NCCN Monitoring Intertidal

Fradkin, Steven; Baccus, Bill

Monitor invertebrate and macroalgal communities of major intertidal habitats (rocky shorelines and sand beaches) in Olympic National Park (OLYM), San Juan Island National Historical Park (SAJH), and Lewis and Clark National Historical Park (LEWI). The goal of this project is to detect ecologically significant changes in key intertidal biota and regulating environmental factors in the major habitats of NCCN parks as indicators of ecosystem health and as an early warning of ecosystem impacts. The intertidal zone occupies the overlap between terrestrial and nearshore marine ecosystems. As such, the processes and organisms there are susceptible to anthropogenic stressors from both land and sea. The NCCN intertidal zone is an extremely rich reservoir of biodiversity that is important both ecologically and culturally. These areas host the highest diversity of marine invertebrates and macroalgae on the west coast of North America. Intertidal organisms are relied upon by Native American communities for ceremonial and subsistence purposes, and the NPS has special trust responsibilities to protect these resources. The general American public also exploits intertidal resources and appreciates the intrinsic beauty and wilderness character of the intertidal zone. Monitoring of intertidal biota and the dominant physical factor influencing them provides an important baseline for assessing the impacts of oil spills and understanding the impacts associated with global climate change. Such understanding can be incorporated into park management decisions and adaptation strategies. This project monitors invertebrate and macroalgal communities of major intertidal habitats (rocky shorelines and sand beaches) in Olympic National Park (OLYM), San Juan Island National Historical Park (SAJH), and Lewis and Clark National Historical Park (LEWI). There are 7 rocky intertidal sites for monitoring target species and communities in OLYM, LEWI and SAJH. Each of these seven sites is part of the MARINe (Multi-Agency Rocky Intertidal Network) network and contains plots that target the abundance of key habitat forming species. Six of these seven sites also monitor a keystone seastar predator. Four of these seven sites, which are all in OLYM, are used for monitoring whole communities to track trends in their composition and elevational distribution, aspects predicted to be altered by climate change. Additionally, 8 sand beach sites have been established in OLYM to detect trends in infaunal community structure, and 11 temperature sites have been established to track changes in intertidal water temperature in each distinct oceanographic zone in OLYM and SAJH. Also, general weather, sea conditions, and debris and pollutants, are noted at each field sampling. REGARDING what species/communities examined: Because the intertidal zone of the NCCN is host to a wide diversity of marine taxa that require uncommonly found taxonomic expertise, two strategies are employed to minimize the extent of taxonomic expertise required in the field. First, only upper-elevation communities are being monitored. Taxonomic diversity generally increases in the lower tidal zone, and this area is not being targeted by this data collection. Second, certain taxa are grouped into higher taxonomic levels and functional groups (i.e. articulated corallines, red-blade algae, chitons). Analyses of MARINe photoplots are conducted by highly trained intertidal ecologists. REGARDING items excluded from data collection: In targeted species plots, weakly mobile invertebrates (i.e. limpets, snails) are not scored. Only sedentary mobile invertebrates such as Pisaster ochraceus (PIOC) and chitons (CHITO) are scored under point contacts. For Community Rocky Shoreline data collection, only sessile species and weakly mobile animals are monitored. Sand Beach Monitoring data collection is only done on fine-sand beaches. So

NCCN Monitoring Intertidal

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