Research Progress on Source-to-Sink Transport Processes of Marine Microplastics

Microplastics in marine environment are global environmental issue and challenge and have received an extensive international concern. At present, most of researches focus on the investigation of microplastic abundance in the ocean surface water, and there is insufficient understanding of the distribution and transport processes of microplastics in the deep-sea environment. This paper reviewed marine microplastic studies carried out in the last decade, and summarized the source, global distribution and transport processes of microplastics. Field investigations showed that both surface water and water column were important accumulation areas for microplastics, while deep-sea surface sediments were final sinks for microplastic deposition and accumulation. Transport of microplastics to the deep sea included two modes: vertical settlement and lateral transport. Laboratory simulation showed that the sinking rate of microplastic particles in the ocean changed between 300 and 1 000 meters per day, and the sinking process was not solely controlled by particle physical properties such as particle density, but also influenced by ocean dynamic process, biological action and marine snow aggregation. Microplastics deposited on the seafloor could migrate laterally towards the deep sea with resuspended sediments, which were related to internal waves, deep-sea turbidity current or climatic events. However, there remain the key knowledge gaps in uncertain speed and quantity of microplastics moving to the deep sea, which is not conducive to the comprehensive understanding of the microplastic transport process from source to sink. Therefore, it is recommended to observe the vertical sinking flux of microplastics with layered sediment traps in order to study the source-to-sink transport processes of microplastics in deep-sea environment.     

Microplastic pollution in Yellow River,China: Current status and research progress of biotoxicological effects

This study aims to comprehensively assess the environmental risks of microplastics in the Yellow River, achieving the following results through comprehensive research. The average microplastic abundances in the river waters and sediments are 5358–654000 n/m³ and 43.57–615 items/kg, respectively, and there are fewer microplastics in water samples than in sediments. Microplastics in the study area can be divided into five types according to their occurrence morphologies, namely fragments, foams, films, fibers, and particles. The most widely distributed pollution types in sediments include debris, fibers, and particles. In contrast, fibers are the dominant type in water samples, accounting for 68.18% –98.93%. The chemical components of the microplastics include polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polyethylene terephthalate, and polyvinyl chloride. The microplastics are in four colors, with white accounting for a higher proportion. The grain size of the microplastics in tributaries or lakes of the Yellow River is less than 2 mm, which makes them liable to enter organisms for enrichment. Furthermore, the sources of the microplastics are closely related to agricultural and industrial production and biological activities in habitats and exhibit seasonal and hydrological characteristics. The microplastics in the study area show the adsorption of metals and nonmetals to different degrees, which increases the pollution risks of heavy metals combined with microplastics. In addition, microplastics can accumulate in organisms in the Yellow River and cause physical, biochemical, and other damage to aquatic organisms, thus further posing carcinogenic risks to human beings. Therefore, it is necessary to study, monitor, and control the pollution and effects of microplastics in the Yellow River, in order to provide theoretical references for the control of pollution and ecological risk of microplastics in the river.©2021 China Geology Editorial Office.     

我国海洋生态系统服务功能及其价值评估研究计划

国家海洋局于2005年启动了为期5年“海洋生态系统服务功能及其价值评估”研究计划。该计划的目标是建立具有我国海洋生态特征,适应我国社会经济发展水平的海洋生态系统服务功能定量模型和服务价值计算方法,并基于GIS技术开发生态系统服务价值评估系统,应用于评估渤海、黄海、东海和南海四大生态系统的服务价值和11个沿海省市区的近海服务价值,同时评估赤潮、病原生物和外来种导致的海洋生态系统服务价值损失,为实现人海和谐的海洋开发产业布局和用海活动提供定量评估技术支持,为基于生态系统的海洋管理提供理论支撑。目前,该计划已经建立了我国海洋生态系统服务功能分类体系、服务功能量化指标和服务价值计算指标体系,完成评估软件系统的设计。     

Geological evolution of offshore pollution and its long-term potential impacts on marine ecosystems

