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Michael J. Kennish
Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences
BIOTIC INDEX DEVELOPMENT:DATA MANAGEMENT
Presented at NJWMCC Meeting
September 12, 2008
Regulatory Requirements• CWA Section 305 (b)
Statewide Water Quality Assessment
• CWA Section 303(d)ID waters which are impaired
• CWA Section 403(c)Determine whether a discharge may cause unreasonable degradation of the marine environment
DE
Long Island
NewJersey
Depth
LEO
Barnegat
Historical Recurrent Hypoxia Centers
Field Station
Cape May
Warsh – NOAA1989
12 m15 m20 m25 m30 m35 m40 m50 m100 m500 m1000m2500m
Hypoxia/Anoxia & Bottom Bathymetry
40N
74W75W
39N
Temperature oC19 20 21 22 24
July 6, ’98 - AVHRR
FieldStation
LEO
40N
74W75W
39N
FieldStation
Chlor-a (mg/m3).1 .3 .5 1 2 4
July 11, ‘98 - SeaWiFS
LEO
Barnegat
Cape May
New Jersey Coastal Upwelling
HistoricalHypoxia/Anoxia
NS
Design for August/Sept 2007Sample Collection
Probabilistic design that incorporates the strata agreed on by the workshopattendees.
Mixing zones were not specifically targeted, but maybe included. Later sampling to be performed to capturemixing zone effects.
• Develop an Indicator of Ecosystem Health (Ocean and Estuary)
• Index that Assesses Benthic Condition
• Measure Habitat Quality/Environmental Impairment
• Long-term Monitoring Tool
GOALDevelop an Index to Define Condition
1. Compile Existing Databases
2. Conduct Field Sampling to Fill Gaps
3. Assess All Databases
4. Produce a Benthic Biotic Index
EXISTING DATABASES
NCA
REMAP
USEPA (RARE SAMPLES)
NY/NJ HARBOR ESTUARY
NJ GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
US ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS
MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE
CLAM SURVEYS (NJDEP/RUTGERS)
LEO-15
NMFS (12-MILE DUMPSITE)
BENTHIC FIELD SAMPLING DESIGN
2007 Sampling Strategy (Coastal Ocean)
NJ Coastal Bays (Estuarine Sampling)
Barnegat Bay
Little Egg Harbor
Nearshore Ocean (0-5 km) – Random Sampling
Wastewater Outfalls – Targeted
BASIC STEPS (BENTHIC INDEX)
Define Habitat Types
Select Benthic Attributes (Degraded/Reference Sites)
Measure Metrics
Construct Index
Validate Index
CANDIDATE METRICS FOR BENTHIC INDEX_________________________________________________________Taxonomic Composition
Diversity Measures (Shannon-Wiener Index)
Faunal Abundance (e.g. Bivalves, Gastropods, Polychaetes)
Biomass and Species Dominance
Percent Abundance of Pollution Tolerant Taxa
Percent Abundance of Pollution Sensitive Taxa
National Coastal Assessment (NCA)
• Benthic Communities
• Document Biotic Responses
– Contaminant Exposure
– Organic Enrichment
– Hypoxia
– Nutrient Enrichment
– Dredging
INTEGRATED ASSESSMENT (REQUIRED)
1. Chlorophyll a
2. Total Nitrogen
3. Nuisance/Toxic Algal Blooms (Occurrence/Frequency)
4. Macroalgae (Abundance/Biomass/Distribution)
5. Benthic Microalgae and Epiphytic Algal Growth
6. Seagrass Habitat (Biomass, Distribution, Shoot Density, Blade Length)
7. Fisheries (Shellfish)
DATA GAPSAerial and In-Situ Seagrass Surveys
Biological Threshold Values“Tipping Points”
Chlorophyll aTotal Nitrogen Seagrass BiomassSeagrass DensitySeagrass Areal CoverSeagrass Blade Length
Track Algal Blooms
Test Relevant Benthic Indicators
Benthic Invertebrate Sampling1969-1974 vs. 2009-2014
Shellfish Surveys
INDEX DEVELOPMENTINDEX DEVELOPMENT
MultimetricMultimetric IndexIndex
BB--IBIIBIWeisberg et al. 1997Weisberg et al. 1997Adams et al. 1998Adams et al. 1998Van Van DolahDolah et al. 1999et al. 1999Paul et al. 2001Paul et al. 2001LlansoLlanso et al. 2002et al. 2002
BENTHIC INDEX OF BIOTIC INTEGRITY
• Multimetric Approach
• Select Habitat Strata (Environmental Variables)
• Identify Reference and Degraded Sites
• Measure Biological Attributes (=Metrics)
• Discriminate Between Degraded and Reference Sites
• Calculate Thresholds for Each Metric
• Sum Metric Scores and Establish the Index