BIOTIC INDEX DEVELOPMENT: DATA MANAGEMENT Biotic Index Development.pdfBIOTIC INDEX DEVELOPMENT: DATA MANAGEMENT Presented at NJWMCC Meeting September 12, 2008. Regulatory Requirements

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