Marine and estuarine ecosystem and habitat classification

The Ecological Society of America and NOAA's Offices of Habitat Conservation and Protected Resources sponsored a workshop to develop a national marine and estuarine ecosystem classification system. Among the 22 people involved were scientists who had developed various regional classification systems and managers from NOAA and other federal agencies who might ultimately use this system for conservation and management. The objectives were to: (1) review existing global and regional classification systems; (2) develop the framework of a national classification system; and (3) propose a plan to expand the framework into a comprehensive classification system. Although there has been progress in the development of marine classifications in recent years, these have been either regionally focused (e.g., Pacific islands) or restricted to specific habitats (e.g., wetlands; deep seafloor). Participants in the workshop looked for commonalties across existing classification systems and tried to link these using broad scale factors important to ecosystem structure and function.

An ecological characterization of Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve, U.S. Virgin Islands

Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve (hereafter, SARI or the park) was created in 1992 to preserve, protect, and interpret nationally significant natural, historical, and cultural resources (United States Congress 1992). The diverse ecosystem within it includes a large mangrove forest, a submarine canyon, coral reefs, seagrass beds, coastal forests, and many other natural and developed landscape elements. These ecosystem components are, in turn, utilized by a great diversity of flora and fauna. A comprehensive spatial inventory of these ecosystems is required for successful management. To meet this need, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Biogeography Program, in consultation with the National Park Service (NPS) and the Government of the Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources (VIDPNR), conducted an ecological characterization. The characterization consists of three complementary components: a text report, digital habitat maps, and a collection of historical aerial photographs. This ecological characterization provides managers with a suite of tools that, when coupled with the excellent pre-existing body of work on SARI resources, enables improved research and monitoring activities within the park (see Appendix F for a list of data products).

The Southeast Bering Sea Ecosystem: implications for marine resource management (Final Report: Southeast Bering Sea Carrying Capacity).

Southeast Bering Sea Carrying Capacity (SEBSCC, 1996–2002) was a NOAA Coastal Ocean Program project that investigated the marine ecosystem of the southeastern Bering Sea. SEBSCC was co-managed by the University of Alaska Fairbanks, NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center, and NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory. Project goals were to understand the changing physical environment and its relationship to the biota of the region, to relate that understanding to natural variations in year-class strength of walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma), and to improve the flow of ecosystem information to fishery managers. In addition to SEBSCC, the Inner Front study (1997–2000), supported by the National Science Foundation (Prolonged Production and Trophic Transfer to Predators: Processes at the Inner Front of the S.E. Bering Sea), was active in the southeastern Bering Sea from 1997 to 1999. The SEBSCC and Inner Front studies were complementary. SEBSCC focused on the middle and outer shelf. Inner Front worked the middle and inner shelf. Collaboration between investigators in the two programs was strong, and the joint results yielded a substantially increased understanding of the regional ecosystem. SEBSCC focused on four central scientific issues: (1) How does climate variability influence the marine ecosystem of the Bering Sea? (2) What determines the timing, amount, and fate of primary and secondary production? (3) How do oceanographic conditions on the shelf influence distributions of fish and other species? (4) What limits the growth of fish populations on the eastern Bering Sea shelf? Underlying these broad questions was a narrower focus on walleye pollock, particularly a desire to understand ecological factors that affect year-class strength and the ability to predict the potential of a year class at the earliest possible time. The Inner Front program focused on the role of the structural front between the well-mixed waters of the coastal domain and the two-layer system of the middle domain. Of special interest was the potential for prolonged post-spring-bloom production at the front and its role in supporting upper trophic level organisms such as juvenile pollock and seabirds. Of concern to both programs was the role of interannual and longer-term variability in marine climates and their effects on the function of sub-arctic marine ecosystems and their ability to support upper trophic level organisms.

