In the Massachusetts Bay, Cape Cod Bay as well as Boston Harbor there is a comprehensive, multidisciplinary water quality-monitoring program run by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) that analyzed impacts on the environment from relocated secondary-treated effluent outfall. The study was conducted from 1992 through 2007 and collected about 16 years of data, specifically species level estimates of phytoplankton and zoo plankton abundance in the area. For reference, zoo plankton and phytoplankton are tiny animals that are found near the surface of aquatic ecosystems, they typically just drift along the water with the currents. Both of these populations of plankton are important to marine ecosystems because they usually form the base of the food chain or food webs. This collected data over time shows that the relocation of effluent from the Boston Harbor to the bays has decreased the number of nutrients and improved the overall water quality in the harbor. While this effluent was moved from the harbor to the bay there was an increase in dissolved inorganic nutrients near the bay outfall, but so far the study hasn’t shown this as a negative effect. Through the study of phytoplankton and zoo plankton, which found regional changes in the two species, it was also found that the Cape Cod Bay and the Massachusetts Bay are closely connected physically as well as ecologically to the Gulf of Maine. Effects of the relocation of effluent have not been observed in the phytoplankton or zoo plankton populations instead, changes in these populations are related to regional to hemispheric scales.

The research topic for this study was to address changes in the size of phytoplankton and zoo plankton, their production rates, the amount of nuisance or noxious species, as well as the species composition as reacting to the relocation of effluent. This would in turn determine not only the health of the marine ecosystem but also the water quality. The research question posed is; how will the relocation of effluent from the Boston Harbor to the Massachusetts Bay and the Cape Cod Bay effect the ecosystems in those bays through phytoplankton and zoo plankton as well as how will it affect their water quality? The type of data used in this research was survey and annual averages and therefore aggregate, interval or ratio data.

Each year was different but overall the monitoring program has sampled between 34 and 48 water quality stations dispersed throughout Boston Harbor, Massachusetts Bay, and Cape Cod Bay annually. The stations were selected strategically and were located along the expected direction of the effluent. Various scientific testing to test for the changes in the size of phytoplankton and zoo plankton, their production rates, the amount of nuisance or noxious species, as well as the species composition was used to analyze the data. Inorganic compounds and general differences in the ecosystems were also analyzed at each of the water monitoring stations.

This research was clear and easy to understand. There were many graphs within the article, which created another way to see the data and interpret the research’s findings. The research was also very proactive, which is good, instead of waiting to see what the effects of this new direction and movement of effluent would be after the fact, they were testing from the start to make sure there were no negative effects on the environment from the effluent.

Hunt, C. D., Borkman, D. G., Libby, P. S., Lacouture, R., Turner, J. T., & Mickelson, M. J.(2010). Phytoplankton patterns in massachusetts bay–1992-2007. Estuaries and Coasts, 33(2), 448 470. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12237-008-9125-9

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