RMP

NOV 08

Improving Benthic Assessment Tools for the

San Francisco Estuary

Aroon Melwani, Sarah Lowe, and Bruce Thompson

RMP Exposure and Effects WorkgroupMarch 11th 2010, Oakland, California

Benthic Workshops

• Workshops held June 3rd and August 24th, 2009• Collaboration with SQO Phase II in the Delta

• Long Term Goal: revise/develop benthic assessment methods for several SF Estuary and Delta assemblages

• Immediate Goals: – Review spatial and temporal extent of benthic

assemblages in the SF Estuary – Develop BPJ and update mesohaline benthic

index

Applicable RMP Management QuestionsMQ 1. Are chemical concentrations in the Estuary

potentially at levels of concern and are associated impacts likely?

Specific Benthos Question from 5 Year Plan:

• Are the toxicity tests, benthic community assessment approaches, and the overall SQO assessment framework we are using reliable indicators of impacts on benthic biota?

2009 – Assemblage Classification• Identified benthic assemblages in San Francisco Estuary

– Updated/standardized SF Estuary benthic data and habitat data– Classification analysis conducted by SCCWRP

• General agreement by WG on benthic assemblage classification in the Estuary

• Classification analysis did not reveal any major surprises• Based on these results, samples were selected for BPJ

• Classification analysis incomplete (Draft technical report coming in next few months)

Would be good to adjust the spacing between paragraphs so it is less and you can fit all bullets with consistent spacing

2009 - Best Professional Judgment• BPJ conducted to identify benthic response gradients,

to support index validation in two Estuary assemblages– Collaboration with the SQO Delta – also performed limnetic BJP– 8 experts reviewed mesohaline benthic data– 7 experts reviewed limnetic benthic data

• Results to be discussed with the expert panel in late-March– Preliminary results suggest agreement among experts not as

close as for polyhaline habitats– Some experts were outliers

• Draft technical report 85% done – Will be distributed in April after panel discussion

A bjp typo here

2010 – Index DevelopmentContinued Participation in SQO assessments for

the SF Estuary ($30K)

• Task 1 : Revision of mesohaline index for San Francisco Estuary– Use BPJ gradient– Examine existing indices and combination of common

benthic metrics– Guidance from BPJ experts and Benthic Workgroup

• Task 2 : Two benthic workgroup meetings will be held: April 2010 and summer 2010

• Task 3 : Develop RMP capabilities to perform SQO assessments

• Deliverables: 1) A technical report will be drafted on the mesohaline index work; 2) A status report on Benthic WG progress

“participation” sounds passive – aren’t we leading?

QUESTIONS

RMP

NOV 08

Developing a Multi-Year Plan for Evaluating Effects on Benthos

Aroon Melwani, Sarah Lowe, and Bruce Thompson

RMP Exposure and Effects WorkgroupMarch 11th 2010, Oakland, California

Multi-Year Planning Process

Study Development by RMP Staff

RMP Benthic Workgroup

Exposure and Effects Workgroup

Technical Review Committee

Steering Committee

Causes of Sediment Toxicity

Causes of Benthic Impacts

SQO Triad Understanding and

Interpretation

RMP Management Questions 1 and 2ECOLOGICAL CONDITION OF

SAN FRANCISCO BAY SEDIMENTS

Amphipod Dose

Response Experiments

Amphipod TIE’s For Organics

Identifying San Francisco Bay Benthic

Assemblages

Factors Related to

Benthic Impacts

Bivalve TIE’s For Metals

RMP Sediment Effects Studies

Sediment Quality Triad at Toxic Sites

Further Development of TIE’s for Toxic Sites

Identify Toxicity and

Benthic Gradients

Multi-Year Plan• Framework for Evaluating the Ecological Condition of San Francisco Bay

• Uncolored = information sought through this framework

• Green = previous or current work

• Blue = future plans

Potential New Studies

• 2011 – Improving tool development for SQOs

• Chemistry Score Index (CSI)• Refining SQO assessments for SF Estuary

– Benthic workgroup to develop strategy for identifying causes of benthic impacts

• Discuss current knowledge and data gaps• Develop hypotheses for benthic impact studies in support of

SQOs• Opportunity for interactions with RMP Sed Tox WG• Goal: A 2012 study proposal with input from expert scientists in

the region

Potential New Studies

• 2012 and Beyond– Causes of Benthic Impacts (in-situ, benthic mesocosm

studies)• SQO assessments categorize sites by relative sediment impact

but do not identify causes

– Sediment Quality Assessment of targeted toxic hot spots previously identified in San Francisco Bay by BPTCP

– Benthic Taxonomy Standards and Outreach • Taxonomic resource to SQO efforts in SF Estuary • Develop online tools in support of local taxonomy needs

Would be good to bring it back to the multi-year budget table at the end. I’ll attach a copy of the Word file that you can play with.