Populations and metropolitan centers are accumulated in coastal areas around the world. In view of the fact that they are geographically adjacent to coasts and intense anthropogenic activities, increasing global offshore pollution has been an important worldwide concern over the past several decades and has become a very serious problem that needs to be addressed urgently. Due to offshore pollution, various geological disasters occur in high frequency, including intensified erosion and salinization of coastal soils, frequent geological collapses and landslides and increasing seismic activities. Moreover, offshore pollution shows increasingly serious impacts on the topography and geomorphology of offshore and coastal areas, including coastal degradation, retreating coastlines and estuary delta erosion. Offshore sedimentation processes are strongly influenced by the pH changes of terrestrial discharges, and sedimentary dynamics have become extremely acute and complex due to offshore pollution. The seabed topography and hydrodynamic environment determine the fate and transport of pollutants entering offshore regions. Coastal estuaries, port basins and lagoons that have relatively moderate ocean currents and winds are more likely to accumulate pollutants. Offshore regions and undersea canyons can be used as conduits for transporting pollutants from the continent to the seabed. It is particularly noteworthy that the spatial/temporal distribution of species, community structures, and ecological functions in offshore areas have undergone unprecedented changes in recent decades. Due to increasing offshore pollution, the stable succession and development trend of marine ecosystems has been broken. It is thus important to identify and regulate the quantity, composition and transportation of pollutants in offshore regions and their behavior in marine ecosystems. In particular, crucial actions for stabilizing marine ecosystems, including increasing species and biodiversity, should be implemented to enhance their anti-interference capabilities. This review provides an overview of the current situation of offshore pollution, as well as major trends of pollutant fate and transportation from continent to marine ecosystems, transformation of pollutants in sediments, and their bioaccumulation and diffusion. This study retrospectively reviews the long-term geological evolution of offshore pollution from the perspective of marine geology, and analyses their long-term potential impacts on marine ecosystems. Due to ecological risks associated with pollutants released from offshore sediments, more research on the influence of global offshore pollution based on marine geology is undoubtedly needed.     

土壤中微塑料的来源、生态环境危害及治理技术

【研究目的】近年来，由微塑料造成的生态环境污染问题引起了广泛关注。【研究方法】本文通过查阅大量土壤微塑料方向的文献，综述了国内外关于土壤中微塑料的来源、危害及检测治理技术最新研究进展。【研究结果】主要包括：（1）土壤中微塑料的主要来源是没有高效回收的农用地膜的裂解，此外还有农业生产活动中使用含有微塑料的污水污泥、空气中的微塑料沉降到地表等；（2）土壤中的微塑料能吸附重金属、抗生素等污染物，改变土壤pH、容重等理化性质，影响蚯蚓等土壤动物的发育，降低参与土壤养分循环过程中关键微生物的活性，对土壤环境造成危害；（3）目前还没有统一的微塑料分离检测技术标准，目检法、光谱法和热分析技术是微塑料主要的分析方法。【结论】土壤中的微塑料会给环境及动植物健康带来不同程度的风险，进一步通过食物链威胁人类健康。未来的研究重点包括阻隔土壤微塑料的来源、 土壤微塑料与重金属的复合污染机制和新兴的土壤微塑料检测技术。创新点：（1）目前关于土壤微塑料方面的研究刚刚起步，本文综述了土壤微塑料对农作物、土壤环境的影响及在食物链中传播的风险，对今后有关环境污染和人体健康方向的研究有一定的帮助； （2）本文较为全面地整理了以农业生产活动为主的土壤微塑料来源，由于已被微塑料污染的土壤治理难度较高，笔者提出关于土壤微塑料源的阻断建议，希望能有效降低未来土壤中微塑料的输入量。     

Current status and cause analysis of microplastic pollution in sea areas in China

As a new type of pollutants in the marine environment,microplastics have attracted increasing attention from scientific researchers and environmental protection workers in China and abroad.However,for the microplastic pollution in sea areas in China,there are a very limited number of studies on its current status and few reviews of research on the microplastics.This paper reviews the surveys and researches of microplastics in the Bohai Sea,the Yellow Sea,the East China Sea,the South China Sea,and main estuaries in China carried out in recent years and proposes an outlook for future work,aiming to provide research suggestions and solutions for ecological protection against microplastic pollution in sea areas in China.Previous studies have shown that microplastics are widely distributed in water bodies and sediments in sea areas and major estuaries in China.The Pearl River Estuary,in the South China Sea suffers the most serious microplastic pollution,followed by the Bohai Sea.In contrast,the microplastic pollution in the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea is comparatively slight.Microplastics in sea areas in China are mainly fibrous and are concentrated in offshore areas with developed industry and a dense population(especially around estuaries and bays).In addition,they are widely affected by human activities,such as shipping,aquaculture,industry,and sewage discharge.Here the authors suggest unifying measurement units and research methods and developing related standard systems to carry out researches related to microplastics.Furthermore,this paper also suggests further deepening researches on both the source-sink process of microplastics and nanoscale microplastics while enhancing the development and implementation of related policies,aiming to promote researches and control of microplastics in sea areas in China.     

