title: Ecosystem under pressure: ballast water discharge into Galveston Bay, Texas (USA) from 2005 to 2010.
abstract: Ballast water exchange processes facilitate the dispersal and unnatural geographic expansion of phytoplankton, including harmful algal bloom species. From 2005 to 2010, over 45,000 vessels (≈ 8000 annually) travelled across Galveston Bay (Texas, USA) to the deep-water ports of Houston (10th largest in the world), Texas City and Galveston. These vessels (primarily tankers and bulkers) discharged ≈ 1.2 × 10(8) metrictons of ballast water; equivalent to ≈ 3.4% of the total volume of the Bay. Over half of the ballast water discharged had a coastwise origin, 96% being from US waters. Galveston Bay has fewer non-indigenous species but receives a higher volume of ballast water discharge, relative to the highly invaded Chesapeake and San Francisco Bays. Given the magnitude of shipping traffic, the role of Galveston Bay, both as a recipient and donor region of non-indigenous phytoplankton species is discussed here in terms of the invasibility risk to this system by way of ballast water.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oceanography, Texas A&M University, 3146 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843, USA. jls4513@tamu.edu
authors.forename: Jamie L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Steichen
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Windham
authors.forename: Robin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Brinkmeyer
authors.forename: Antonietta
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Quigg
mesh_terms: D061006:Bays; D017753:Ecosystem; D058865:Introduced Species; D010839:Phytoplankton / Q000502:physiology*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012623:Seawater / Q000032:analysis; D012767:Ships; D013781:Texas; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid