A Rehabilitated Estuarine Ecosystem: The environment and ecology of the Thames Estuary

257 Pages·1998·5.954 MB·English

by  Jim Green (auth.), Martin J. Attrill (eds.)

A Rehabilitated Estuarine Ecosystem
A Rehabilitated
Estuarine Ecosystem
The environment and ecology of
the Thames Estuary
Edited by Martin J. Attrill
Department of Biological Sciences,
University of Plymouth,
Plymouth, UK
...
"
SPRINGER SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, LLC
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Card Number: 98-70273
ISBN 978-1-4613-4671-5 ISBN 978-1-4419-8708-2 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-4419-8708-2
AH Rights Reserved
© 1998 Springer Science+Business Media New York
Originally published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 1998
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1s t edition 1998
No part of material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and
retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright owner.
Contents
Contributors Xl
Acknowledgements xiv
1 Introduction 1
Jim Green
1.1 The Thamesestuary: a personalview 1
1.2 Cleaningup the Thamesand the role ofthis book 2
2 TheThames estuary: ahistoryof the impactof
humans on the environmentand a descriptionof
the currentapproach to environmentalmanagement 5
DerekTinsley
2.1 Introduction 5
2.2 Definitionofthestudyarea 6
2.3 Basicdescriptionofthe Thamesestuary 7
2.3.1 Widthand depth 7
2.3.2 Freshwaterinputs 8
2.3.3 Currentuse ofthe estuary 8
2.3.4 Estuaryhabitats 9
2.4 The Thamesestuarybefore1800 9
2.4.1 Methodology 9
2.4.2 The estuaryenvironmentbefore1800 10
2.4.3 The presenceand abundanceofestuarine
organismsbefore1800 10
2.5 Ahistoryofthe impactofhumanson the
environment (1800to the presentday) 11
2.5.1 Waterquality 11
2.5.2 The declinein waterqualityin the
nineteenthcentury 11
2.5.3 Interceptorsewersfor Londonand chemical
treatmentofthe sewage 12
2.5.4 The declinein waterqualityin the
twentiethcentury 13
2.5.5 The PippardReportand the WaterPollution
Research Laboratorystudy 14
vi Contents
2.5.6 TheRoyal Commissionon EnvironmentalPollution
(Third Report) 15
2.6 Water quality managementduring the Thames
Water Authorityera 16
2.6.1 Water qualityobjectives 16
2.6.2 Apollutionbudgetfor dissolved oxygen 18
2.6.3 Improved waterqualityresultingfrom
bettersewagetreatment 19
2.6.4 The threatto waterqualityfrom storm
discharges 19
2.6.5 Controloftoxic,non-biodegradable
substances 20
2.7 Habitatloss as aresultofflood defencework
and land-claim 20
2.8 The currentapproach to environmental
management 21
2.8.1 Water qualitymanagement 21
2.8.2 Operatingagreementsbetweenthe EA,
ThamesRegionand ThamesWater 25
2.8.3 The currentapproach to habitat
management 25
3 Physicaland chemical characteristics 27
JaneKinniburgh
3.1 Introduction 27
3.2 Physicalcharacteristics 27
3.2.1 Topography 27
3.2.2 Water levels 28
3.2.3 Water movements 30
3.2.4 Freshwaterflow 30
3.2.5 Temperature 33
3.2.6 Suspended solids 35
3.3 Chemicalcharacteristics 37
3.3.1 Salinity 37
3.3.2 Dissolvedoxygen 40
3.3.3 Nutrients 45
3.3.4 Dangeroussubstances 46
3.4 Modelling47
3.5 Summary48
4 The algae of the Thames estuary: areappraisal 49
Ian TittleyandDavidJohn
4.1 Introduction 49
4.1.1 Backgound 49
4.1.2 Benthic algalhabitatsin the tidalestuary 50
Contents vii
4.2 The presentreappraisal 51
4.2.1 Method 51
4.3 The algalflora by habitat 53
4.3.1 Marineto brackish-waterreaches 53
4.3.2 Freshwatertidalreach 54
4.4 Seasonality 55
4.5 Changesin occurrenceand distribution 57
4.6 Distributionalong the estuary 58
4.7 Futurestudies 64
4.8 Conclusion 65
5 Thezooplankton communities of theThames estuary 67
Chris Gordon, AnthonyBarkandRoland Bailey
5.1 Introduction 67
5.2 The currentstudyon the zooplanktonofthe
Thamesestuary 68
5.3 Compositionofthe zooplankton 70
5.3.1 Protozoa,Cnidaria,Ctenophoraand
Rotifera 70
5.3.2 Cladocera 71
5.3.3 Copepoda 71
5.3.4 Mysidacea 71
5.3.5 Amphipoda 72
5.4 Spatialand temporaldistributionsofthe
majorgroups 72
5.4.1 Eurytemoraaffinis 72
5.4.2 Gammaruszaddachi 73
