Comparison of remotely-sensed surveys vs. in situ plot-based assessments of sea grass condition in Barnegat Bay-Little Egg Harbor,New Jersey USA

With the increasing appreciation that sea grass habitats are in global decline, there is a great need to be able to efficiently and effectively assess and characterize the status and trends of sea grass in our coastal ecosystems. This paper examines the utility of remotely sensed vs. in situ plot-based monitoring using the Barnegat Bay-Little Egg Harbor (BB-LEH), New Jersey, USA estuarine system as a case study. Eelgrass (Zostera marina) is the dominant species, while widgeon grass (Ruppia maritima) is also common in lower salinity regions of the BB-LEH. Aerial imagery collected during the months of July and August 2009 was interpreted and mapped using object based image analysis techniques, similar to techniques used in the 2003 mapping survey of this system. Boat-based in situ monitoring data were collected concurrently with the aerial photography to assist the image interpretation and for an independent accuracy assessment. We compared the remotely-sensed mapping of sea grass cover change (in 2003 vs. 2009) vs. in situ plot-based monitoring conducted from 2004 through 2009. Comparison of the remotely-sensed vs. the in situ plot-change analysis suggests that the two methodologies had broadly similarly results, with the percent area showing declines in sea grass cover greater than those that exhibited increases. In conclusion, the two studies provide corroborating evidence that sea grass has declined in percent cover in the BB-LEH system during the decade of the 2000’s. While remotely-sensed surveys provide synoptic information for a “big picture” view on sea grass distribution, site specific in situ sampling is required to determine other aspects of sea grass status, e.g. above vs. below-ground biomass, blade length, shoot density, epiphytic loading, etc. Either method alone gives an incomplete picture. As demonstrated in this study, to fully characterize the spatial extent, health, and density of sea grass meadows across the entire estuary, combining remote sensing surveys concomitantly with comprehensive in situ assessment provides the most robust approach.     

NYSDEC's DER‐31/Green Remediation Policy Influences Tool Development and Global Program

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) Division of Environmental Remediation (DER) issued a program policy focused on the overall sustainability of hazardous waste site cleanups on August 11, 2010. This DER‐31/Green Remediation program policy (DER‐31) was issued in accordance with 6 New York Codes, Rules and Regulations (NYCRR) Part 375 Environmental Remediation Programs. DER‐31 represents one of the first government‐issued green and sustainable remediation (GSR) policies in the United States. Consistent with other DER policies, DER‐31's provisions are broadly considered to be an expectation/requirement. GSR experts from within AECOM's Remediation Services (RS) Practice Area developed and implemented a GSR program designed to comply with DER‐31 provisions and have now broadly incorporated GSR into our New York remediation projects. Lessons learned from this experience in New York have influenced AECOM's global GSR program and implementation procedures and prompted the development of a new GSR tool (GSRx^TM) for identifying and assessing GSR best management practices (BMPs), which has also been employed globally. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Linking Biological Integrity and Watershed Models to Assess the Impacts of Historical Land Use and Climate Changes on Stream Health

Land use change and other human disturbances have significant impacts on physicochemical and biological conditions of stream systems. Meanwhile, linking these disturbances with hydrology and water quality conditions is challenged due to the lack of high-resolution datasets and the selection of modeling techniques that can adequately deal with the complex and nonlinear relationships of natural systems. This study addresses the above concerns by employing a watershed model to obtain stream flow and water quality data and fill a critical gap in data collection. The data were then used to estimate fish index of biological integrity (IBI) within the Saginaw Bay basin in Michigan. Three methods were used in connecting hydrology and water quality variables to fish measures including stepwise linear regression, partial least squares regression, and fuzzy logic. The IBI predictive model developed using fuzzy logic showed the best performance with the R ² = 0.48. The variables that identified as most correlated to IBI were average annual flow, average annual organic phosphorus, average seasonal nitrite, average seasonal nitrate, and stream gradient. Next, the predictions were extended to pre-settlement (mid-1800s) land use and climate conditions. Results showed overall significantly higher IBI scores under the pre-settlement land use scenario for the entire watershed. However, at the fish sampling locations, there was no significant difference in IBI. Results also showed that including historical climate data have strong influences on stream flow and water quality measures that interactively affect stream health; therefore, should be considered in developing baseline ecological conditions.     

Male's return rate, rather than territory fidelity and breeding dispersal, explains geographic variation in song sharing in two populations of an oscine passerine (Oreothlypis celata)

Males of some oscine passerines learn and share songs of neighboring males. This process can lead to the formation of song pattern neighborhoods or microhabitat song dialects. The degree to which song sharing occurs between populations and the spatial scale over which neighboring males share songs, however, can vary widely, and interpopulation comparisons have suggested that song sharing is more common in residents than in migrants. Here, we examine two populations of the orange-crowned warbler (Oreothlypis celata) to quantify patterns of song sharing at the northern (long-distance migrant) and southern (short-distance migrant) edges of the breeding distribution and to test if return rate, territory fidelity, and breeding dispersal explain the patterns found in the two populations. The southern population (O. celata sordida breeding on Santa Catalina Island, California; 33°N) had a higher annual return rate to their territories and exhibited higher song sharing in neighborhoods than their counterparts (O. celata celata breeding in Fairbanks, Alaska; 64°N). Year-to-year patterns of territory fidelity and breeding dispersal distances were similar between populations. Our results suggest that if migratory distance generally covaries with the proportion of returning males, this could explain different levels of song sharing between the short- and long-distance migrants.     

