Predicting estuarine sediment metal concentrations and inferred ecological conditions: an information theoretic approach

Journal of Environmental Quality
Jeffrey W HollisterHenry A Walker

Abstract

Empirically derived relationships associating sediment metal concentrations with degraded ecological conditions provide important information to assess estuarine condition. Resources limit the number, magnitude, and frequency of monitoring activities to acquire these data. Models that use available information and simple statistical relationships to predict sediment metal concentrations could provide an important tool for environmental assessment. We developed 45 predictive models for the total concentrations of copper, lead, mercury, and cadmium in estuarine sediments along the Southern New England and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. Using information theoretic model-averaging approaches, we found total developed land and percent silt/clay of estuarine sediment were the most important variables for predicting the presence of all four metals. Estuary area, river flow, tidal range, and total agricultural land varied in their importance. The model-averaged predictions explained 78.4, 70.5, 56.4, and 50.3% of the variation for copper, lead, mercury, and cadmium, respectively. Overall prediction accuracies of selected sediment benchmark values (i.e., effects ranges) were 83.9, 84.8, 78.6, and 92.0% for copper, lead, merc...Continue Reading

References

May 25, 2002·Journal of Environmental Quality·John F PaulJane Copeland
May 17, 2006·Trends in Ecology & Evolution·Jerald B Johnson, Kristian S Omland
Nov 9, 2006·Ecology·William A Link, Richard J Barker

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Citations

Jan 29, 2009·The Annals of Occupational Hygiene·J Lavoué, P O Droz
Oct 25, 2008·Journal of Environmental Quality·Jeffrey W HollisterJohn F Paul

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