5.4.3 Neomysisinteger 73
5.4.4 Cyclopoids 75
5.5 Changes in dominanceofmajorspecies 75
5.6 Verticaland lateraldistributions 79
5.7 Comparisonwith zooplankton communities
in otherestuaries 81
5.8 Zooplanktonfunctioning 82
5.8.1 Zooplanktonfeeding 82
5.8.2 Zooplankton asfood organisms 83
5.8.3 Otherobservations 84
5.9 Conclusions 84
6 Thebenthic macroinvertebratecommunities ofthe
Thamesestuary 85
MartinAttrill
6.1 Introduction 85
6.2 ThamesEstuary Benthic Programme 86
6.3 The Thamesdivided 86
Vlll Contents
6.4 Benthicmacroinvertebrates- zoneby zone 88
6.4.1 Zone1:Teddingtonto LondonBridge 88
6.4.2 Zone2:LondonBridgeto Crossness 94
6.4.3 Zone3:Crossnessto Gravesend 98
6.4.4 Zone4:OuterEstuaryI 101
6.4.5 Zone5:OuterEstuaryII 110
6.5 Conclusions 112
7 Temporal changes inthemovements and abundance of Thames
estuaryfish populations 115
MylesThomas
7.1 Introduction 115
7.2 Samplingmethod 116
7.3 Speciesnumbers 119
7.4 Diversity 121
7.5 Speciesabundance 122
7.5.1 Flounder 122
7.5.2 Sole 124
7.5.3 Whiting 124
7.5.4 Bass 125
7.5.5 Sandgoby 126
7.5.6 Herring 126
7.5.7 Smelt 128
7.5.8 Salmon 128
7.6 Communitycomposition 129
7.6.1 Speciesdendrogram 132
7.7 Trawlingmethod 132
7.7.1 Method 134
7.7.2 Results 136
7.8 Summary138
8 Host-parasiteinteractions: case studies of parasitic
infectionsin migratoryfish 141
Margaret Munro,Phillip WhitfieldandSteveLee
8.1 Introduction 141
8.2 The intestinalfish helminthPomphorhynchus laevis 143
8.2.1 Introduction 143
8.2.2 Infection patternsin the intermediatehost 145
8.2.3 The range ofdefinitive hostspecies 148
8.2.4 Infectionpatternsin flounder 150
8.2.5 Acomparisonofinfectionsin flounder
andsmelt 152
8.2.6 Pathogenicityto estuarinefish 155
8.3 Virus-associated spawningpapillomatosisin smelt 157
Contents IX
8.3.1 Introduction 157
8.3.2 Morphologyand ultrastructure 158
8.3.3 Epidemiology 159
8.4 Otherparasitesofmigratoryfish 163
8.5 Summaryand conclusions 165
9 TheThames estuarysaltmarshplantandsea-grass
communities 169
Stephen Waite
9.1 Introduction 169
9.2 Saltmarshdevelopment 170
9.3 Intertidalseagrasscommunities 172
9.4 Saltmarshvascularplantsand communities 175
9.5 The originand spread ofSpartina 177
9.6 Regionalsaltmarshcommunities 179
9.7 Saltmarshvegetationofthe greaterThames 186
10 Estuaries: towards the nextcentury 191
AlasdairMcIntyre
10.1 Introduction 191
10.2 Earlyworkon estuaries 193
10.3 Concernsfor thefuture 195
Appendices 199
A Summaryofdatafor selected sites alongthe
Thamesestuary 199
B Thamesestuaryspecieslist 200
References 235
Index 245
Contributors
DrMartinJ.Attrill DrDavidJohn
DepartmentofBiological Sciences BotanyDepartment
UniversityofPlymouth The NaturalHistory Museum
DrakeCircus CromwellRoad
PlymouthPL48AA LondonSW7SBD
UK UK
DrR.G. Bailey Jane Kinniburgh
DivisionofLifeSciences EnvironmentAgency
King's College Rivers House
University ofLondon WatersideDrive
CampdenHill Road Aztec West
LondonW87AH Almondsbury
UK Bristol BS124UD
UK
DrA.W. Bark
Division ofLifeSciences DrSteve Lee
King'sCollege Division ofLifeSciences
University ofLondon King'sCollege
Campden Hill Road University ofLondon
LondonW87AH CampdenHill Road
UK LondonW87AH
UK
DrChris Gordon
VoltaBasinResearch Project ProfessorAlasdairMcIntyre
University ofGhana 63HamiltonPlace
Legan AberdeenAB1SSBW
Ghana UK
ProfessorJim Green DrMargaretMunro
17King EdwardsGrove Division ofLifeSciences
Teddington,MiddlesexTW119LY King'sCollege
UK UniversityofLondon
CampdenHill Road
LondonW87AH
UK
xii Contributors
R.MylesThomas DrStephenWhite
EnvironmentAgency Biology Section
ApolloCourt UniversityofBrighton
2BishopsSquareBusinessPark CockcroftBuilding
StAlbans Road West Moulsecoombe
Hatfield, HertfordshireALIO9EX BrightonBN24GJ
UK UK
DrDerekTinsley ProfessorPhilWhitfield
National Centre for Ecotoxicology Head: DivisionofLifeSciences
and HazardousSubstances King'sCollege
EnvironmentAgency UniversityofLondon
EvenlodeHouse CampdenHill Road
HowberyPark London W87AH
Wallingford UK
Oxfordshire
OXI08BD
UK
IanTitHey
BotanyDepartment
The NaturalHistoryMuseum
CromwellRoad
LondonSW7SBD
UK