Nutrient enhanced coastal ocean productivity in the north Gulf of Mexico: understanding the effects of nutrients on a coastal ecosystem

The continental shelf adjacent to the Mississippi River is a highly productive system, often referred to as the fertile fisheries crescent. This productivity is attributed to the effects of the river, especially nutrient delivery. In the later decades of the 2oth century, though, changes in the system were becoming evident. Nutrient loads were seen to be increasing and reports of hypoxia were becoming more frequent. During most recent summers, a broad area (up to 20,000 krn2) of near bottom, inner shelf waters immediately west of the Mississippi River delta becomes hypoxic (dissolved oxygen concentrations less than 2 mgll). In 1990, the Coastal Ocean Program of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration initiated the Nutrient Enhanced Coastal Ocean Productivity (NECOP) study of this area to test the hypothesis that anthropogenic nutrient addition to the coastal ocean has contributed to coastal eutrophication with a significant impact on water quality. Three major goals of the study were to determine the degree to which coastal productivity in the region is enhanced by terrestrial nutrient input, to determine the impact of enhanced productivity on water quality, and to determine the fate of fixed carbon and its impact on living marine resources. The study involved 49 federal and academic scientists from 14 institutions and cost $9.7 million. Field work proceeded from 1990 through 1993 and analysis through 1996, although some analyses continue to this day. The Mississippi River system delivers, on average, 19,000 m3/s of water to the northern Gulf of Mexico. The major flood of the river system occurs in spring following snow melt in the upper drainage basin. This water reaches the Gulf of Mexico through the Mississippi River birdfoot delta and through the delta of the Atchafalaya River. Much of this water flows westward along the coast as a highly stratified coastal current, the Louisiana Coastal Current, isolated from the bottom by a strong halocline and from mid-shelf waters by a strong salinity front. This stratification maintains dissolved and particulate matter from the rivers, as well as recycled material, in a well-defined flow over the inner shelf. It also inhibits the downward mixing of oxygenated surface waters from the surface layer to the near bottom waters. This highly stratified flow is readily identifiable by its surface turbidity, as it carries much of the fine material delivered with the river discharge and resuspended by nearshore wave activity. A second significant contribution to the turbidity of the surface waters is due to phytoplankton in these waters. This turbidity reduces the solar radiation penetrating to depth through the water column. These two aspects of the coastal current, isolation of the inner shelf surface waters and maintenance of a turbid surface layer, precondition the waters for the development of near bottom summer hypoxia.

National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science Coastal Ecosystem Assessment Program: a manual of methods

Environmental managers strive to preserve natural resources for future generations but have limited decision-making tools to define ecosystem health. Many programs offer relevant broad-scale, environmental policy information on regional ecosystem health. These programs provide evidence of environmental condition and change, but lack connections between local impacts and direct effects on living resources. To address this need, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/National Ocean Service (NOAA/NOS) Cooperative Oxford Laboratory (COL), in cooperation with federal, state, and academic partners, implemented an integrated biotic ecosystem assessment on a sub-watershed 14-digit Hydrologic Unit Code (HUD) scale in Chesapeake Bay. The goals of this effort were to 1) establish a suite of bioindicators that are sensitive to ecosystem change, 2) establish the effects of varying land-use patterns on water quality and the subsequent health of living resources, 3) communicate these findings to local decision-makers, and 4) evaluate the success of management decisions in these systems. To establish indicators, three sub-watersheds were chosen based on statistical analysis of land-use patterns to represent a gradient from developed to agricultural. The Magothy (developed), Corsica (agricultural), and Rhode (reference) Rivers were identified. A random stratified design was developed based on depth (2m contour) and river mile. Sampling approaches were coordinated within this structure to allow for robust system comparisons. The sampling approach was hierarchal, with metrics chosen to represent a range from community to cellular level responses across multiple organisms. This approach allowed for the identification of sub-lethal stressors, and assessment of their impact on the organism and subsequently the population. Fish, crabs, clams, oysters, benthic organisms, and bacteria were targeted, as each occupies a separate ecological niche and may respond dissimilarly to environmental stressors. Particular attention was focused on the use of pathobiology as a tool for assessing environmental condition. By integrating the biotic component with water quality, sediment indices, and land- use information, this holistic evaluation of ecosystem health will provide management entities with information needed to inform local decision-making processes and establish benchmarks for future restoration efforts.

