Multivariate data analysis of key pollutants in sewage samples: a case study

Pantsar-Kallio, Mari; Mujunen, Satu-Pia; Hatzimihalis, George; Koutoufides, Paul; Minkkinen, Pentti; Wilkie, Philip J.; Connor, M.

doi:10.1016/s0003-2670(99)00287-1

Cited by 33 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Human sewage is the largest contributor of global coastal pollution with most wastewater entering tropical coastal waters without prior treatment (Islam and Tanaka, 2004;Wear and Thurber, 2015). Sewage contains high concentrations of inorganic compounds, toxins, heavy metals, and pathogens, all of which can increase coral bleaching and mortality rates, reduce fecundity, and induce coral disease (Pantsar-Kallio et al, 1999). Pathogens from human sewage can destabilize the coral holobiont, providing invasive microbes the opportunity to colonize and potentially facilitate the vectoring of pathogens to corals by corallivores (Sutherland et al, 2010(Sutherland et al, , 2011.…”

Section: Sewage Outputmentioning

confidence: 99%

Corallivory in the Anthropocene: Interactive Effects of Anthropogenic Stressors and Corallivory on Coral Reefs

2019

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Corallivory is the predation of coral mucus, tissue, and skeleton by fishes and invertebrates, and a source of chronic stress for many reef-building coral species. Corallivores often prey on corals repeatedly, and this predation induces wounds that require extensive cellular resources to heal. The effects of corallivory on coral growth, reproduction, and community dynamics are well-documented, and often result in reduced growth rates and fitness. Given the degree of anthropogenic pressures that threaten coral reefs, it is now imperative to focus on understanding how corallivory interacts with anthropogenic forces to alter coral health and community dynamics. For example, coral bleaching events that stem from global climate change often reduce preferred corals species for many corallivorous fishes. These reductions in preferred prey may result in declines in populations of more specialized corallivores while more generalist corallivores may increase. Corallivory may also make corals more susceptible to thermal stress and exacerbate bleaching. At local scales, overfishing depletes corallivorous fish stocks, reducing fish corallivory and bioerosion, whilst removing invertivorous fishes and allowing population increases in invertebrate corallivores (e.g., urchins, Drupella spp.). Interactive effects of local stressors, such as overfishing and nutrient pollution, can alter the effect of corallivory by increasing coral-algal competition and destabilizing the coral microbiome, subsequently leading to coral disease and mortality. Here, we synthesize recent literature of how global climate change and local stressors affect corallivore populations and shape the patterns and effect of corallivory. Our review indicates that the combined effects of corallivory and anthropogenic pressures may be underappreciated and that these interactions often drive changes in coral reefs on scales from ecosystems to microbes. Understanding the ecology of coral reefs in the Anthropocene will require an increased focus on how anthropogenic forcing alters biotic interactions, such as corallivory, and the resulting cascading effects on corals and reef ecosystems.

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Section: Sewage Outputmentioning

confidence: 99%

Corallivory in the Anthropocene: Interactive Effects of Anthropogenic Stressors and Corallivory on Coral Reefs

2019

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“…However, sewage in its raw form contains many more compounds than just inorganic nutrients (e.g., see Refs. , , and ). In particular, sewage discharged into tropical coastal seas contains hundreds of different compounds, the most common of which are freshwater, inorganic nutrients, pathogens, endocrine disrupters, suspended solids, sediments, heavy metals, and other toxins .…”

Section: What Is In Sewage and How Do Those Components Affect Corals?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In particular, sewage discharged into tropical coastal seas contains hundreds of different compounds, the most common of which are freshwater, inorganic nutrients, pathogens, endocrine disrupters, suspended solids, sediments, heavy metals, and other toxins. 25,31 Below, we describe each of these constituents in detail and briefly summarize what is known about negative impacts on coral reefs and the mechanism(s) underlying the impact (Table 1). Importantly, this understanding does not come from studies on sewage itself, but rather from work investigating how explicit sewage components (e.g., freshwater, ammonium) affect corals.…”

Section: What Is In Sewage and How Do Those Components Affect Corals?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Sewage pollution: mitigation is key for coral reef stewardship

