An index (EQUATION* Estuarine QUAlity and condiTION) is presented for integrated evaluation of estuarine quality, based on an aggregation of four di!erent components: vulnerability, measuring the physical capacity of the system to react to change, water quality, which examines trophic status and eutrophication aspects, sediment quality, which looks at the sediments and benthic fauna, and tropho...

Microbial ecosystems are often assumed to be relatively stable over short periods of time, but this assumption is seldom tested. An urban stream influenced by both flow and varying levels of anthropogenic influences is expected to have high temporal variability in microbial composition, and short-term ecological instability. Thus, we analyzed the bacterioplankton composition of a weir-fragmente...

Trace metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni and Pb) concentrations in benthic sediments were analyzed through multi-step fractionation scheme to assess the levels and sources of contamination in estuarine, riverine and freshwater ecosystems in Niger Delta (Nigeria). The degree of contamination was assessed using the individual contamination factors (ICF) and global contamination factor (GCF). Multivariate sta...

The term environmental flows has become widely used to define the hydrological regime required to sustain freshwater and estuarine ecosystems and the human livelihoods and well-being that depend on them. A large range of frameworks and methods has been developed to assess environmental flow needs and many authors have identified subtleties in the approaches needed for different situations and r...

Many anthropogenic activities physically disturb urbanised coastal habitats. The functional response of ecosystems to physical disturbances remains largely unknown due to the lack of suitable quantitative tools for assessing impacts. We conducted a manipulative field experiment to investigate the short-term (i.e. temporally sensitive) response of estuarine sandflat trophodynamics to pulse anthr...

Mangrove and saltmarsh communities are essential components of estuarine ecosystems on the NSW south coast. Globally, projected sea level rise under IPCC climate scenarios pose a significant threat to the survival of mangrove and saltmarsh ecosystems. The resilience of mangrove and saltmarsh to the impacts of sea-level rise is dependent upon the maintenance of their elevation with respect to ri...

In natural waterways and estuaries, the understanding of turbulent mixing is critical to the knowledge of sediment transport, stormwater runoff during flood events, and release of nutrient-rich wastewater into ecosystems. In the present study, some field measurements were conducted in a small subtropical estuary with micro-tidal range and semi-diurnal tides during king tide conditions: i.e., th...

The herbicide bentazon (CASRN 25057-89-0) is extensively used in agriculture in Brittany (France) to replace atrazine. Bentazon is not readily adsorbed by soil and therefore it enters adjacent freshwater ecosystems, making its way to estuarine and marine waters areas. Information regarding its effects on marine ecosystems is scarce. Phytotoxicity assessments were conducted in the laboratory on ...