Transcript The Hudson River

The Hudson River
An Ecosystem of Aquatic Life
By: William Larkin
The Hudson River
Table of Contents
 Hudson Facts
 Hudson Ecosystem
 Threats to the Hudson Ecosystem
 Cleaning up the Hudson
 Preserving the Hudson
Hudson Facts
 Flows North to South
through the State of
New York
 Begins at Lake Tear of
the Clouds on Mount
Marcy, New York State’s
highest point and ends
at the New York Harbor
 Flows 315 miles long
Hudson Facts
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 While the upper half of
the Hudson river, from
Adirondack mountains
down to Troy, is
technically considered a
river, the lower half of
the river, from Troy to
the New York Harbor, is
an estuary, which is
where a river connects
to an ocean
The Hudson Ecosystem
 The Hudson river has a complex
ecosystem of plants and animals.
 This ecosystem faces threats of human
interaction, including pollution, humanmade constructions, and the
introduction of foreign species.
Plants
 The Hudson river has an
extensive population of flora.
 The most populous of the
flora is phytoplankton, which
is the microscopic staple of
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 The Hudson has both
submerged plant species,
which provide food for fish
and waterfowl, and
emergent (above water)
plants that provide shelter
and food for birds, fish, and
invertebrates.
Patamogeton crispus, or curly
pondweed, pictured above, is a
common invasive plant in the
Hudson river
Invasive Plant Species
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 Invasive species, such as the Trapa natans pictured
above, rapidly take over ecosystems and are often
harmful to the native plant and animal species
 In the specific case of the Trapa natans, this foreign
invader significantly lowers the Dissolved Oxygen
(DO) levels in the water, which can be harmful to fish
and any other aquatic animals that get their oxygen
from the water
Invasive Invertebrates
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 Foreign invertebrates
can also be harmful to
native ecosystems in
the Hudson River
 The Dreissena
polymorpha, or Zebra
Mussels (pictured on
the left), invaded the
Hudson river and
dramatically decreased
the population of
phytoplankton, an
important part of the
Hudson ecosystem
Fish of the Hudson
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 The Hudson river has
benthic fish species, or
bottom-dwellars, such
as the Atlantic sturgeon
(Acipenser oxyrhynchus
oxyrhynchus) pictured
top left
 There are also nektonic
fish species, or active
swimmers, such as the
Striped Bass (Morone
saxatilis) pictured
bottom left
Invasive Fish
 Many of the fish, plants,
and invertebrates
previously mentioned
have been affected by
introduced foreign
species of fish
 The European carp, or
Cyprinus carpio,
pictured to the right,
has had detrimental
effects to the native
ecosystems of the
Hudson river ever since
its introduction
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Unnatural Ecosystem
Destruction
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 The Hudson river has also been affected by manmade constructions and pollution that have
contributed to species loss, habitat loss, and food
loss for many Hudson plants and animals.
 Piers, like the one located top left, have contributed
to significant habitat destruction for many species of
fish, including the Microgadus tomcod, or Tommy
cod, pictured on the right
Unnatural Habitat Destruction:
Pollution
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Manufacturing plant on Upper
Hudson River
 The Hudson river has been
polluted over the years by
large corporations dumping
wastes as well as seepages
and spillovers from roadways
and constructions along the
river
 One of the most infamous
incidents of pollution
occurred when General
Electric spilled 1.3 million
pounds of Polychlorinated
biphenyls (PCBs) into the
Hudson between 1947 and
1977
Unnatural Habitat Destruction:
Pollution
 General Electric ended the
dumpings of PCBs,
mentioned previously, in
1977 but sediments can still
be found in the waters
 PCB buildup can have high
concentrations in some fish
and other animals that
humans consume
 Consumption of PCBs can be
very dangerous to human
health, and parts of the
Hudson are still not suitable
for fishing
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Signs from the Upper Hudson river
indicate catch and release fishing
only
Cleaning up the Hudson
 The United States Environmental
Protection Agency is overlooking a clean
up of the PCBs in the Hudson river that
is scheduled to begin in 2009
 The Federal Clean Water Act helped
clean the Hudson water dramatically by
building and upgrading sewage plants
Cleaning up the Hudson
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 The North River Sewage Treatment Plant, pictured
above, is located on the West Side of Manhattan
 Facilities like this remove large amounts of organic
matter from entering the Hudson river
Preserving the Hudson
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Bald Eagle located along
Hudson river
 There is still much to be
done to preserve the Hudson
river and its immense
ecosystem
 After the successes in
environmental clean-up of
the Hudson, Bald Eagles,
which have been absent
from the estuary for quite
some time, have reappeared
 After the appearance of 1
Bald Eagle nest in 1997,
there are currently 18
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Hudson river sunset
Sources

Able, Kenneth W., John Manderson, Anne Studholme. “The Distribution of Shallow Water Juvenile Fishes in an Urban
Estuary: The Effects of Manmade Structures in the Lower Hudson River”, Estuaries Vol. 21, No.4, Part B (1998),
http://www.jstor.org/stable/1353277 (Accessed March 7, 2009)

Belcher, Edith, Taylor Belcher, William Bryant II. “Natural History of the Hudson River”, Historic Hudson River Foundation (Dec.,
14, 2004), http://www.hhr.highlands.com/nathist.htm (accessed March 7, 2009)

Caraco, Nina F., Johnathan Cole, Peter Raymond, David Strayer, Michael Pace. “Zebra Mussel Invasion in a Large, Turbid River:
Phytoplankton Response to Increased Grazing”, Ecology Vol. 78, No. 2 (1997),
http://www.jstor.org.avoserv.library.fordham.edu/stable/2266032?seq=1 (Accessed March 7, 2009)

Caraco, Nina F., Johnathan Cole. “Contrasting Impacts of a Native and Alien Macrophyte on Dissolved Oxygen in a Large River”,
Ecological Applications Vol. 12, No. 5 (2002), http://www.jstor.org/stable/3099987 (Accessed March 5, 2009)

Department of Environmental Conservation, “Hudson River Virtual Tour”, New York State Department of Environmental
Conservation (2009), http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/25606.html (Accessed March 7, 2009)

Mills, Edward L., David Strayer, Mark Scheuerell, James Carlton. “Exotic Species in the Hudson River Basin: A History of
Invasions and Introductions”, Estuaries Vol. 19, No. 4 (Dec., 1996), http://www.jstor.org/stable/1352299 (Accessed March 7,
2009)

U.S. Environment Protection Agency, “Hudson River PCBs”, EPA (2009), http://www.epa.gov/hudson/ (Accessed March 5, 2009)

Yuan, Zhanpeng, Simon Courtenay, R. Christopher Chambers, Isaac Wirgin. “Evidence of Spatially Extensive Resistance to PCBs
in an Anadromous Fish of the Hudson River”, Environmental Health Perspectives Vol. 114, No. 1 (2006),
http://www.jstor.org/stable/3436631 (Accessed March 5, 2009)