Integrated conceptual ecosystem model development for the Florida Keys/Dry Tortugas coastal marine ecosystem: MARine Estuarine goal Setting (MARES) for South Florida

The overall goal of the MARine and Estuarine goal Setting (MARES) project for South Florida is “to reach a science-based consensus about the defining characteristics and fundamental regulating processes of a South Florida coastal marine ecosystem that is both sustainable and capable of providing the diverse ecosystem services upon which our society depends.” Through participation in a systematic process of reaching such a consensus, science can contribute more directly and effectively to the critical decisions being made by both policy makers and by natural resource and environmental management agencies. The document that follows briefly describes the MARES project and this systematic process. It then describes in considerable detail the resulting output from the first two steps in the process, the development of conceptual diagrams and an Integrated Conceptual Ecosystem Model (ICEM) for the first subregion to be addressed by MARES, the Florida Keys/Dry Tortugas (FK/DT). What follows with regard to the FK/DT is the input received from more than 60 scientists, agency resource managers, and representatives of environmental organizations beginning with a workshop held December 9-10, 2009 at Florida International University in Miami, Florida.

Integrated conceptual ecosystem model development for the southeast Florida coastal marine ecosystem: MARine Estuarine goal Setting (MARES) for South Florida

The overall goal of the MARES (MARine and Estuarine goal Setting) project for South Florida is “to reach a science-based consensus about the defining characteristics and fundamental regulating processes of a South Florida coastal marine ecosystem that is both sustainable and capable of providing the diverse ecosystem services upon which our society depends.” Through participation in a systematic process of reaching such a consensus, science can contribute more directly and effectively to the critical decisions being made both by policy makers and by natural resource and environmental management agencies. The document that follows briefly describes MARES overall and this systematic process. It then describes in considerable detail the resulting output from the first step in the process, the development of an Integrated Conceptual Ecosystem Model (ICEM) for the third subregion to be addressed by MARES, the Southeast Florida Coast (SEFC). What follows with regard to the SEFC relies upon the input received from more than 60 scientists, agency resource managers, and representatives of environmental organizations during workshops held throughout 2009–2012 in South Florida.

Integrated conceptual ecosystem model development for the southwest Florida shelf coastal marine ecosystem: MARine Estuarine goal Setting (MARES) for South Florida

The overall goal of the MARine and Estuarine goal Setting (MARES) project for South Florida is “to reach a science-based consensus about the defining characteristics and fundamental regulating processes of a South Florida coastal marine ecosystem that is both sustainable and capable of providing the diverse ecosystem services upon which our society depends.” Through participation in a systematic process of reaching such a consensus, science can contribute more directly and effectively to the critical decisions being made by both policy makers and by natural resource and environmental management agencies. The document that follows briefly describes the MARES project and this systematic process. It then describes in considerable detail the resulting output from the first two steps in the process, the development of conceptual diagrams and an Integrated Conceptual Ecosystem Model (ICEM) for the second subregion to be addressed by MARES, the Southwest Florida Shelf (SWFS). What follows with regard to the SWFS is the input received from more than 60 scientists, agency resource managers, and representatives of environmental organizations beginning with a workshop held August 19-20, 2010 at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, Florida.

