The estuarine quality paradox concept

Elliott, Michael; Quintino, Victor

Abstract

© 2019 Elsevier B.V. Estuaries have long been regarded as environmentally naturally stressed areas because of the high degree of variability in their physico-chemical characteristics, for example, oxygen, temperature, and salinity in the water column and bed sediment dynamics. However, their biota is well-adapted to cope with that stress and so the areas may be regarded as resilient because of that inherent variability; their ability to absorb stress without adverse effects is regarded here as environmental homeostasis. Hence these areas may only be regarded as stressful for marine or freshwater-adapted organisms which are not tolerant of the variability and that for estuarine organisms this environmental stress is regarded as a subsidy, that is, something which gives them benefits such as a lower degree of competition, whereby they successfully capitalize on the otherwise stressful conditions. This stress-subsidy continuum has resulted in a classical set of characteristics in the faunal and floral communities such as for population sizes, community diversity, and the relationship between abundance and biomass. Therefore, using examples of the estuarine fauna and flora, this article indicates that the characteristics of natural stress in estuaries are similar to those for anthropogenic stress. In classical terms this indicates the change from k-strategists common in marine and unpolluted areas to r-strategists in estuaries and in polluted and degraded conditions. Because of this, an over-reliance on ecosystem structural features, such as diversity, in quality indicators therefore makes the detection of the anthropogenic stress more difficult. This difficulty is termed the Estuarine Quality Paradox which requires to be considered in any quality assessment and management decisions in an estuary. Because of these difficulties, this article argues that functional characteristics either as well as or rather than structural ones should be used in detecting environmental perturbations in estuaries.

Citation

Elliott, M., & Quintino, V. (2019). The estuarine quality paradox concept. In B. Fath (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Ecology, v.1 (78-85). (2nd ed.). Amsterdam: Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-409548-9.11054-1

• Online Publication Date: Sep 18, 2018
• Publication Date: 2019
• Deposit Date: May 27, 2022
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Pages: 78-85
• Edition: 2nd ed.
• Book Title: Encyclopedia of Ecology, v.1
• ISBN: 9780444637680
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-409548-9.11054-1
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/3439781