Table 1. Pearson’s correlation matrix representing
relationships between water quality trends (FC concentration and
salinity) and environmental parameters (LULC change, precipitation,
shore distance) for all stations along North Carolina’s coast included
in the MK trend testing.
When aggregated to annual averages, the NCDWR salinity data is
insufficiently short (n = [10, 14] for each station) and limits our
ability to apply trend testing. However, the NCDWR salinity time series
(Figure 5) largely follow the same trends as the NCDMF salinity data;
exceptions include sites in growing areas E and D, where several NCDWR
stations were located in the upstream, fresher portions of the
estuaries. While we generally selected stations in locations similar to
NCDMF stations, these are presented due to lack of stations in the more
brackish and marine waters within these areas. Given that the NCDWR data
is collected through an unbiased monitoring program, the agreement
between the NCDWR and NCDMF salinity observations indicates the NCDMF
observations may not be severely affected by sampling bias.