Evaluating the Effects of Three Forms of Marine Reserve on Northern Abalone Populations in British Columbia, Canada

Abstract: Marine reserves have been suggested as tools for assisting the management of fisheries by protecting vulnerable marine species from overexploitation. Although there is a theoretical basis for believing that marine reserves may serve as management tools, there are few marine reserves in the world in which to test their effectiveness. My research evaluated three forms of marine reserve on the south coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. I used northern abalone ( Haliotis kamtschatkana ), a severely depleted shellfish in this region, as an indicator of the effectiveness of the reserves. Abalone populations in eight sites receiving different degrees of spatial protection were counted and measured in situ during the spring of 1996 and 1997. In all sites with enforced harvest closures, populations of abalone were greater, and one site with nearly 40 years of protection had on average much larger (older) abalone. Reproductive output, as a function of abundance and size, was also greater in the enforced reserve areas. Larval dispersal from reserves, and hence the benefit to exploited areas, was not formally surveyed. Nevertheless, the results of my study, combined with knowledge of present abalone populations, life history, and regional hydrodynamics, suggest that establishment of reserves is justified in the absence of perfect knowledge of larval dispersal.     

Integrated Ecological and Regional Planning in a Rapid-Growth Setting

Toronto is among the fastest-growing urban regions in North America. Regional efforts to preserve rural landscapes and remnant habitat have had variable success. In the 1990s, significant conflict emerged over proposals to build large housing developments on portions of the Oak Ridges Moraine, a 160-km stretch of environmentally sensitive land along the city’s northern edge. After years of planning conflict, Ontario’s provincial government created the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan, an Act of the Ontario Legislature. The Plan represents a dramatic change in Ontario’s approach to conservation planning. We examine the development and implementation of the Conservation Plan as an example of environmental planning policy in a complex urban setting. Data from interviews with policy actors, planning agency documents, and geospatial sources are used to construct an analysis and discussion of the Plan and its implementation. From a policy research perspective, the evolution and implementation of the Plan require analysis and monitoring to better understand how such approaches can best be implemented. The Conservation Plan marks a change in policy in Ontario, and the implementation process highlights challenges in putting conservation plans into practice.     

Can Warmwater Streams Be Rehabilitated Using Watershed-Scale Standard Erosion Control Measures Alone?

Degradation of warmwater streams in agricultural landscapes is a pervasive problem, and reports of restoration effectiveness based on monitoring data are rare. Described is the outcome of rehabilitation of two deeply incised, unstable sand-and-gravel-bed streams. Channel networks of both watersheds were treated using standard erosion control measures, and aquatic habitats within 1-km-long reaches of each stream were further treated by addition of instream structures and planting woody vegetation on banks (“habitat rehabilitation”). Fish and their habitats were sampled semiannually during 1–2 years before rehabilitation, 3–4 years after rehabilitation, and 10–11 years after rehabilitation. Reaches with only erosion control measures located upstream from the habitat measure reaches and in similar streams in adjacent watersheds were sampled concurrently. Sediment concentrations declined steeply throughout both watersheds, with means ≥40% lower during the post-rehabilitation period than before. Physical effects of habitat rehabilitation were persistent through time, with pool habitat availability much higher in rehabilitated reaches than elsewhere. Fish community structure responded with major shifts in relative species abundance: as pool habitats increased after rehabilitation, small-bodied generalists and opportunists declined as certain piscivores and larger-bodied species such as centrarchids and catostomids increased. Reaches without habitat rehabilitation were significantly shallower, and fish populations there were similar to the rehabilitated reaches prior to treatment. These findings are applicable to incised, warmwater streams draining agricultural watersheds similar to those we studied. Rehabilitation of warmwater stream ecosystems is possible with current knowledge, but a major shift in stream corridor management strategies will be needed to reverse ongoing degradation trends. Apparently, conventional channel erosion controls without instream habitat measures are ineffective tools for ecosystem restoration in incised, warmwater streams of the Southeastern U.S., even if applied at the watershed scale and accompanied by significant reductions in suspended sediment concentration.     

Lethal and nonlethal predator effects on an herbivore guild mediated by system productivity

Indirect effects propagated through intervening species in a food web have important effects on community properties. Traditionally, these indirect effects have been conceptualized as mediated through density changes of the intervening species, but it is becoming increasingly apparent that those mediated through trait (phenotypic) responses also can be very important. Because density- and trait-mediated indirect effects have different properties, it is critical that we understand the mechanisms of transmission in order to predict how they will interact, and when or where they will be important. In this study, we examined the mechanisms and consequences of the lethal (density-mediated) and nonlethal (trait-mediated) effects of a larval odonate predator on a guild of four herbivore species (a larval anuran and three species of snails) and their resources. We also manipulated system productivity in order to explore the effects of environmental context on the transmission of these two types of indirect effects. We show that trait-mediated effects arising from the predator can be very strong relative to density-mediated effects on both the competing herbivores and the species composition and production of their resources. A number of these indirect effects are shown to be contingent on productivity of the system. We further present evidence that trait- and density-mediated indirect effects originating from a predator may be transmitted independently through different routes in a food web, particularly when spatial responses of the transmitting prey are involved. Finally, effects on prey growth due to trait responses to the predator varied from negative to positive in predictable ways as a function of time and indirect effects on the larger food web. These results indicate the important role that trait-mediated indirect effects can play in trophic cascades and keystone predator interactions, and we discuss how the mechanisms involved can be incorporated in theory.