NOAA/NOS/National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, 1305 East/West Highway, Silver Spring, MD, 20910, USA.
The University of the Virgin Islands, 2 John Brewers Bay, St Thomas, Charlotte Amalie, US Virgin Islands, 00802, USA.
Environ Monit Assess. 2018 Apr 9;190(5):270. doi: 10.1007/s10661-018-6628-0.
Nutrients and sedimentation were monitored for approximately 2 years at six sites in the St. Thomas East End Reserves (STEER), St. Thomas, USVI, as part of a NOAA project to develop an integrated environmental assessment. Concentrations of ammonium (NH) and dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) were higher in Mangrove Lagoon and Benner Bay in the western portion of STEER than in the other sites further east (i.e., Cowpet Bay, Rotto Cay, St. James, and Little St. James). There was no correlation between rainfall and nutrient concentrations. Using a set of suggested nutrient thresholds that have been developed to indicate the potential for the overgrowth of algae on reefs, approximately 60% of the samples collected in STEER were above the threshold for orthophosphate (HPO), while 55% of samples were above the DIN threshold. Benner Bay had the highest sedimentation rate of any site monitored in STEER, including Mangrove Lagoon. There was also an east to west and a north to south gradient in sedimentation, indicative of higher sedimentation rates in the western, more populated areas surrounding STEER, and sites closer to the shore of the main island of St. Thomas. Although none of the sites had a mean or average sedimentation rate above a suggested sedimentation threshold, the mean sedimentation rate in Benner Bay was just below the threshold.
作为美国国家海洋和大气管理局（NOAA）开发综合环境评估项目的一部分，在美属维尔京群岛圣托马斯东端保护区（STEER）的六个地点监测了大约 2 年的营养物质和沉积物。与 STEER 更东部的其他地点（即 Cowpet Bay、Rotto Cay、St. James 和 Little St. James）相比，Mangrove Lagoon 和 Benner Bay 中的氨（NH）和溶解无机氮（DIN）浓度较高。降雨量与营养物质浓度之间没有相关性。使用一组已制定的建议营养阈值来指示珊瑚礁上藻类过度生长的潜力，在 STEER 采集的样本中，约有 60%的样本超过了正磷酸盐（HPO）的阈值，而 55%的样本超过了 DIN 阈值。Benner Bay 的沉积物沉降率是 STEER 监测到的任何地点中最高的，包括 Mangrove Lagoon。沉积物沉降也存在从东到西和从北到南的梯度，表明 STEER 周围人口较多的西部地区以及靠近圣托马斯主岛海岸的地点的沉降率较高。尽管没有一个地点的平均或平均沉降率超过建议的沉降阈值，但 Benner Bay 的平均沉降率刚好低于阈值。
