Coastal Indicators
Estuarine Indicators
Estuarine conditions are typically assessed through the use of biological indicators such as plankton abundance, benthic community structure, fish community analysis, and the incidence of disease or other pathologies in fish. The presence of stressors is evaluated by assessing water quality parameters, sediment contamination and toxicity, and the presence of contaminants in fish tissue. These stressor indicators are used to interpret the most likely cause of observed poor condition in biological indicators. The core EMAP coastal indicators are listed below.
Water Column | Sediments | Fish and Invertebrate Trawls |
Dissolved oxygen
Salinity, temperature, depth
PH
Nutrients
Chlorophyll | Grain size
Total organic carbon
Sediment chemistry
Benthic community structure
Sediment toxicity | Community structure
External pathology
Tissue analyses |
List of the chemical analytes for sediment and tissue samples
For details on collection and analysis methods, quantitation limits, and quality assurance requirements, see the most recent Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) (PDF) (202 pp. 1MB).
Intertidal Sampling
As sampling in intertidal areas is somewhat different than other estuarine sampling, the West Coast Field Sampling Methods for Intertidal Areas (2002) (PDF) (32 pp. 101K) was used for EMAP West Coast intertidal sampling in 2002 in Washington, Oregon and California. These procedures are based on the 2001-2004 QA Plan and modifications to that QA Plan are made here as appropriate for 2002 intertidal sampling.
Return to Western EMAP Coastal Page