基于生态系统的海洋管理理论与实践

海洋孕育了丰富的生态系统服务功能,包括为人类提供多种海产食物、净化海洋环境和提供宜人景观及发展空间等。随着工程科技水平的提高,人类对海洋资源和空间的开发利用越来越多、越来越快,对海洋生态系统的影响也越来越大,这一问题在我国尤为突出。近20年来一些发达国家通过推行基于生态系统的海洋管理(MEBM),在海洋生态系统的框架下规范和管理开发活动,特别是在解决区域性海洋管理问题方面取得了一定成效,值得我们借鉴。概述了海洋生态系统及其服务功能,回顾了海洋开发中存在的问题以及MEBM的发展历程,系统阐述了MEBM的原则和措施,剖析了国内外MEBM的成功案例,探讨了在中国实施MEBM的必要性和前提条件。近年来,我国依据海洋功能区划来管理海洋开发已取得一定的成果。建议以此为基础,强化相关生态科学研究及相应技术和法规支撑,从而为我国海洋经济可持续发展提供保障。     

Is Ocean Acidification an Open-Ocean Syndrome? Understanding Anthropogenic Impacts on Seawater pH

Ocean acidification due to anthropogenic CO₂ emissions is a dominant driver of long-term changes in pH in the open ocean, raising concern for the future of calcifying organisms, many of which are present in coastal habitats. However, changes in pH in coastal ecosystems result from a multitude of drivers, including impacts from watershed processes, nutrient inputs, and changes in ecosystem structure and metabolism. Interaction between ocean acidification due to anthropogenic CO₂ emissions and the dynamic regional to local drivers of coastal ecosystems have resulted in complex regulation of pH in coastal waters. Changes in the watershed can, for example, lead to changes in alkalinity and CO₂ fluxes that, together with metabolic processes and oceanic dynamics, yield high-magnitude decadal changes of up to 0.5 units in coastal pH. Metabolism results in strong diel to seasonal fluctuations in pH, with characteristic ranges of 0.3 pH units, with metabolically intense habitats exceeding this range on a daily basis. The intense variability and multiple, complex controls on pH implies that the concept of ocean acidification due to anthropogenic CO₂ emissions cannot be transposed to coastal ecosystems directly. Furthermore, in coastal ecosystems, the detection of trends towards acidification is not trivial and the attribution of these changes to anthropogenic CO₂ emissions is even more problematic. Coastal ecosystems may show acidification or basification, depending on the balance between the invasion of coastal waters by anthropogenic CO₂, watershed export of alkalinity, organic matter and CO₂, and changes in the balance between primary production, respiration and calcification rates in response to changes in nutrient inputs and losses of ecosystem components. Hence, we contend that ocean acidification from anthropogenic CO₂ is largely an open-ocean syndrome and that a concept of anthropogenic impacts on marine pH, which is applicable across the entire ocean, from coastal to open-ocean environments, provides a superior framework to consider the multiple components of the anthropogenic perturbation of marine pH trajectories. The concept of anthropogenic impacts on seawater pH acknowledges that a regional focus is necessary to predict future trajectories in the pH of coastal waters and points at opportunities to manage these trajectories locally to conserve coastal organisms vulnerable to ocean acidification.     

应用于海洋环境和海洋工程的光纤传感技术

随着海洋经济的高速发展,加强海洋国防安全、提高海洋资源开发能力和保护海洋生态环境作为相辅相成的三个方面日益受到重视。有效的传感检测技术是保证海洋安全、高效资源开发、防止污染、维持生态平衡、实时监测等方面至关重要的技术,也成为当前海洋领域内研究的热点。基于光纤传感器相比较于传统电传感器的独特优势,本文从海防及民生安全、海底自然灾害预测、海洋能源有效勘探、海洋工程安全监控,及海洋环境在线监测等几个方面阐述适用于海洋环境的光纤传感技术原理、系统及特点,为光纤传感技术在海洋中的大力推广起到一个抛砖引玉的作用。     

Coastal Ecological Risk Assessment: Its Research Progress and Prospect

Coastal areas are located in marine-terrestrial interlaced zone. With their unique geographical positions, the coastal ecological risk assessment has both the complexity of regional ecological risk assessment and its own particularity. In recent years, due to the coastal economic development and the deterioration of ecological environment, coastal ecological risk has received more and more attention, but there are still lacking in further systematic study about the coastal ecological risk assessment. With the summary and analysis of the existing research results from home and abroad, based on land-ocean interaction plan and full consideration of the uniqueness, regionalism and complexity of the coastal zone environment, this paper made scientific conclusion on the definition of the coastal ecological risk assessment concept and its components from risk source, habitat and risk suffer-the three basic elements. Moreover, from risk source, risk suffer and comprehensive evaluation-the three aspects, it discussed in detail the related research topics, progress as well as main conclusions. Then, it analysed the characteristics and evaluation methods, and put forward the framework model of coastal ecological risk assessment. Finally, it analysed and proposed the existing deficiencies and future research direction, providing new ideas for future research on coastal ecological risk assessment.     

