Data Management Plan (Deprecated)

The toxicity of sediments in Sabine Lake, Texas, and adjoining Intracoastal Waterway canals was determined as part of bioeffects assessment studies managed by NOAA's National Status and Trends Program. The study area encompassed all of Sabine Lake, portions of the Sabine River, portions of the Neches River, portions of the Neches-Sabine Canal at the confluence of the two rivers, portions of Sabine Pass channel entrance, and an area in the Gulf of Mexico near the entrance channel. A stratified-random sampling design similar to those used in previous surveys conducted nationwide by NOAA was applied in Sabine Lake. The study area was subdivided into 22 irregular-shaped strata. Strata established within channels were further subdivided into three substrata to improve spatial coverage. Only one location each was sampled within each substratum, whereas three locations were sampled in each of the larger undivided strata.Surficial sediment samples were collected during August, 1995 from 66 randomly-chosen locations. Laboratory toxicity tests were performed as indicators of potential ecotoxicological effects in sediments. A battery of tests was performed to generate information from different phases (components) of the sediments. Tests were selected to represent a range in toxicological endpoints from acute to chronic sublethal responses. Toxicological tests were conducted to measure: reduced survival of adult amphipods exposed to solid-phase sediments; impaired fertilization success and abnormal morphological development in gametes and embryos, respectively, of sea urchins exposed to pore waters; reduced metabolic activity of a marine bioluminescent bacteria exposed to organic solvent extracts; and induction of a cytochrome P-450 reporter gene system in exposures to solvent extracts of the sediments.Chemical analyses were performed on portions of each sample to quantify the concentrations of trace metals, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, and chlorinated organic compounds. Correlation analyses were conducted to determine the relationships between measures of toxicity and concentrations of potentially toxic substances in the samples.The full report is available online at http://www.ccma.nos.noaa.gov/about/coast/nsandt/musselmethods.aspx

Process Steps:

• 1995-01-01 00:00:00 - DATA ACQUISITION/FIELD SAMPLING Sediment sampling procedures are described in the report available for download at http://ccma.nos.noaa.gov/about/coast/nsandt/download.aspx DATA PREPARATION AND SAMPLE PROCESSING Fields are arranged as follows: Sample Type; Field Holding; Lab Storage; Max Holding SEDIMENT Organic contaminants; Wet ice (4C); Freezer (-20C); 1 year Inorganic contaminants; Wet ice (4C); Freezer (-20C); 1 year Total organic Carbon; Wet ice (4C); Freezer (-20C); 1 year Grain size; Wet ice; (4C); Refrigerated (4C); 1 year TOXICITY BIOASSAY Whole sediment and porewater bioassays; Wet ice (4C); Refrigerated (4C); 2 weeks Organic extract (P450 and Microtox); Wet ice (4C); Freezer (-20C); 1 year BENTHOS Taxonomy; 10% buffered formalin; Transfer to 70% ethanol; Indefinitely
• Chemicals with similar structural properties were summed and reported as "Totals" in addition to their individual measured concentrations. The components of these totals are as follows: Total DDT = sum of concentrations of ortho and para forms of parent and metabolites 2,4'DDE; 4,4'DDE; 2,4'DDD; 4,4'DDD; 2,4'DDT and 4,4'DDT. Total Chlordane = sum of concentrations of four compounds alpha-chlordane, trans-nonachlor, heptachlor, heptachlorepoxide. Total Dieldrin = sum of concentrations of two compounds aldrin and dieldrin. Total Butyl tin = sum of concentrations of parent compound and metabolites monobutyltin, dibutyltin, tributyltin, tetrabutyltin [concentrations are in terms of tin]. Total PCB = the sum of the concentrations of eighteen congeners: PCB8, PCB18, PCB28, PCB44, PCB52, PCB66, PCB101, PCB105, PCB118, PCB128, PCB138, PCB153, PCB170, PCB180, PCB187, PCB195, PCB206, and PCB209. Total low molecular weight (lmw) PAHs = sum of concentrations of twelve 2- and 3-ring PAH compounds: naphthalene, 2-methylnaphthalene, 1-methylnaphthalene, biphenyl, 2,6-dimethylnaphthalene, acenaphthene, acenaphthylene, 1,6,7-trimehtylnaphthalene, fluorine, phenanthrene, 1-methylphenanthrene, and anthracene. Total high molecular weight (hmw) PAHs = sum of concentrations of twelve 4-and more-ring PAH compounds: fluoranthene, pyrene, benz[a]anthracene, chrysene, benzo[b]fluorantene, benzo[k]fluoranthene, benzo[e]pyrene, benzo[a]pyrene, perylene, dibenzathracene, indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene, and benzo[ahi]perylene. Total PAH = low molecular weight PAHs plus high molecular weigh PAHs (sum of 24 PAH compound concentrations). Several numerical indices were chosen for analysis and interpretation of the macroinfaunal data. Infaunal abundance is reported as the total number of individuals per station and the total number of individuals per square meter (= density). Taxa richness is reported as the number of taxa represented in a given site location. Taxa diversity, which is often related to the ecological stability and environmental "quality" of the benthos, was estimated by the Shannon-Weiner Index (Shannon and Weaver, 1949). In order to quantify and compare the equitability in the fauna to the taxa diversity for a given area, Pielou's Evenness Index J' (Pielou, 1966) was calculated as J' = H'/lnS, where lnS = H'max, or the maximum possible diversity, when all taxa are represented by the same number of individuals; thus, J' = H' /H' max.
• Project Related References:Pielou, E.C. 1966. The Measurement of Diversity in Different Types of Biological Collections. J. Theoretical Biology 13:131-144.Shannon, L.C. and W. Weaver. 1949. The Mathematical Theory of Communication. Univ. of Illinois Press, Urbana, Ill. 117 p.