Abstract:

This dataset contains nektonic and benthic communities, and water quality data of Southern Texas tidal streams obtained from 2020-03-19 to 2021-08-27. Tidal streams along the southern Texas coast (West Carancahua Creek to Rio Grande) were sampled for nektonic and benthic communities, physical water quality variables (temperature, dissolved oxygen, salinity, pH, turbidity, specific conductivity), water nutrients (nitrate + nitrite, phosphate, TKN, TOC, TSS, chlorophyll a, ammonia), and sediment grain size in 2020 and 2021. All variables were measured/sampled in spring (March to June) and summer (July to September) each year, except for benthic communities and sediment grain size, which were sampled in summer only. Nekton were sampled using six replicate seine (4.6 m wide, 4.76 mm mesh) hauls of 10 m each, collected parallel to the stream bank at each site (276 m2 total area). Benthic macroinfauna were collected during the summer using six replicate benthic cores (6.7 cm diameter x 10 cm deep; 35.4 cm2 area) along the shoreline in approximately 1 m water depth. Physical water quality measurements were measured using a handheld YSI Pro DSS multiparameter water quality meter (YSI Incorporated, Yellow Springs, Ohio) and a Secchi disc. Water nutrient samples were collected at 0.3 m deep during each sampling event and chilled on ice before being analyzed for nutrients and chlorophyll in a laboratory (Eastex or Ana-Lab).

Suggested Citation:

Neffinger, Alexis, Terry Palmer, Natasha Breaux, and Jennifer Beseres Pollack. 2024. Nektonic and benthic communities, and water quality data of southern Texas tidal streams, 2020-03-19 to 2021-08-27. Distributed by: GRIIDC, Harte Research Institute, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. doi:10.7266/tc4p6mbx

Purpose:

To determine nektonic and benthic community composition in different tidal streams and to relate that to different water quality conditions.

Data Parameters and Units:

Date (ddMMyyyy), Time (hh:mm), Sample Depth (m), Temperature (degrees C), Specific Conductance (mS/cm), Dissolved Oxygen saturation (%), Dissolved Oxygen concentration (mg/l), Salinity (ppt/PSU), pH, Turbidity (NTU), Total depth (m), Secchi disc-derived water clarity (m), taxa name, number of individuals (n/sample), length of organism (mm), vertical section of sediment core (cm), biomass of fauna (mg), proportion silt (%), proportion sand (%), proportion clay (%).

Methods:

n/a

Instruments:

YSI Pro DSS multiparameter water quality meter

Individual Files: