Journal
MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN
Volume 120, Issue 1-2, Pages 109-116Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.04.023
Keywords
Coral reefs; Sewage; Stable nitrogen isotopes; Porites sp.; Eutrophication
Funding
- Research Grants Council of Hong Kong, Early Career Scheme (RGC-ECS) [789913]
- Hong Kong Environment and Conservation Fund (ECF) [2013-04]
- US National Science Foundation [NSF-OCE 1418673]
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We investigated the potential of coral skeleton delta N-15 (CS-delta N-15) records for tracking anthropogenic-N sources in coral reef ecosystems. We produced a 56 yr-long CS-delta N-15 record (1958-2014) from a reef flat in Guam that has been exposed to varying 1) levels of sewage treatment 2) population density, and 3) land use. Increasing population density (from < 30 to 300 ind.km(-2)) and land use changes in the watershed resulted in a similar to 1 parts per thousand enrichment of the CS-delta N-15 record until a sewage treatment plant (STP) started operation in 1975. Then, CS-delta N-15 stabilized, despite continued population density and land use changes. Based on population and other considerations, a continued increase in the sewage footprint might have been expected over this time. The stability of CS-delta N-15, either contradicts this expectation, or indicates that the impacts on the outer reef at the coring site were buffered by the mixing of reef water with the open ocean.
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