PCBs (Polychlorinated Biphenyls) in Saginaw Bay: Development of Functional Indices to Estimate Inhibition of Ecosystem Fluxes

摘要

Saginaw Bay is among the most polluted bays in the Great Lakes. For many years the Large Lakes Research Station of the US-EPA has examined many aspects of this ecosystem, from phytoplankton community characteristics to contaminant levels in fishes. As a result, when it became desirable to determine the impact of an organochlorine contaminant like PCB, it was not necessary to study the ecosystem in detail. This study produced new information on the two most basic fluxes in any aquatic system, the flow of solar energy into the phytoplankton, and the flow of chemical energy into the zooplankton. The use of phytoplankton gross photosynthesis to estimate the inhibition by contaminants of the first flux mentioned was developed for marine communities.