SOP 7 – Sediment Total Organic Carbon (TOC) Sampling and Analysis; A Protocol for Monitoring Estuarine Nutrient Enrichment in Coastal Parks of the National Park Service Northeast Region
Kopp BS and Neckles HA. 2009. SOP 7 – Sediment Total Organic Carbon (TOC) Sampling and Analysis; A Protocol for Monitoring Estuarine Nutrient Enrichment in Coastal Parks of the National Park Service Northeast Region. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado
This is an SOP of "A Protocol for Monitoring Estuarine Nutrient Enrichment in Coastal Parks of the National Park Service Northeast Region" (https://irma.nps.gov/App/Reference/Profile/2218712). This SOP covers the methods for collecting surface sediments from NER coastal park estuaries and analyzing them for total organic carbon (TOC). Sediment TOC is measured every fifth year of the monitoring program. The same probability-based sampling design is applied to TOC sampling as is used for spatial water-quality monitoring. This includes the requirement that all sampling be completed during a four-week index period during mid-to-late summer (July- August). For logistical simplicity, it is recommended that TOC sampling be incorporated into the fieldwork for water-quality monitoring. All aspects of this method including data quality objectives and quality control procedures follow the methods prescribed for the U.S. EPA National Coastal Assessment (NCA). It is highly recommended that NPS Vital Signs personnel familiarize themselves with the EPA NCA Field Operations Manual (U.S. EPA 2001a) and Quality Assurance Project Plan (U.S. EPA 2001b) as they relate to this SOP. Note that the above two EPA documents differ in their recommendations on sample storage. For Vital Signs monitoring, NPS is advised to follow the guidance from the latter EPA document and store and ship samples frozen at -20°C. Another important difference between this SOP and the NCA method is that the NCA protocol includes additional benthic measures and requires larger volumes of sediment. NPS sediment sampling for TOC requires only 100 ml of surface sediment (the top 2-3 cm) and may be accomplished with substantially lighter gear (as allowed by NCA).
- Type
- Standard Operating Procedure
- Authors
- Kopp, Blaine; Neckles, Hilary
- Date of Issue
- 2009-05
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- ASIS , CACO , COLO , FIIS , GATE , GEWA , NCBN , NRSS
- Keywords
- Assateague Island National Seashore, estuarine habitats, Estuary, Fire Island National Seashore, Gateway National Recreation Area, Monitoring, Northeast Coastal and Barrier Network, Nutrient Enrichment, Nutrients, Plant Communities, plant cover, Sea grass, Soil Chemistry, Species Composition, Vegetation, Vegetation cover, Water Chemistry, Water Clarity , Water Quality, Water Quality Monitoring, Wetlands
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Geology and Soils | Soil Quality | Soil Function and Dynamics , Ecological Framework: Water | Water Quality | Water Chemistry , Ecological Framework: Water | Water Quality | Nutrient Dynamics , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Estuarine Communities , Ecological Framework: Human Use | Non-point Source Human Effects | Non-point Source Human Effects , Ecological Framework: Landscapes | Nutrient Dynamics | Nutrient Dynamics , Ecological Framework: Landscapes | Energy Flow | Primary Production