水母暴发研究所面临的挑战

在过去的10多年中,全球海洋中的水母数量都有所增加,在一些局部区域出现了水母种群暴发的现象,主要是在近海、特别是一些重要的渔场和高生产力区。水母暴发已经形成重要的生态灾害,对沿海工业、海洋渔业和滨海旅游业等造成严重危害。水母暴发的原因、生态危害、如何应对等是一个世界性难题,引起全球沿海国家的重视,也是国际海洋生态系统研究领域的焦点问题之一。由于水母特殊的生物学和生态学特性,水母暴发的研究面临众多的困难和挑战。水母的暴发与全球气候变化、海洋渔业活动、富营养化、海岸带工程等密切相关,水母暴发现象是海洋生态系统演变的一种具体体现,通过对水母暴发机理的研究,将会加深对在全球变化和人类活动共同作用下海洋生态系统演变机理和变化趋势的了解。     

我国21世纪初海洋科学研究中的若干重要问题

海洋科学在20世纪后半叶得到迅速发展，海洋在人类可持续发展中的重要地位也日益为人们所认识。在21世纪初，我国所关注的海洋科学问题中有两方面特别重要，一是海洋在季节、年际、年代尺度的气候变变异中的作用；二是近海系统对自然变异、人类活动及全球变化的响应。在回顾20世纪对大洋环流和海洋生产力两者所取得进展的基础上，对我国在上述两方面应关注的科学问题作了简短的讨论。     

The Air-Coastal Sea Chemical Exchange: A Case Study on the New Jersey Coast

The coastal marine atmosphere adjacent to large urban and industrial centers is in general strongly impacted by pollution emissions, resulting in high loading of pollutants in the ambient air. Among the airborne substances are certain trace elements from a variety of emission sources that can serve as micronutrients to marine organisms in coastal waters. High concentrations of such elements in coastal air can result in enhanced air-to-sea deposition fluxes to coastal waters. They could also be transported over the open ocean, affecting the composition of the remote marine atmosphere and then ocean ecosystems. To provide better understanding of the extent of air-to-sea deposition processes on the New Jersey coast, a heavily polluted coastal region on the US East Coast, a synthesis of observation data was carried out for selected trace elements, including Fe, Cd, Cr and Cu, derived from measurements of both size-segregated and bulk aerosol particles, as well as precipitation around the New Jersey coast. The atmospheric input of Hg was also estimated based on measurement data. Results indicated that the total deposition fluxes of most trace elements were higher in Northern coastal NJ compared to Southern coastal NJ, reflecting the differences in the source strengths of these element emissions between the two coastal regions. Dry deposition processes were more significant for common dust-derived elements, particularly Fe and Al, compared with their wet deposition fluxes. However, the processes of precipitation scavenging appeared to be more important for the elements that were often enriched in fine particles including Zn, Cu, Pb and Ni. The removal of Hg from the ambient air was overwhelmingly dominated by atmospheric wet deposition. In the future, atmospheric measurements at more sites on the NJ coast should be performed simultaneously to reduce the spatial and temporal uncertainties associated with atmospheric deposition fluxes estimated in this study.     

Sea ice disaster risk assessment index system based on the life cycle of marine engineering

Based on the classification results of marine structure accidents induced by sea ice, the risk assessment index system of sea ice disasters was established. The possibility coefficient of risks was proposed based on risk factors of sea ice disasters, including sea ice conditions, ice risk status, ice resistance in the design phase, the current defense ability in the operation phase, and management behaviors in the freezing period. The severity index should be determined according to the affected scope, the distribution of affected personnel, and the monitoring ability in emergency. According to the case study and expert evaluation method, the scores and levels of sea ice disaster risk assessment indices were determined. Finally, the sea ice disaster risks of two offshore oil platforms and a coastal nuclear power plant were assessed.

