A functioning, resilient Puget Sound ecosystem is defined to include marine sediment quality that supports functioning, healthy communities of sediment-dwelling invertebrates. The sediment (gravel, sand, silt, and clay) on the floor of Puget Sound forms a unique habitat that is home to clams, marine worms, burrowing shrimp, bottom-dwelling fish, and thousands of other unique species. In turn, these animals form a critical part of the marine food web, are instrumental in mixing and oxygenating the sediments, and they process the sediments allowing nutrients to cycle between the sediments and the overlying waters.
The Marine Sediment Quality Vital Sign tells us about the level and toxicity of chemical contaminants in Puget Sound sediment and the ability of this bottom habitat to support aquatic life. The Vital Sign also helps understand whether efforts to reduce pollutants to marine waters are effective.
While there are sediments burdened with chemical contaminants in some locations in Puget Sound, we know that other environmental pressures, including those associated with climate change, ocean acidification, and nutrient loading, are affecting the composition of sediment-dwelling biota. Declines occurring in invertebrate community condition despite low and declining sediment contaminant levels point to the influence from these other pressures. Revisions have been made to the Puget Sound Sediment Monitoring Program to better understand these relationships, and revisions to the Marine Sediment Quality Vital Signs that reflect these additional sediment quality stressors are currently under development.
VITAL SIGN INDICATOR | PROGRESS | STATUS |
---|
VITAL SIGN INDICATOR | PROGRESS | STATUS |
---|
Recent measurements from an expanded suite of Puget Sound Sediment Monitoring Program parameters indicate:
Three decades of monitoring sediment chemistry, toxicity, and benthic invertebrates indicate: