences for fisheries. Recent work on hypoxia develops a bioeconomic model to harness microdata and quantify the effects of hypoxia on North Carolina's brown shrimp fishery. This work finds that hypoxia is responsible for a 12.9% decrease in NC brown shrimp catches from 1999-2005 in the Neuse River Estuary and Pamlico Sound, assuming that vessels do not react to changes in abundance. The current article extends this work to explore the full economic consequences of hypoxia on the supply and demand for brown shrimp. Demand analysis reveals that the NC shrimp industry is too small to influence prices, which are driven entirely by imports and other domestic U.S. harvest. Thus, demand is flat and there are no measurable benefits to shrimp consumers from reduced hypoxia. On the supply side, we find that the shrimp fleet responds to variation in price, abundance, and weather. Hence, the supply curve has some elasticity. Producer benefits of reduced hypoxia are less than a quarter of the computed gains from assuming no behavioral adjustment.

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“…( [65], Table 2). Using 6% of the (energy equivalent) species level gross primary production of phytoplankton (divided by 2 for each sub-species of phytoplankton) from Table 2); ad An average of the 4 fish caught per cage in [69]; ae Following the estimated relationship between blue crab length and weight in [70], taking an average of the weights found for given median lengths for 1997 and 1998; af The average life span of phytoplankton is 12 to 48 h [71]. Given annual reproductive periods of the model, and taking 2 days as the lifespan, then the annual adjusted lifespan is as shown; ag Zooplankton live on average 14 days [72].…”

Section: Application To the Neuse River Estuary-parameterizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Taking a lower estimate within this range of 5 years, given annual reproductive periods of the model the lifespan is 5 reproductive periods; ai For jellyfish we extrapolate from Vallentinia Gabriellae (hitchhiking jellyfish) who typicically live 3 to 4 months [74] in Florida estuaries. We scale this down to 28 days for the relatively northern (colder) estuary of the Neuse, and then convert into lifespans on an annual reproductive basis; aj Croaker larvae recruit into the estuary and juveniles remain there up to 15 months [69]. We assume a total duration of 2.5 years; al Blue crabs typically live on average for 4 years [64]; Table 2.…”

Section: Application To the Neuse River Estuary-parameterizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inserting Ecological Detail into Economic Analysis: Agricultural Nutrient Loading of an Estuary Fishery

Finnoff

Tschirhart

2011

Sustainability

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Linked general equilibrium economic and ecological models are connected through agricultural runoff and the fisheries. They are applied to a North Carolina estuary in which agricultural runoff alters phytoplankton densities and the resulting hypoxia leads to diminished fisheries. The effects of hypoxia on multiple species across space are analyzed and the joint economic and ecosystem wide response to a policy of reduced runoff is quantified. The approach provides an assessment of changes in ecological welfare (in terms of species populations) and economic welfare (in terms of equivalent variations) following reductions in runoff.

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Habitat degradation from intermittent hypoxia: impacts on demersal fishes

Cited by 182 publications

References 45 publications

Severe droughts reduce estuarine primary productivity with cascading effects on higher trophic levels

Severe droughts reduce estuarine primary productivity with cascading effects on higher trophic levels

Measuring Welfare Losses from Hypoxia: The Case of North Carolina Brown Shrimp

Inserting Ecological Detail into Economic Analysis: Agricultural Nutrient Loading of an Estuary Fishery

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