Ecological evaluation of an experimental beneficial use scheme for dredged sediment disposal in shallow tidal waters
van der Wal, D.; Forster, R.M.; Rossi, F.; Hummel, H.; Ysebaert, T.; Roose, F.; Herman, P.M.J. (2011). Ecological evaluation of an experimental beneficial use scheme for dredged sediment disposal in shallow tidal waters. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 62(1): 99-108. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2010.09.005 In: Marine Pollution Bulletin. Macmillan: London. ISSN 0025-326X; e-ISSN 1879-3363, more |  |
| Keywords | Aquatic communities > Benthos
Disposal (waste)
Dredging
Sediments
Water bodies > Coastal waters > Coastal landforms > Coastal inlets > Estuaries
ANE, Netherlands, Westerschelde [Marine Regions]
Marine/Coastal | | Author keywords | Beneficial use; Sustainable dredging; Disposal; Macrofauna; Sediments; Westerschelde |
| Abstract | An experiment was performed to test an alternative dredging strategy for the Westerschelde estuary. Clean sand dredged from the navigation channel was disposed seawards of an eroding intertidal flat in order to modify morphology and hydrodynamics, improving the multi-channel system with ecologically productive shallow water habitat. Five years of intensive monitoring revealed that part of the disposed sediment moved slowly towards the flat, increasing the very shallow subtidal and intertidal area, as planned. The sand in the impact zone became gradually finer after disposal, possibly due to reduced current velocities. Nevertheless, no changes in macrobenthic biomass, density, species richness and composition were detected in the subtidal zone, also demonstrating rapid macrobenthic recovery. In the intertidal zone, no ecological effects could be revealed superimposed on trends associated with long-term sediment fining. Thus, despite morphological success and absence of detected negative ecological impacts of the experiment, new beneficial habitat was not created. |
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