Nearshore marine vital signs monitoring in the Southwest Alaska Network of National Parks: 2011

Coletti, Heather; Bodkin, James; Dean, Thomas; Kloecker, Kimberly

In 2011, we successfully completed another year of field sampling for the Southwest Alaska Network‘s (SWAN) Nearshore Vital Signs monitoring program in accordance with standard operating procedures set forth for the six vital signs: marine intertidal invertebrates, kelp and seagrass, marine water chemistry and quality, marine birds, black oystercatcher, and sea otter. Summer sampling in 2011 represented the fifth year of data collection at Kenai Fjords National Park (KEFJ) for the vital signs: intertidal invertebrates, kelps and seagrasses, water chemistry and quality, marine bird surveys, black oystercatcher diet and productivity, and sea otter diet. No modifications were made to the rocky intertidal sampling protocol from previous years and the protocol and SOPs have been finalized. Hobo water temperature sensors are currently deployed at five rocky intertidal sites in KEFJ. In addition, salinity loggers are co-located at all rocky intertidal sites at KEFJ. We implemented a fourth year of mussel bed and eelgrass bed sampling and a final SOP for sampling mussel beds is near completion and will be sent out for peer review in 2013. Modifications for eelgrass bed monitoring are being made and a new draft SOP will be sent for review in the spring of 2013. KATM was not sampled in 2011, but will be again in 2012. 2011 represented the third year of sampling in Prince William Sound (PWS). Data from PWS rocky intertidal is presented here in anticipation that all three areas (KATM, KEFJ and PWS) will continue to be sampled and analyzed together in order to provide a larger spatial context to the analyses. Marine bird surveys in KEFJ and KATM will continue with little modification in 2012. For marine bird surveys, we recommend that the survey effort continue until further analysis can be completed. The existing SOP for marine bird surveys is final. Black oystercatcher abundance, nest density, productivity and diet data should continue to be collected with little revision. Sampling at the current intensity should allow us to detect trends in changes of nest density, productivity and diet (especially prey size) of the black oystercatcher. The SOP for black oystercatcher monitoring is also final. Sea otter foraging data was collected in KEFJ in 2011. Mussels (Mytilus trossulus) dominated sea otter diets across all years of data collection (2007-2011), comprising 61% of the diet. Clams were the second most prominent prey item, comprising 25% of the diet. Otherwise, chitons, crabs, octopus, snails, sea stars, sea urchins, and other prey each comprised less than 10% of the of prey recovered. Annually there has been little observed change in the predominant prey category at either KATM or KEFJ. A sea otter forage database has been completed. Database completion will ease data entry both in the field and office as well as optimize data analysis. Carcass collection continues in KEFJ, although to date we have not recovered enough carcasses from KEFJ to employ age-specific mortality analyses.

Nearshore marine vital signs monitoring in the Southwest Alaska Network of National Parks: 2011

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