Effects of abatement of domestic sewage pollution on the benthos, volumes of zooplankton, and the fouling organisms of Biscayne Bay, Florida
1970
McNulty, J. Kneeland
"Various elements of the biota of northern Biscayne Bay, Florida, were studied before and after abatement of pollution. The pollution consisted of 136 to 227 million liters per day of untreated domestic sewage. Four years after removal of the pollution certain changes had taken place. At distances of 100 to 740 meters seaward from outfalls, in water depths of one to three meters in hard bottom, populations of benthic macroinvertebrates had declined to abnormally large numbers of species and individuals to normal numbers of each, while soft-bottom populations had changed qualitatively but not quantitatively. Adjacent to outfalls, populations had increased in numbers of species and numbers of individuals in hard sandy bottoms only. Volumes of zooplankton had decreased to about one-half the pre-abatement values in poorly flushed waters; elsewhere, they remained about the same. Dissolved inorganic phosphate-phosphorus decreased similarly. Abundance of amphipod tubes had declined markedly, a change not shared by the quantities of other fouling organisms (including barnacles), which remained about the same. There was no evidence of improved commercial and sport fishing following abatement; this is interpreted to mean that long-lasting detrimental effects have resulted from pollution and dredging."
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