Wear

Thurber

2015

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

174

106

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Coral reefs are in decline worldwide, and land-derived sources of pollution, including sewage, are a major force driving that deterioration. This review presents evidence that sewage discharge occurs in waters surrounding at least 104 of 112 reef geographies. Studies often refer to sewage as a single stressor. However, we show that it is more accurately characterized as a multiple stressor. Many of the individual agents found within sewage, specifically freshwater, inorganic nutrients, pathogens, endocrine disrupters, suspended solids, sediments, and heavy metals, can severely impair coral growth and/or reproduction. These components of sewage may interact with each other to create as-yet poorly understood synergisms (e.g., nutrients facilitate pathogen growth), and escalate impacts of other, non-sewage–based stressors. Surprisingly few published studies have examined impacts of sewage in the field, but those that have suggest negative effects on coral reefs. Because sewage discharge proximal to sensitive coral reefs is widespread across the tropics, it is imperative for coral reef–focused institutions to increase investment in threat-abatement strategies for mitigating sewage pollution.

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“…Sewage is a complex chemical mixture comprising a cocktail of toxicants (Pantsar-Kallio et al 1999). Pollution impacts of sewage on aquatic biota are diverse and have been identified at all levels of ecological organisation, including inter alia: pathological tissue changes (Moore et al 2003), estrogenicity and other endocrine disruptions (Gagne´and Blaise 2003;Jobling and Tyler 2003), altered dynamics of populations exposed to sewage (Hindell and Quinn 2000), shifts in production and body-size spectra of communities , reduction in seagrass with knock-on effects on food webs (McClelland and Valiela 1998a), and changes to assemblage composition and structure (Archambault et al 2001; Morris and Keough 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fish track wastewater pollution to estuaries

et al. 2005

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Excess nitrogen is a forceful agent of ecological change in coastal waters, and wastewater is a prominent source of nitrogen. In catchments where multiple sources of nitrogen pollution co-exist, biological indicators are needed to gauge the degree to which wastewater-N can propagate through the receiving food webs. The purpose of this study was to test whether estuarine fish are suitable as indicators of sewage-N pollution. Fish were analysed from three estuaries within a 100-km strip on the Australian East Coast. The estuaries differ substantially in wastewater loading: (1) the Maroochy Estuary receives a large fraction of the local shire's treated sewage, (2) the Mooloolah Estuary has no licensed treated wastewater outfalls but marinas/harbours and storm-water may contribute nitrogen, and (3) the Noosa Estuary which neither receives licensed discharges nor has suspected wastewater loads. Sampling for fish included both high rainfall ('wet' season) and low rainfall ('dry' season) periods. Muscle-delta15N was the variable predicted to respond to treated wastewater loading, reflecting the relative enrichment in 15N resulting from the treatment process and distinguishing it from alternative N sources such as fertiliser and natural nitrogen inputs (both 15N-depleted). Of the 19 fish species occurring in all three estuaries, those from the Maroochy Estuary had significantly elevated delta15N values (up to 9.9 per thousand), and inter-estuarine differences in fish-delta15N were consistent across seasons. Furthermore, not only did all fish from the estuary receiving treated wastewater carry a very distinctive sewage-N tissue signal, but enriched muscle-delta15N was also evident in all species sampled from the one estuary in which sewage contamination was previously only suspected (i.e. the Mooloolah Estuary: 0.2-4.8 per thousand enrichment over fish from reference system). Thus, fish-delta15N is a suitable indicator of wastewater-N not only in systems that receive large loads, but also for the detection of more subtle nitrogen inputs. Arguably, fish may be preferred indicators of sewage-N contamination because they: (1) integrate nitrogen inputs over long time periods, (2) have an element of 'ecological relevance' because fish muscle-delta15N reflect movement of sewage-N through the food chain, and (3) pollution assessments can usually be based on evidence from multiple species.

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Multivariate data analysis of key pollutants in sewage samples: a case study

Cited by 33 publications

References 9 publications

Corallivory in the Anthropocene: Interactive Effects of Anthropogenic Stressors and Corallivory on Coral Reefs

Corallivory in the Anthropocene: Interactive Effects of Anthropogenic Stressors and Corallivory on Coral Reefs

Sewage pollution: mitigation is key for coral reef stewardship

Fish track wastewater pollution to estuaries

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