Monitoring coastal salt marshes in the Lake Clark and Katmai National Parklands of the Southwest Alaska Network
Jorgenson MT, Frost GV, Miller AE, Spencer P, Shephard M, Mangipane BA, Moore C, Lindsay C. 2010. Monitoring coastal salt marshes in the Lake Clark and Katmai National Parklands of the Southwest Alaska Network. Natural Resource Technical Report. NPS/SWAN/NRTR—2010/338. Natural Resource Program Center. Fort Collins, Colorado
Monitoring of salt marshes in Lake Clark (LACL) and Katmai (KATM) National Parks and Preserves focuses on the major habitat characteristics that support nearshore and terrestrial indicators (e.g., brown bears, seabirds, intertidal marine invertebrates, and algae) in the Southwest Alaska Network (SWAN), and on the major drivers of change in these habitats. Drivers include tectonic uplift, erosional and depositional geomorphic processes, changing topography and surface hydrology, tidal fluctuations and storm surges, sedimentation rates, salinity, and vegetation succession. We used a nested sampling approach that incorporates extensive and intensive ground measurements and remote sensing techniques. The nested design includes: (1) field sampling at Silver Salmon, Chinitna Bay, and Hallo Bay; (2) establishment of four equi-distant transects oriented perpendicular to shoreline that capture topographic variation within each site; and (3) systematic allocation of vegetation monitoring plots every 100 m along the transects, with additional, targeted plots added in uncommon plant communities. The monitoring effort requires a team of six people to sample three sites over a four-week period every ten years. Dataloggers installed at each site are scheduled to be maintained every 1–3 years.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Jorgenson, M.; Frost, Gerald; Miller, Amy; Spencer, Page; Shephard, Michael; Mangipane, Buck; Moore, Claudette; Lindsay, Charles
- Date of Issue
- 2010-06
- Publisher
- Natural Resource Program Center
- Units
- KATM , LACL , NRSS , SWAN
- Keywords
- coastal salt marsh, Erosion, Monitoring, nested sampling, Salinity, Sediment, Sedimentation, Tidal flats, vegetation distribution