Journal
MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN
Volume 150, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.110602
Keywords
Biotic index; Benthic communities; Ecological health; Environmental status; Sedimentation; Contaminants
Funding
- Massey University through the Oranga Taiao Oranga Tangata research programme [MAUX1502]
- New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) through the Oranga Taiao Oranga Tangata research programme [MAUX1502]
- Cawthron Institute's Internal Investment Fund
- National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research's Strategic Science Investment Fund
- New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment (MBIE) [MAUX1502] Funding Source: New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment (MBIE)
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New Zealand has a complex coastal environment spanning a large latitudinal gradient and three water masses. Here we assess whether multivariate analyses of benthic macrofaunal community composition can be a sensitive approach to assessing relative estuarine health across the country, negating the need for regional indices and reducing reliance on reference sites. Community data were used in separate canonical analyses of principal coordinates to create multivariate models of community responses to gradients in mud content and heavy metal contamination. Both models performed well (R-2 = 0.81, 0.71), and were unaffected by regional and estuarine typology differences. The models demonstrate a sensitive and standardized approach to assessing estuarine health that allowed separation of the two stressors. This approach could be applied to other stressors, countries or regions.
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