development of estuarine biological...
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Development ofDevelopment ofEstuarine Biological IndicatorsEstuarine Biological Indicators
Marguerite (Peg) Pelletier, Giancarlo Cicchetti, Emily ShumcheniMarguerite (Peg) Pelletier, Giancarlo Cicchetti, Emily Shumchenia, a, Carol Pesch, Henry (Hal) Walker, John KiddonCarol Pesch, Henry (Hal) Walker, John Kiddon
plus EPA and nonplus EPA and non‐‐EPA partners and contributors including the EPA partners and contributors including the Narragansett Bay Estuary Program, EPA Office of Water and RegionNarragansett Bay Estuary Program, EPA Office of Water and Region 1, 1,
other NEPs, and state contributorsother NEPs, and state contributors
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and DevU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and DevelopmentelopmentNational Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, ANational Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Atlantic Ecology Divisiontlantic Ecology Division
. . . many Indicators have been developed and/or measured
Biological Condition Gradient (BCG)
• Improve use ofbioassessment (e.g., acres of eelgrass, high biodiversity/biotic indices) to improve decision making
• Framework to evaluatealteration to biological structure and function along a stressor gradientrelative to a baselinecondition anchor
• Originally developed for stream communities, but currently being expanded toestuaries, wetlands, large rivers & watersheds
Biological Con
ditio
n
Natural
Degraded
Tier 1
2
3
4
5
Tier 6
Hypothetical303d threshold
(Severely Altered)
Low Level of Stressors High
Historical
Natural structure and function of biotic community maintained
Minimal changes in structure and function
Evident changes in structure and minimal changes in function
Moderate changes in structure and minimal changes in function
Major changes in structure and moderate changes in function
Severe changes in structure and function
Biological Condition Gradient in Estuaries
• Framework recently extended to estuaries based on workshop held in Narragansett RI in 2008 (Cicchetti & Pryor 2010)
• Explicitly allowed for multiple indicators and multiple scales (single habitat, whole estuary)
• Structure• Function• Condition• Connectivity• Non‐native
• Example indicators• eelgrass extent• benthic invertebrate condition• relative amounts of critical habitat (e.g., habitat mosaics, see Cicchetti &Greening 2011)
Biological Con
ditio
nNatural
Degraded
Historical
Increasing Watershed Development & Population Density
Abundant eelgrassHealthy shellfish communitiesHealthy benthos
Loss of eelgrass and scallop communities
Impacted benthic communities
Increasing Sediment (& Nutrient) ContaminationIncreasing Hypoxia Events
EG = eelgrass extent
BH = benthic habitat
PS = primaryproductivity &shellfish
Example BCG for Greenwich Bay
• Started as a research program to develop the tools necessary to monitor and assess the status and trends of national ecological resources.
• EMAP‐estuaries (1990 to 1995)• REMAP (regional studies; 1993‐1999)• Mid‐Atlantic Integrated Assessment (1997‐1998)• National Coastal Assessment (1999‐2006)
• Continued as National Aquatic Resource Surveys• 4 resources sampled on a 5 year rotating basis
• Lakes• Rivers & Streams• Coastal• Wetlands
• Coastal sampled in 2010, & more sampling planned for 2015
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP)
EMAP Virginian Province Benthic IndexBenthic Index = 1.389 * (salinity normalized Gleason’s D ‐ 51.5) / 28.4
‐ 0.651 * (salinity normalized tubificid abundance ‐ 28.2) / 119.5‐ 0.375 * (spionid abundance ‐ 20.0) / 45.4
High diversity sites
Low diversity sitesand/or
High numbers of tubificids (low salinity)High numbers of spionids (higher salinity)
Pearson & Rosenberg 1978
Paul et al. 2001. Ecological Indicators 1:83–99
Long Island Sound
• Open water sites are in generally good condition• Hot spots were evident around New Haven and Bridgeport where the Housatonic River enters Long Island Sound
Narragansett Bay
• Narragansett Bay shows characteristicNorth‐South gradient
• Providence River has poor condition
• Western Greenwich Bay showsimpairment
• Lower Bay generally good
Buzzards Bay
• Bay in generally good condition• Poor conditions seen in New Bedford Harbor and parts of the Westport River
• Probable Effect Concentration (PEC for Copper > 108 ug/g
• Threshold Effects Concentration for Copper 18.7 ug/g
• Narragansett Bay has greatest PEC exceedances for Cu
Northeast NEPs NCA 2000‐2001
Summary
• Estuarine BCG can:• Provide a vocabulary and common language to describe ecosystem conditions
• Allows for better communication (to managers orthe public) on ecological status along with improvement or decline
• Provides a management context to use biological data to achieve water quality goals
• EMAP data can• Provide a useful baseline to anchor future data collection efforts
• Provide consistently collected data over time moving forward
Any Questions?Any Questions?
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