Monitoring salt marsh vegetation and nekton at Gateway National Recreation Area’s Sandy Hook Unit: 2012 summary report
Nocosia EL. 2013. Monitoring salt marsh vegetation and nekton at Gateway National Recreation Area’s Sandy Hook Unit: 2012 summary report. Natural Resource Data Series. NPS/NCBN/NRDS—2013/458. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado
The Northeast Coastal and Barrier Network (NCBN) began monitoring salt marsh vegetation and nekton at Gateway National Recreation Area’s Sandy Hook Unit (GATE-SHU) in 2010. This report summarizes the second year of data collected at three permanent monitoring sites during the summer of 2012. Monitoring will continue on a biennial basis. Approximately fifty vegetation plots were sampled at each of the three marsh sites (total = 146 plots). The percent cover of each vegetation species and non-vegetation cover type within each 1 m2 plot was visually estimated using a revised Braun-Blanquet method. Twenty-four vegetation species and four non-vegetation cover types (bare ground, water, wrack & litter, and trash) were recorded. A total of 21 nekton stations were established (on creeks and pools/pannes) and sampled. Each station was sampled in late June. Normally, each station is sampled for a second time in late summer; however, in 2012 sampling during Event 2 was incomplete and only 2 of the 21 stations were sampled. Nekton stations were sampled using a 1 m2 aluminum throw trap. Nine species of nekton were recorded at GATE-SHU in 2012, including six fish, two crab, and one shrimp species. Common mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus), Atlantic silverside (Menidia menidia), and daggerblade grass shrimp (Palaemonetes pugio) account for approximately 96% of all nekton captured in 2012.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Nocosia, Erika
- Date of Issue
- 2013-03
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- GATE , NCBN , NRSS
- Keywords
- Braun-Blanquet method, GATE, Gateway National Recreation Area, inventory and monitoring program, Monitoring, NCBN, Nekton, nekton stations, Northeast Coastal and Barrier Network, Salt Marsh, Sandy Hook Unit, Vegetation, Vegetation Plots