Climate Change Database Inventory: Benthic
FEDERAL AGENCIES
Organization: NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) - Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA)
Contact: N/A
Email: N/A
Web address: http://www8.nos.noaa.gov/cit/nsandt/download/ba_monitoring.aspx
Database name: Bioeffects Assessment Data
Description: Chesapeake Bay 1998-01 data available for chemistry, toxicity, and benthic infauna (sediment quality triad). Bioeffects Assessment Program identifies and assesses biological effects associated with contaminant exposure. Over forty intensive regional studies have been conducted since 1986 using the Sediment Quality Triad approach which utilizes a stratified random sampling method to determine the areal extent of contaminated sediments. The data include: sediment chemistry, toxicity, and species diversity and quantity for the same suite of organic contaminants and trace metals as the Mussel Watch Program.
Organization: NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) - Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA)
Contact: N/A
Email: N/A
Web address: http://www8.nos.noaa.gov/cit/nsandt/download/bs_monitoring.aspx
Database name: Monitoring data – Benthic Surveillance.
Description: Analyzed chemical and biological contaminant trends in sediment and fish tissue collected at 183 coastal sites from 1984 to 1993. The database includes: sediment, fish liver and fish bile chemistry for over 100 organic and inorganic contaminants, and associated diseases in the fish livers. NOAA Fisheries partnered on this project.
Organization: U.S. Department of the Interior Minerals Management Service
Contact: N/A
Email: tcronin@usgs.gov
Web address: http://www.mms.gov/itd/pubs/1997/97-0025/hobbs5.pdf
Database name: Benthic Foraminifera and Ostracoda from Virginia Continental Shelf
Description: Foraminiferal and ostracode species census data are available electronically from the authors. The report: T. M. Cronin, S. Ishman, R. Wagner, and G. R. Cutter, Jr. Part 5: Benthic Foraminifera and Ostracoda from Virginia Continental Shelf. January 1998. Samples were collected in 1996 offshore of Virginia Beach.
REGIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
Organization: Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP)
Contact: Jackie Johnson - Tele: 800-YOUR-BAY ext. 729
Email: N/A
Web address: http://www.chesapeakebay.net/data_benthic.aspx
Database name: Baywide Benthic Database.
Description: Benthos, sediment images for Chesapeake Bay and tidal tributaries. 1975 – Present.
Organization: Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP)
Contact: Jackie Johnson - Tele: 800-YOUR-BAY ext. 729
Email: N/A
Web address: http://www.chesapeakebay.net/data_flourescence.aspx
Database name: Baywide Fluorescence Database.
Description: Fluorescence, chlorophyll A, Phytoplankton, vertical and horizontal profiles for Chesapeake Bay and tidal tributaries. Date range: 1984 – present.
Organization: Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP)
Contact: Jackie Johnson - Tele: 800-YOUR-BAY ext. 729
Email: N/A
Web address: http://www.chesapeakebay.net/data_plankton.aspx
Database name: Baywide CBP Plankton Database.
Description: Plankton, phytoplankton, zooplankton, mesozooplankton, gelatinous zooplankton, primary production. Date range: 1984 – present.
STATE AGENCIES
Organization: Department of Environmental Quality (VADEQ)
Contact: Aimee Genung
Email: ajgenung@deq.virginia.gov
Web address: http://www.deq.virginia.gov/biomonitoring/homepage.html
Database name: Freshwater Biological Monitoring Data
Description: The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) Freshwater Biological Monitoring Program uses the benthic macro invertebrate community to assess the ecological health of freshwater streams and rivers. Benthic macro invertebrates are invertebrate organisms such as insects, crustaceans, snails or worms that live on the bottom of streams and rivers which are large enough to be seen with the naked eye. Because many of the organisms that make up these biological communities are extremely sensitive to pollutants, they often respond to changes in water quality caused by the introduction of various contaminants into a water body from point or non-point source pollution. Most benthic macro invertebrate species have a complex life cycle of approximately one year or more and therefore integrate the effects of fluctuations in water quality over time. In essence, benthic macro invertebrates are considered to be virtual “living recorders” of water quality conditions over time. Analysis of
the community of these organisms provides a measure of the overall water quality of a particular water body segment. Program began in the 1970s.
OTHER ORGANIZATIONS
Organization: Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS)
Contact: Bob Diaz
Email: diaz@vims.edu
Web address: http://www.vims.edu/bio/benthic/vabeach/vimsvab.html
or http://www.mms.gov/itd/pubs/1997/97-0025/hobbs1.pdf
Database name: Benthic Habitats and Biological Resources off the Virginia Coast
Description: Task 1of the “Environmental Studies Relative to Potential Sand Mining in the Vicinity of the City of Virginia Beach, Virginia" involved benthic surveys of the region conducted by V. I. M. S. using sediment profile imaging and bottom grab samples.
Benthic habitats and non-commercial biological communities offshore Virginia were surveyed 1996 and 1997 in the vicinity of potential sand mining activities, where borrow areas had been identified and in regions of possible future interest . Benthic surveys were conducted semi-annually, during which sediment profile imaging (SPI) and standard bottom photographic camera systems and Smith-MacIntyre grabs were deployed. The study area offshore Virginia extended from just inside the three-mile line to approximately 10 miles offshore, and from the latitude of the southern shore of Chesapeake Bay mouth (36.925° N) to a few miles south of Sandbridge, VA (36.675° N). | 