     

Marine Ecosystem—Based Management: Definition,Principles, Framework and Practice

As the largest ecosystems of the earth, marine ecosystem provides many types of ecosystem service to human. More than 60% of the global population lives the coastal area. A healthy ocean is critical to our economy, health and way of life. However, with rapid population growth and densely inhabited coastal areas, our dependence on marine resources is greater than ever. The overuse and mismanagement of ecosystem services have placed great pressure on marine systems, thereby threatening the future of marine ecosystems, and the services they provide. With anthropogenic pressures increasing in coastal cities, adopting ecosystem-based management frameworks that minimize impacts on marine environments while allowing for sustainable development is critical. Marine Ecosystem-Based Management seeks to manage marine resources in ways that protect ecosystem health while providing the ecosystem services needed by people. Rather than focusing solely on a single species or resource, MEBM incorporates science and balances the demands of user groups in a manner that produces management strategies that are more likely to be sustainable than traditional approaches. The definition, principles and framework were discussed in this paper based on the summary of literature, and two examples were introduced. Last, some suggestions were put forward to marine ecosystem management for ocean ecosystem and for healthy coastal resources sustainable utilization.     

微塑料对水中甲基橙的吸附特征分析

以甲基橙(MO)为目标污染物,微塑料为载体,通过吸附动力学和等温吸附实验,比较通用塑料聚丙烯(PP)、通用工程塑料尼龙(PA)、聚甲醛(POM)和特种工程塑料聚四氟乙烯(PTFE)4种典型材质吸附MO的能力,并采用扫描电镜(SEM)、比表面积测试(BET)、显微拉曼光谱(Raman)、Zeta电位及傅立叶变换全反射衰减红外光谱(ATR-FTIR)技术手段对吸附前后PA进行表征,考察微塑料材质和PA粒径对MO吸附的影响,从而探究其可能存在的吸附机理。结果表明不同材质微塑料对MO的吸附能力具有明显差异性。其中,PA对MO的吸附量最大,可达7.39 mg/g,PA吸附MO的动力学过程包括起始的快速反应阶段和随后的慢速反应阶段,吸附过程符合二级动力学方程;等温吸附实验结果表明MO在PA上属于非均质化学吸附。静电作用及氢键的形成是造成不同材质微塑料吸附能力差异的主要原因,微塑料粒径大小与其对MO的吸附量呈显著负相关关系(R2=0.995, P<0.05),这与微塑料可提供的有效吸附位点息息相关。本研究可以为科学评价微塑料复杂的环境行为以及作为载体协同迁移污染物的能力提供依据。     

Numerical Simulation of Transportation of Marine Microplastics A Review

The temporal and spatial discontinuity of microplastic sampling data restricts the investigation on their source, sink, transport pathway and trend. Numerical simulation combined with sampling investigation can comprehensively study the effects of microplastic characteristics, meteorology and hydrodynamics on the distribution and transportation of microplastics. In this paper, the studies of microplastic numerical simulation were reviewed from the aspects of numerical simulating research and their applications in microplastic tranportation, and the results were summarized as follows: The construction of the main driving force (current); the influence of environmental factors, such as wind, waves, topography and extreme sea conditions on the properties of microplastics with different characteristics (particle size, density, shape) and their tranportation; the application of numerical simulation in the study of microplastic removal. Based on progress on the study of numerical simulation of marine microplastics, the future directions were pointed out that the further simulating studies should focuson the spatio-temporal distribution and evolvement of microplastics by combining sampling data and numerical model, the simulating research on the relationship between microplastic parameters (roughness, wind drag coefficient, settling rate, resuspension rate and biofouling rate) and (meteorological and ocean) dynamic condition. Moreover, the results of simulating sensitivity experiments should be compared with sampling and laboratory testing data to improve the empirical parameters and formulas of numerical model.     

