Assessment of existing information on Atlantic coastal fish habitats: development of a web-based spatial bibliography, query tools, and data summaries

The primary objective of this project, “the Assessment of Existing Information on Atlantic Coastal Fish Habitat”, is to inform conservation planning for the Atlantic Coastal Fish Habitat Partnership (ACFHP). ACFHP is recognized as a Partnership by the National Fish Habitat Action Plan (NFHAP), whose overall mission is to protect, restore, and enhance the nation’s fish and aquatic communities through partnerships that foster fish habitat conservation. This project is a cooperative effort of NOAA/NOS Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA) Biogeography Branch and ACFHP. The Assessment includes three components; 1. a representative bibliographic and assessment database, 2. a Geographical Information System (GIS) spatial framework, and 3. a summary document with description of methods, analyses of habitat assessment information, and recommendations for further work. The spatial bibliography was created by linking the bibliographic table developed in Microsoft Excel and exported to SQL Server, with the spatial framework developed in ArcGIS and exported to GoogleMaps. The bibliography is a comprehensive, searchable database of over 500 selected documents and data sources on Atlantic coastal fish species and habitats. Key information captured for each entry includes basic bibliographic data, spatial footprint (e.g. waterbody or watershed), species and habitats covered, and electronic availability. Information on habitat condition indicators, threats, and conservation recommendations are extracted from each entry and recorded in a separate linked table. The spatial framework is a functional digital map based on polygon layers of watersheds, estuarine and marine waterbodies derived from NOAA’s Coastal Assessment Framework, MMS/NOAA’s Multipurpose Marine Cadastre, and other sources, providing spatial reference for all of the documents cited in the bibliography. Together, the bibliography and assessment tables and their spatial framework provide a powerful tool to query and assess available information through a publicly available web interface. They were designed to support the development of priorities for ACFHP’s conservation efforts within a geographic area extending from Maine to Florida, and from coastal watersheds seaward to the edge of the continental shelf. The Atlantic Coastal Fish Habitat Partnership has made initial use of the Assessment of Existing Information. Though it has not yet applied the AEI in a systematic or structured manner, it expects to find further uses as the draft conservation strategic plan is refined, and as regional action plans are developed. It also provides a means to move beyond an “assessment of existing information” towards an “assessment of fish habitat”, and is being applied towards the National Fish Habitat Action Plan (NFHAP) 2010 Assessment. Beyond the scope of the current project, there may be application to broader initiatives such as Integrated Ecosystem Assessments (IEAs), Ecosystem Based Management (EBM), and Marine Spatial Planning (MSP).

Invasionsoft: a web-enabled tool for invasive species colonization predictions

Predicting and averting the spread of invasive species is a core focus of resource managers in all ecosystems. Patterns of invasion are difficult to forecast, compounded by a lack of user-friendly species distribution model (SDM) tools to help managers focus control efforts. This paper presents a web-based cellular automata hybrid modeling tool developed to study the invasion pattern of lionfish (Pterois volitans/miles) in the western Atlantic and is a natural extension our previous lionfish study. Our goal is to make publically available this hybrid SDM tool and demonstrate both a test case (P. volitans/miles) and a use case (Caulerpa taxifolia). The software derived from the model, titled Invasionsoft, is unique in its ability to examine multiple default or user-defined parameters, their relation to invasion patterns, and is presented in a rich web browser-based GUI with integrated results viewer. The beta version is not species-specific and includes a default parameter set that is tailored to the marine habitat. Invasionsoft is provided as copyright protected freeware at http://www.invasionsoft.com.

Wetland Tracker Data Collection Central Coast (Morro Bay Region)

The goal of this project was to gather information on wetland restoration projects in the Moro Bay, California, region. Data provided to the San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) will be used to enhance a web-based, public access database, the Bay Area Wetland Project Tracker. Wetland Tracker provides information on the location, size, sponsors, habitats, contact persons, and status of included projects. Its website provides an interactive map of planned and completed wetland projects (http://www.wetlandtracker.org). (Document contains 4 pages)

Workshop on marine mammal research & monitoring in the National Marine Sanctuaries, Wailea, Maui, Hawaii, 28 November 1999

The Second National Workshop on Marine Mammal Research and Monitoring in the National Marine Sanctuaries was held on 28 November 1999 in Maui, Hawaii. The workshop preceded the Thirteenth Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals, and provided an opportunity to review and promote marine mammal research and monitoring in the National Marine Sanctuaries (NMS). The purpose of the workshop was to bring together researchers and sanctuary staff and to improve marine mammal research and monitoring throughout the sanctuaries. Discussion topics included: potential multi-sanctuary projects, sources of funding for multi-sanctuary projects, services and equipment for researchers through the sanctuaries, consolidating small levels of funding, help in funding and support for writing up data, publishing documents in Technical Memoranda, and letters of support. Representatives from the NMS national office and nine sanctuaries provided participants with overviews of marine mammal research within the sanctuaries. Presentations were also given by representatives from the National Marine Fisheries Service’s Permits and Health and Stranding programs. During the breakout working groups, there were several comments and suggestions consistent among each of the groups to improve marine mammal research. Each group emphasized the need to improve communication among researchers and to better share data. These suggestions included web-based information networks, advisory panels, and workshops. Regionally based research projects were also emphasized. In order to best study marine mammal populations, collaborative studies must take place throughout multiple sanctuaries. In order to achieve these large scale studies, funding and staffing must be directed towards these studies and distributed among each of the sanctuaries so that they may all be able to have the staffing, equipment, and vessels necessary to achieve a collaborative, ecosystem-based, regional marine mammal monitoring program. It will take several years to achieve all of the suggestions from the workshop, but thanks to the workshop participants, the National Marine Sanctuary Program has begun to direct marine mammal research and monitoring in order to achieve the goals of the workshop. This document provides a summary of the workshop with a focus on key points/main issues. We have included contact information intended to encourage continued collaboration among the individuals and organizations represented at the 1999 Marine Mammal Research and Monitoring in the National Marine Sanctuaries Workshop. (PDF contains 71 pages.)

