Author:
Paerl Hans W.,Bales Jerad D.,Ausley Larry W.,Buzzelli Christopher P.,Crowder Larry B.,Eby Lisa A.,Fear John M.,Go Malia,Peierls Benjamin L.,Richardson Tammi L.,Ramus Joseph S.
Abstract
Three sequential hurricanes, Dennis, Floyd, and Irene,
affected coastal North Carolina in September and October 1999. These
hurricanes inundated the region with up to 1 m of rainfall,
causing 50- to 500-year flooding in the watershed of the Pamlico Sound,
the largest lagoonal estuary in the United States and a key West
Atlantic fisheries nursery. We investigated the ecosystem-level impacts
on and responses of the Sound to the floodwater discharge. Floodwaters
displaced three-fourths of the volume of the Sound, depressed salinity
by a similar amount, and delivered at least half of the typical annual
nitrogen load to this nitrogen-sensitive ecosystem. Organic carbon
concentrations in floodwaters entering Pamlico Sound via a major
tributary (the Neuse River Estuary) were at least 2-fold higher than
concentrations under prefloodwater conditions. A cascading set of
physical, chemical, and ecological impacts followed, including strong
vertical stratification, bottom water hypoxia, a sustained increase in
algal biomass, displacement of many marine organisms, and a rise in
fish disease. Because of the Sound's long residence time (≈1 year),
we hypothesize that the effects of the short-term nutrient enrichment
could prove to be multiannual. A predicted increase in the frequency of
hurricane activity over the next few decades may cause longer-term
biogeochemical and trophic changes in this and other estuarine and
coastal habitats.
Publisher
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
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