Sapelo Research Application Form
Research Application ID: SINERR-2009-10 (submitted: 08/03/2014, status: completed)
Project Type: Grant-funded Academic Research
Application Title
Sapelo Island NERR Ecological Characterization June 2009
Investigator Information
| Principal Investigator: | Cynthia Cooksey | ||
| Home Institution: | NOAA/NOS National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science | ||
| Award Information: | (not specified) | ||
| Mailing Address: | 219 Fort Johnson Road | Phone Number: | 843/762-8653 |
| E-mail Address: | Cynthia.Cooksey@noaa.gov | ||
| Charleston, South Carolina 29412 | |||
| Co-investigators: | |||
Project Abstract
1. Objectives and Scope
This field work is being conducted as part of a Long Term Agreement between NOAA’s Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management’s (OCRM) Estuarine Reserve Division (ERD) and NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS), signed in April 2008, with the purpose of formally establishing a partnership between the National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS) and NCCOS to address common research and management goals. The primary objective for the present work is to assess the status of ecological condition of the Sapelo Island NERR (SINERR) using a probabilistic sampling framework to support unbiased statistical estimates of the spatial extent of condition relative to various measured ecological indicators and associated management thresholds. This information will provide a comprehensive weight-of-evidence basis for evaluating current condition (aka a “state-of-the-SINEER environmental report”) and serve as a quantitative benchmark for tracking any future changes due to either natural or human disturbances. Another goal of the study is to demonstrate its utility as a possible model for assessing the status of condition at other NEERS sites using similar and consistent methods to promote system-wide regional and national comparisons.
The above study objectives will be addressed using a stratified-random sampling design, consisting of a series of thirty stations selected randomly within submerged aquatic habitats at SINERR (i.e., Duplin River and nearby tidal creeks). Each station will be sampled for benthic community characteristics, sediment-associated contaminants (metals, pesticides, PAHs, PCBs, PBDEs), contaminant body-burdens in tissues of targeted biota (fish), sediment toxicity (Microtox), microbial contaminants, nutrient/chlorophyll levels, and other basic habitat characteristics (depth, temperature, pH, DO, salinity, TSS, sediment TOC and grain size). Results from the analysis of chemical contaminants in tissues of fish will also be used to help support the needs of a companion study of bottle-nose dolphin health in relation to contaminant exposure from possible prey food sources in the surrounding watershed (Lori Schwacke, Hollings Marine Lab, Charleston, SC). Thus, related sampling and analysis strategies will be carefully coordinated to ensure that goals of both studies are being met.
Sampling will be conducted June 7-14, 2009 and led by scientists from NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science.
Project Location
See Figure 1. Station location map for Sapelo Island NERR in Cruise Plan
GPS Coordinates for Study Sites
I will provide a provisional map and arrange with my sponsor to collect and register GPS coordinates
Expected Start and End Dates of the Project
Start Date: 06/07/2009 End Date: 06/14/2009
Number and Frequency of People Accessing the Site
Scientific crew will be: Cynthia Cooksey (P.I.), Jeff Hyland, Mike Fulton, JD Dubick, Travis Washburn, Blaine West, Stephen Roth, James Daugomah, and Len Balthis. Scientific crew are all affiliated with NOAA/NOS/NCCOS/CCEHBR
Keywords Describing the Project
Equipment Deployed in the Field
Scientists from NCCOS will conduct the probabilistic submerged aquatic habitat sampling from June 7-14, 2009. One team will conduct the sampling effort using a small trailerable boat (e.g., 18ft. Sea Ark). A second team, using a small trailerable boat, will assist with collections of biota for contaminant body-burden analysis. The work will be staged out of Meridian, GA.
Plants and Animal Collecting
See attachment Cruise Plan Table #3
Likely Impacts of the Project on the Site
Scientific Approach
The following standard suite of samples will be collected at each of the thirty stations listed in Figure 1 and Table 1: benthic community characteristics, sediment-associated contaminants (metals, pesticides, PAHs, PCBs, PBDEs), contaminant body-burdens in tissues of targeted biota, sediment toxicity (Microtox), microbial contamination, nutrient/chlorophyll levels, and other basic habitat characteristics (depth, temperature, pH, DO, salinity, TSS, turbidity/NTU, sediment TOC and grain size). A summary of these parameters and corresponding sampling protocols are given in Table 3. Additional observations of habitat condition will be recorded at each station as indicated in Table 4. Standard Field Sheets for recording and tracking information are included in Appendix A.
Hook-and-line fishing will be attempted at each station to collect animals for tissue-contaminant analysis. Cast netting will also be attempted at a subset of stations. Target fish species include members of the Sciaenidae (spot, croaker, whiting, seatrout, and red drum) and Mugilidae (striped mullet). Collect 2-3 specimens of at least one target species encountered at a station. An over-sampling approach of collecting and saving representative samples of any of the above target species encountered at a particular site will be followed. Once the sampling effort is completed, collected samples will be inventoried to select a subset of 30 samples to be analyzed (or maximum that budget will allow) based on criteria such as commercial/recreational value, size, and optimal spatial coverage. Another key criterion, in order to help meet goals of the companion dolphin-health assessment, will be the degree to which the species is a common food item of both bottle-nose dolphin and subsistence human populations in the area. Fish that are selected for tissue contaminant analysis will also be analyzed for diet and age (Appendix B).
Summary of in-situ measurements collected at each station by CCMA.
• Station depth (boat fathometer)
• Site description of nearby land-use/land-cover pattern (open water, agricultural, industry, Intracoastal Waterway, high-density residential, low-density residential, urban, not developed)
• Presence of surface debris
• Visible Oil (on sea surface, in bottom sediment grabs)
• Noxious odors in sediment grabs (H2S, sewage, oil)
• Visible appearance of grabs (sediment color, sediment type, visible biota)
• Presence of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) in grabs
• Secchi depth
• Water column profile (depth, turbidity, temperature, pH, DO, and salinity)
Boardwalk Installation Plans
no
Expected persistence of site impacts after the research is concluded?
1 wk
Files attached to this application
SINERR-2009-10_General_CruisePlan_SINERRS2009.doc (MS Word file, 1168.5 kb, submitted 08/12/2014)
SINERR-2009-10_General_sapelobase.xls (MS Excel file, 18.5 kb, submitted 08/12/2014)
SINERR-2009-10_General_SINERR_GPS_Research_Form_Cooksey.pdf (PDF file, 33.93 kb, submitted 08/12/2014)