Decision support systems optimising effluent release in sub tropical estuarine environment - An Australian case study

Gold Coast Water is responsible for the management of the water and wastewater assets of the City of the Gold Coast on Australia’s east coast. Treated wastewater is released at the Gold Coast Seaway on an outgoing tide in order for the plume to be dispersed before the tide changes and renters the Broadwater estuary. Rapid population growth over the past decade has placed increasing demands on the receiving waters for the release of the City’s effluent. The Seaway SmartRelease Project is designed to optimise the release of the effluent from the City’s main wastewater treatment plant in order to minimise the impact of the estuarine water quality and maximise the cost efficiency of pumping. In order to do this an optimisation study that involves water quality monitoring, numerical modelling and a web based decision support system was conducted. An intensive monitoring campaign provided information on water levels, currents, winds, waves, nutrients and bacterial levels within the Broadwater. These data were then used to calibrate and verify numerical models using the MIKE by DHI suite of software. The decision support system then collects continually measured data such as water levels, interacts with the WWTP SCADA system, runs the models in forecast mode and provides the optimal time window to release the required amount of effluent from the WWTP. The City’s increasing population means that the length of time available for releasing the water with minimal impact may be exceeded within 5 years. Optimising the release of the treated water through monitoring, modelling and a decision support system has been an effective way of demonstrating the limited environmental impact of the expected short term increase in effluent disposal procedures. (PDF contains 5 pages)

Benthic habitats of Buck Island Reef National Monument

NOAA’s Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment’s Biogeography Branch has mapped and characterized large portions of the coral reef ecosystems inside the U.S. coastal and territorial waters, including the U.S. Caribbean. The complementary protocols used in these efforts have enabled scientists and managers to quantitatively compare different marine ecosystems in tropical U.S. waters. The Biogeography Branch used these same general protocols to generate three seamless habitat maps of the Bank/Shelf (i.e., from 0 ≤50 meters) and the Bank/Shelf Escarpment (i.e., from 50 ≤1,000 meters and from 1,000 ≤ 1,830 meters) inside Buck Island Reef National Monument (BIRNM). While this mapping effort marks the fourth time that the shallow-water habitats of BIRNM have been mapped, it is the first time habitats deeper than 30 meters (m) have been characterized. Consequently, this habitat map provides information on the distribution of mesophotic and deep-water coral reef ecosystems and serves as a spatial baseline for monitoring change in the Monument. A benthic habitat map was developed for approximately 74.3 square kilometers or 98% of the BIRNM using a combination of semi-automated and manual classification methods. The remaining 2% was not mapped due to lack of imagery in the western part of the Monument at depths ranging from 1,000 to 1,400 meters. Habitats were interpreted from orthophotographs, LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) imagery and four different types of MBES (Multibeam Echosounder) imagery. Three minimum mapping units (MMUs) (100, 1,000 and 5,000 square meters) were used because of the wide range of depths present in the Monument. The majority of the area that was characterized was deeper than 30 m on the Bank/Shelf Escarpment. This escarpment area was dominated by uncolonized sand which transitioned to mud as depth increased. Bedrock was exposed in some areas of the escarpment, where steep slopes prevented sediment deposition. Mesophotic corals were seen in the underwater video, but were too sparsely distributed to be reliably mapped from the source imagery. Habitats on the Bank/Shelf were much more variable than those seen on the Bank/Shelf Escarpment. The majority of this shelf area was comprised of coral reef and hardbottom habitat dominated by various forms of turf, fleshy, coralline or filamentous algae. Even though algae was the dominant biological cover type, nearly a quarter (24.3%) of the Monument’s Bank/Shelf benthos hosted a cover of 10%-<50% live coral. In total, 198 unique combinations of habitat classes describing the geography, geology and biology of the sea-floor were identified from the three types of imagery listed above. No thematic accuracy assessment was conducted for areas deeper than about 50 meters, most of which was located in the Bank/Shelf Escarpment. The thematic accuracy of classes in waters shallower than approximately 50 meters ranged from 81.4% to 94.4%. These thematic accuracies are similar to those reported for other NOAA benthic habitat mapping efforts in St. John (>80%), the Main Eight Hawaiian Islands (>84.0%) and the Republic of Palau (>80.0%). These digital maps products can be used with confidence by scientists and resource managers for a multitude of different applications, including structuring monitoring programs, supporting management decisions, and establishing and managing marine conservation areas. The final deliverables for this project, including the benthic habitat maps, source imagery and in situ field data, are available to the public on a NOAA Biogeography Branch website (http://ccma.nos.noaa.gov/ecosystems/coralreef/stcroix.aspx) and through an interactive, web-based map application (http://ccma.nos.noaa.gov/explorer/biomapper/biomapper.html?id=BUIS). This report documents the process and methods used to create the shallow to deep-water benthic habitat maps for BIRNM. Chapter 1 provides a short introduction to BIRNM, including its history, marine life and ongoing research activities. Chapter 2 describes the benthic habitat classification scheme used to partition the different habitats into ecologically relevant groups. Chapter 3 explains the steps required to create a benthic habitat map using a combination of semi-automated and visual classification techniques. Chapter 4 details the steps used in the accuracy assessment and reports on the thematic accuracy of the final shallow-water map. Chapter 5 summarizes the type and abundance of each habitat class found inside BIRNM, how these habitats compare to past habitat maps and outlines how these new habitat maps may be used to inform future management activities.