Ambient Aquatic Life Water Quality Criteria for Dissolved Oxygen (Saltwater): Cape Cod to Cape Hatteras

摘要

The document recommends an approach to deriving the lower limits of dissolved oxygen (DO) necessary to protect coastal and estuarine animals in the Virginian Province (Cape Cod, MA, to Cape Hatteras, NC). The information on hypoxic effects used here was obtained from studies conducted by the USEPA's Atlantic Ecology Division specifically for this purpose, and from all other available reports applicable to hypoxic issues of the Virginian Province. Hypoxia is defined here as concentrations of DO that are below saturation. Literature on the effects of anoxia, while applicable to certain ecological risk analyses, was not included in this document. This approach combines features of traditional water quality criteria with a new biological framework that integrates time (replacing the concept of an averaging period) and establishes separate criteria for different life stages (larvae versus juveniles and adults). Where practical, data were selected and analyzed in a manner consistent with the Guidelines for Deriving Numerical National Water Quality Criteria for the Protection of Aquatic Organisms and Their Uses (Stephan et al., 1985). This document considers how to protect three aspects of biological health: survival of juveniles and adults, growth, and larval recruitment (estimated with a generic model).