The EBM-DPSER conceptual model: integrating ecosystem services into the DPSIR framework

There is a pressing need to integrate biophysical and human dimensions science to better inform holistic ecosystem management supporting the transition from single species or single-sector management to multi-sector ecosystem-based management. Ecosystem-based management should focus upon ecosystem services, since they reflect societal goals, values, desires, and benefits. The inclusion of ecosystem services into holistic management strategies improves management by better capturing the diversity of positive and negative human-natural interactions and making explicit the benefits to society. To facilitate this inclusion, we propose a conceptual model that merges the broadly applied Driver, Pressure, State, Impact, and Response (DPSIR) conceptual model with ecosystem services yielding a Driver, Pressure, State, Ecosystem service, and Response (EBM-DPSER) conceptual model. The impact module in traditional DPSIR models focuses attention upon negative anthropomorphic impacts on the ecosystem; by replacing impacts with ecosystem services the EBM-DPSER model incorporates not only negative, but also positive changes in the ecosystem. Responses occur as a result of changes in ecosystem services and include inter alia management actions directed at proactively altering human population or individual behavior and infrastructure to meet societal goals. The EBM-DPSER conceptual model was applied to the Florida Keys and Dry Tortugas marine ecosystem as a case study to illustrate how it can inform management decisions. This case study captures our system-level understanding and results in a more holistic representation of ecosystem and human society interactions, thus improving our ability to identify trade-offs. The EBM-DPSER model should be a useful operational tool for implementing EBM, in that it fully integrates our knowledge of all ecosystem components while focusing management attention upon those aspects of the ecosystem most important to human society and does so within a framework already familiar to resource managers.

Support for integrated ecosystem assessments of NOAA’s National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS): assessment of ecological condition and stressor impacts in subtidal waters of the Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve

A study was conducted in June 2009 to assess the current status of ecological condition and potential human-health risks throughout subtidal estuarine waters of the Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve (SINERR) along the coast of Georgia. Samples were collected for multiple indicators of ecosystem condition, including water quality (dissolved oxygen, salinity, temperature, pH, nutrients and chlorophyll, suspended solids, fecal coliform bacteria and coliphages), sediment quality (granulometry, organic matter content, chemical contaminant concentrations), biological condition (diversity and abundance of benthic fauna, fish tissue contaminant levels and pathologies), and human dimensions (fish-tissue contaminant levels relative to human-health consumption limits, various aesthetic properties). Use of a probabilistic sampling design facilitated the calculation of statistics to estimate the spatial extent of the Reserve classified according to various categories (i.e., Good, Fair, Poor) of ecological condition relative to established thresholds of these indicators, where available. Overall, the majority of subtidal habitat in the SINERR appeared to be healthy, with over half (56.7 %) of the Reserve area having water quality, sediment quality, and benthic biological condition indicators rated in the healthy to intermediate range of corresponding guideline thresholds. None of the stations sampled had one or more indicators in all three categories rated as poor/degraded. While these results are encouraging, it should be noted that one or more indicators were rated as poor/degraded in at least one of the three categories over 40% of the Reserve study area, represented by 12 of the 30 stations sampled. Although measures of fish tissue chemical contamination were not included in any of the above estimates, a number of trace metals, pesticides, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were found at low yet detectable levels in some fish at stations where fish were caught. Levels of mercury and total PCBs in some fish specimens fell within EPA guideline values considered safe, given a consumption rate of no more than four fish meals per month. Moreover, PCB congener profiles in sediments and fish in the SINERR exhibit a relative abundance of higher-chlorinated homologs which are uniquely characteristic of Aroclor 1268. It has been well-documented that sediments and fish in the creeks and marshes near the LCP Chemicals Superfund site, near Brunswick, Georgia, also display this congener pattern associated with Aroclor 1268, a highly chlorinated mixture of PCBs used extensively at a chlor-alkali plant that was in operation at the LCP site from 1955-1994. This report provides results suggesting that the protected habitats lying within the boundaries of the SINERR may be experiencing the effects of a legacy of chemical contamination at a site over 40km away. These effects, as well as other potential stressors associated with increased development of nearby coastal areas, underscore the importance of establishing baseline ecological conditions that can be used to track potential changes in the future and to guide management and stewardship of the otherwise relatively unspoiled ecosystems of the SINERR.

