Macrofaunal recovery following TBT ban. Long-term recovery of subtidal macrofaunal communities in relation to declining levels of TBT contamination.
In the United Kingdom, the use of TBT-based anti-fouling paints on small vessels was banned in 1987, and a biological study of the Crouch Estuary, a yachting centre on the south-eastern coast of the UK, was conducted in order to determine the ecological improvements resulting from this legislation. We present the changes in the macro-infaunal communities along the estuary in relation to declining TBT concentrations between 1987 and 2005. Although the major changes in response to the ban were observed within the first 3 years (primarily an increase in the number of crustacean taxa and a shift in community structure), with changes still apparent between three and 5 years, the temporal duration of this study allowed the rapidity of the response to be truly determined.
Smith
R
R
Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Remembrance Avenue, Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex CM0 8HA, UK.
Bolam
S G
SG
Rees
H L
HL
Mason
C
C
D000818:Animals; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005260:Female; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010316:Particle Size; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D012623:Seawater / Q000737:chemistry*; D014220:Trialkyltin Compounds / Q000032:analysis / Q000592:standards; D006113:United Kingdom; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis / Q000592:standards
D014220:Trialkyltin Compounds; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; C011559:tributyltin