Climate change impacts on U.S. Coastal and Marine Ecosystems

Increases in concentrations of greenhouse gases projected for the 21st century are expected to lead to increased mean global air and ocean temperatures. The National Assessment of Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change (NAST 2001) was based on a series of regional and sector assessments. This paper is a summary of the coastal and marine resources sector review of potential impacts on shorelines, estuaries, coastal wetlands, coral reefs, and ocean margin ecosystems. The assessment considered the impacts of several key drivers of climate change: sea level change; alterations in precipitation patterns and subsequent delivery of freshwater, nutrients, and sediment; increased ocean temperature; alterations in circulation patterns; changes in frequency and intensity of coastal storms; and increased levels of atmospheric CO₂. Increasing rates of sea-level rise and intensity and frequency of coastal storms and hurricanes over the next decades will increase threats to shorelines, wetlands, and coastal development. Estuarine productivity will change in response to alteration in the timing and amount of freshwater, nutrients, and sediment delivery. Higher water temperatures and changes in freshwater delivery will alter estuarine stratification, residence time, and eutrophication. Increased ocean temperatures are expected to increase coral bleaching and higher CO₂ levels may reduce coral calcification, making it more difficult for corals to recover from other disturbances, and inhibiting poleward shifts. Ocean warming is expected to cause poleward shifts in the ranges of many other organisms, including commercial species, and these shifts may have secondary effects on their predators and prey. Although these potential impacts of climate change and variability will vary from system to system, it is important to recognize that they will be superimposed upon, and in many cases intensify, other ecosystem stresses (pollution, harvesting, habitat destruction, invasive species, land and resource use, extreme natural events), which may lead to more significant consequences.     

Consequences of Climate Change on the Ecogeomorphology of Coastal Wetlands

Climate impacts on coastal and estuarine systems take many forms and are dependent on the local conditions, including those set by humans. We use a biocomplexity framework to provide a perspective of the consequences of climate change for coastal wetland ecogeomorphology. We concentrate on three dimensions of climate change affects on ecogeomorphology: sea level rise, changes in storm frequency and intensity, and changes in freshwater, sediment, and nutrient inputs. While sea level rise, storms, sedimentation, and changing freshwater input can directly impact coastal and estuarine wetlands, biological processes can modify these physical impacts. Geomorphological changes to coastal and estuarine ecosystems can induce complex outcomes for the biota that are not themselves intuitively obvious because they are mediated by networks of biological interactions. Human impacts on wetlands occur at all scales. At the global scale, humans are altering climate at rapid rates compared to the historical and recent geological record. Climate change can disrupt ecological systems if it occurs at characteristic time scales shorter than ecological system response and causes alterations in ecological function that foster changes in structure or alter functional interactions. Many coastal wetlands can adjust to predicted climate change, but human impacts, in combination with climate change, will significantly affect coastal wetland ecosystems. Management for climate change must strike a balance between that which allows pulsing of materials and energy to the ecosystems and promotes ecosystem goods and services, while protecting human structures and activities. Science-based management depends on a multi-scale understanding of these biocomplex wetland systems. Causation is often associated with multiple factors, considerable variability, feedbacks, and interferences. The impacts of climate change can be detected through monitoring and assessment of historical or geological records. Attribution can be inferred through these in conjunction with experimentation and modeling. A significant challenge to allow wise management of coastal wetlands is to develop observing systems that act at appropriate scales to detect global climate change and its effects in the context of the various local and smaller scale effects.     

Impacts of Coastal Development on the Ecology of Tidal Creek Ecosystems of the US Southeast Including Consequences to Humans

Upland areas of southeastern United States tidal creek watersheds are popular locations for development, and they form part of the estuarine ecosystem characterized by high economic and ecological value. The primary objective of this work was to define the relationships between coastal development, with its concomitant land use changes and associated increases in nonpoint source pollution loading, and the ecological condition of tidal creek ecosystems including related consequences to human populations and coastal communities. Nineteen tidal creek systems, located along the southeastern US coast from southern North Carolina to southern Georgia, were sampled in the summer, 2005 and 2006. Within each system, creeks were divided into two primary segments based upon tidal zoning—intertidal (i.e., shallow, narrow headwater sections) and subtidal (i.e., deeper and wider sections)—and then watersheds were delineated for each segment. Relationships between coastal development, concomitant land use changes, nonpoint source pollution loading, the ecological condition of tidal creek ecosystems, and the potential impacts to human populations and coastal communities were evaluated. In particular, relationships were identified between the amount of impervious cover (indicator of coastal development) and a range of exposure and response measures including increased chemical contamination of the sediments, increased pathogens in the water, increased nitrate/nitrite levels, increased salinity range, decreased biological productivity of the macrobenthos, alterations to the food web, increased flooding potential, and increased human risk of exposure to pathogens and harmful chemicals. The integrity of tidal creeks, particularly the headwaters or intertidally dominated sections, was impaired by increases in nonpoint source pollution associated with sprawling urbanization (i.e., increases in impervious cover). This finding suggests that these habitats are valuable early warning sentinels of ensuing ecological impacts and potential public health and flooding risk from sprawling coastal development. The results also validate the use of a conceptual model with impervious cover thresholds for tidal creek systems in the southeast region.