Majuro Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands coral reef ecosystems mapping report

Digital maps of the coral reef ecosystem (<~30m deep) of Majuro Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands, were created through visual interpretation of remote sensing imagery. Digital Globe’s Quickbird II satellite images were acquired between 2004 and 2006 and georeferenced to within 1.6 m of their true positions. Reef ecosystem features were digitized directly into a GIS at a display scale of 1:4000 using a minimum feature size of 1000 square meters. Benthic features were categorized according to a classification scheme with attributes including zone (location, such as lagoon or forereef, etc.), structure (bottom type, such as sand or patch reef, etc.) and percent hard bottom. Ground validation of habitat features was conducted at 311 sites in 2009. Resulting maps consisted of 1829 features covering 366 square kilometers. Results demonstrate that reef zones occurred in a typical progression of narrow bands from offshore, though forereef, reef flat, shoreline, land, backreef, and lagoon habitats. Lagoon was the largest zone mapped and covered nearly 80% of the atoll, although much of it was too deep to have structures identified from the satellite imagery. Dominant habitat structures by area were pavement and aggregate reef, which covered 29% and 18% of the mapped structures, respectively. Based on the number of features, individual and aggregated patch reefs comprised over 40% of the features mapped. Products include GIS based maps, field videos and pictures, satellite imagery, PDF atlas, and this summary report. Maps and associated data can be used to support science and management activities on Majuro reef ecosystems including inventory, monitoring, conservation, and sustainable development applications.

National summary of NOAA's shallow-water benthic habitat mapping of U.S. coral reef ecosystems

Coral reef ecosystems are some of the most complex and important ecosystems in the marine environment. They are also among the most biologically diverse and economically valuable ecosystems on earth, producing billions of dollars in food, as well as providing a suite of ecological services, such as recreation and tourism activities and coastal protection from storm and wave action. Yet, despite their value and importance, these fragile ecosystems are declining at an alarming rate (Waddell and Clarke (eds.) 2008) due to a myriad of threats both natural and manmade, including climate change, fishing pressure, and runoff and sedimentation. In response, the Unites States Coal Reef Task Force was established in 1998 by Presidential Executive Order 13089 to lead U.S. efforts to preserve and protect the nation’s coral reef ecosystems. In order to better understand the current state of coral reef ecosystems and successfully mitigate the impacts of stressors, informational products, such as benthic (or sea floor) habitat maps, are critical. Benthic habitat maps support the ability to prioritize areas for further study and protection, and offer a baseline to evaluate the changes in ecosystems over time. In 2000, the United States Coral Reef Task Force charged NOAA with leading federal efforts to produce comprehensive digital maps of all U.S. shallow-water (approximately 0 to 30 m in depth) coral reef ecosystem habitats.

Statistical analyses to support guidelines for marine avian sampling: Final report. [Digital Supplements A-G attached]

Interest in development of offshore renewable energy facilities has led to a need for high-quality, statistically robust information on marine wildlife distributions. A practical approach is described to estimate the amount of sampling effort required to have sufficient statistical power to identify species specific “hotspots” and “coldspots” of marine bird abundance and occurrence in an offshore environment divided into discrete spatial units (e.g., lease blocks), where “hotspots” and “coldspots” are defined relative to a reference (e.g., regional) mean abundance and/or occurrence probability for each species of interest. For example, a location with average abundance or occurrence that is three times larger the mean (3x effect size) could be defined as a “hotspot,” and a location that is three times smaller than the mean (1/3x effect size) as a “coldspot.” The choice of the effect size used to define hot and coldspots will generally depend on a combination of ecological and regulatory considerations. A method is also developed for testing the statistical significance of possible hotspots and coldspots. Both methods are illustrated with historical seabird survey data from the USGS Avian Compendium Database.