Limited Influence of Urban Stormwater Runoff on Salt Marsh Platform and Marsh Creek Oxygen Dynamics in Coastal Georgia.
Oxygen concentrations and oxygen utilization rates were monitored continuously for 23 months on marsh platforms and in small tidal creeks at two sites in coastal Georgia, USA, that receive urban stormwater runoff via an extensive network of drainage canals. These data were compared to nearby control sites that receive no significant surface runoff. Overall, rainfall and runoff per se were not associated with differences in the oxygen dynamics among the different locations. Because of the large tidal range and long tidal excursions in coastal Georgia, localized inputs of stormwater runoff are rapidly mixed with large volumes of ambient water. Oxygen concentrations in tidal creeks and on flooded marsh platforms were driven primarily by balances of respiration and photosynthesis in the surrounding regional network of marshes and open estuarine waters. Local respiration, while measurable, was of relatively minor importance in determining oxygen concentrations in tidal floodwaters. Water residence time on the marshes could explain differences in oxygen concentration between the runoff-influenced and control sites.
Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, University of Georgia, 10 Ocean Science Circle, Savannah, GA, 31411, USA. william.savidge@skio.uga.edu.
William B
WB
Savidge
Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, University of Georgia, 10 Ocean Science Circle, Savannah, GA, 31411, USA.|Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, University of Georgia, 7 Goldfinch Court E, Savannah, GA, 31419, USA.
Jonathan
J
Brink
Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, University of Georgia, 10 Ocean Science Circle, Savannah, GA, 31411, USA.
Jackson O
JO
Blanton
D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D063366:Estuaries; D055868:Floods; D005845:Georgia; D010100:Oxygen / Q000032:analysis*; D014872:Water Movements; D053833:Wetlands
D010100:Oxygen
Estuary; Hypoxia; Runoff; Salt marsh; Stormwater; Tidal creeks
Arch Environ Contam Toxicol. 1999 Nov;37(4):458-71
10508893
Arch Environ Contam Toxicol. 1999 Nov;37(4):445-57
10508892
Environ Monit Assess. 2009 Dec;159(1-4):475-91
19067207
Mar Pollut Bull. 2009 Jan;58(1):97-106
18922549
Water Res. 2010 Sep;44(16):4704-15
20673947
Environ Monit Assess. 2003 Jan-Feb;81(1-3):85-95
12620007
Arch Environ Contam Toxicol. 2011 Oct;61(3):461-71
21221963
Arch Environ Contam Toxicol. 2005 Oct;49(3):362-70
16132419