Benthic Community and Bivalve Metrics Data in the Sacramento - San Joaquin Delta from 2015 to 2018

Dates

Start Date: 2015
End Date: 2018
Publication Date: 2020-06-26

Citation

Shrader, K.H., Zierdt Smith, E.L, Parchaso, F., Thompson, J.K., 2020, Benthic Community and Bivalve Metrics Data in the Sacramento - San Joaquin Delta from 2015 to 2018: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9JJOL3W.

Summary

Declining phytoplankton biomass and the resulting stress on the food web has been suggested as one contributor to the decline of Delta Smelt and other fish species in the San Francisco Bay (SFB) and the Sacramento San Joaquin River Delta. Filter feeding by two species of bivalves, Corbicula fluminea and Potamocorbula amurensis, has been shown to control phytoplankton growth rate in the SFB and Delta and both are thought to be partially responsible for the reduction in food for pelagic species. Phytoplankton growth rate is dependent on spatially and temporally varying nutrient concentrations, light availability, transport time, and pelagic and benthic grazing losses. Bivalve grazing has the potential to limit primary production at phytoplankton [...]

Summary

Declining phytoplankton biomass and the resulting stress on the food web has been suggested as one contributor to the decline of Delta Smelt and other fish species in the San Francisco Bay (SFB) and the Sacramento San Joaquin River Delta. Filter feeding by two species of bivalves, Corbicula fluminea and Potamocorbula amurensis, has been shown to control phytoplankton growth rate in the SFB and Delta and both are thought to be partially responsible for the reduction in food for pelagic species.
Phytoplankton growth rate is dependent on spatially and temporally varying nutrient concentrations, light availability, transport time, and pelagic and benthic grazing losses. Bivalve grazing has the potential to limit primary production at phytoplankton source locations and to limit effective connectivity of habitats by grazing in the conduits that connect different habitats. It is important to determine the factors that control the success of each species of bivalve if we are to understand when and where the pelagic food web is most affected by bivalve grazing. Therefore, we need to protect, build, or restore habitat that is likely to produce phytoplankton for local consumption and export.
Benthic communities are a good monitor of acutely and chronically stressful environments because they are stationary, accumulate contaminants, and respond to low and high phytoplankton biomass. Changes in the benthic community structure occur normally, and benthic species distributions are dependent on the physical habitat (substrate and depth), physiological limits, and predators. Therefore, seasonal and interannual differences in freshwater flow result in both seasonal and episodic changes in species abundance and community composition.
The Sacramento Watershed has experienced below normal rainfall and dry conditions with sporadic wet years for the past decade. However, heavy rainfall in water year 2017 (October 2016 to September 2017) ended a five-year drought and set the record for California’s wettest year since 1983. The severity and duration of a potential change in the benthic community as a result of this increase in freshwater is still unknown, yet it is unlikely for such a drastic change in salinity as this to go unnoticed.

Contacts

Originator :: Kelly H Shrader, Emily L Zierdt Smith, Francis Parchaso, Janet K McHendrie
Point of Contact :: Kelly H Shrader
Metadata Contact :: Kelly H Shrader
Publisher :: U.S. Geological Survey
Distributor :: U.S. Geological Survey - ScienceBase
USGS Mission Area :: Water Resources
SDC Data Owner :: Office of the Chief Operating Officer

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Delta_SpeciesNamesReview.xlsx		18.36 KB	application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet
Metadata_DeltaDataRelease_final.xml Original FGDC Metadata	View	41.36 KB	application/fgdc+xml
T10_Delta2018_Benthic_final.xlsx		274.71 KB	application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet
T1_Delta_DataDictionary_final.xlsx		21.16 KB	application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet
T2_Delta_SpeciesList_final.xlsx		16.4 KB	application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet
T3_Delta2015_BioRecGR_final.xlsx		103.31 KB	application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet
T4_Delta2015_Benthic_final.xlsx		69.11 KB	application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet
T5_Delta2016_BioRecGR_final.xlsx		22.86 KB	application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet
T6_Delta2016_Benthic_final.xlsx		60.85 KB	application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet
T7_Delta2017_BioRecGR_final.xlsx		57.68 KB	application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet
T8_Delta2017_Benthic_final.xlsx		319.53 KB	application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet
T9_Delta2018_BioRecGR_Final.xlsx		33.9 KB	application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet

Purpose

Our primary objective is to extend our knowledge of the ecological function of the filter feeding bivalves in the system and to use this information to inform managers about the risks of, and possible solutions for, the bivalves in restoration sites. We want to understand the loss of phytoplankton to the bivalves as water moves among and between habitats in the Delta, specifically in potential restorations sites, such as the Cache Slough/Liberty Island complex (CSC). We will do this by examining the extent to which bivalve grazing exerts top-down control on system productivity in shallow water, wetlands, and channel environments, and the connection between habitats, and how, in turn, bivalve populations may be affected by, and reflect, environmental conditions.

Benthic Community and Bivalve Metrics Data in the Sacramento - San Joaquin Delta from 2015 to 2018

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