SWAN Monitoring Marine Nearshore
Coletti H. SWAN Monitoring Marine Nearshore. 2006. National Park Service
The nearshore is broadly recognized as highly susceptible and sensitive to a variety of both natural and human disturbances on a variety of temporal and spatial scales. For example, observed changes in nearshore systems have been attributed to such diverse causes as global climate change, earthquakes, oil spills, human disturbance and removals, and influences of invasive species. Nearshore systems are especially good indicators of change because organisms in the nearshore are relatively sedentary, accessible, and manipulable. Also, in contrast to other marine habitats, there is a comparatively thorough understanding of mechanistic links between species and their physical environment that facilitates understanding causes for change. Additionally, the nearshore is the one habitat within which it is most likely that we will be able to detect relatively localized sources of change, tease apart human induced from naturally induced changes and, provide suggestions for management actions to reduce human induced impacts. Because many of the organisms in the nearshore are sessile or have relatively limited home ranges, they can be geographically linked to sources of change with a reasonable degree of accuracy. Sea otter objectives: Estimate distribution and density of sea otters in Southwest Alaska parklands. Estimate age composition of dying sea otters. Investigate role and response to the structure and function of nearshore communities. Kelp and eelgrass objectives: Document broad-scale decadal changes in occurrence and distribution of canopy kelps, eelgrass, and surfgrass along the entire length of the southwest Alaska coastline using oblique aerial video imagery. Document smaller-scale annual changes in species composition, distribution, and relative abundance of kelps and seagrasses within intensively sampled sites. Intertidal invertebrates objectives: Monitor long-term trends in invertebrate species size, distribution, density, and percent cover at randomly selected sites in sheltered rocky and mixed sand-gravel habitats as well as specified mussel bed sites. Marine bird objectives: Estimate the species composition, distribution, and density of marine birds and mammals that occur within nearshore habitats. Black oystercatcher objectives: Determine black oystercatcher nest density, nest occupancy rates, and size and species composition of prey brought back to the nest site to provision chicks. Marine water chemistry objectives: Monitor status and trends in the concentration of metals, organochlorides, PCBs, and mercury in mussel tissue.
- Type
- Project
- Authors
- Coletti, Heather
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- KATM , KEFJ , SWAN
- Keywords
- black oystercatcher, eelgrass, intertidal, invertebrate, kelp, mussel, sea otter, sea star
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Marine Communities , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Intertidal Communities , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Birds
Program
Products
- Protocol narrative for marine nearshore ecosystem monitoring in the Southwest Alaska Network of National Parks: Version 1.1
- SOP for monitoring intertidal bivalves on mixed-sediment beaches — version 2.0: Southwest Alaska Inventory and Monitoring Network
- Mussel bed sampling: standard operating procedure, v. 1.2, Southwest Alaska Network
- Eelgrass (Zostera marina) bed sampling: standard operating procedure, v. 1.0, Southwest Alaska Network
- SOP for sampling of intertidal invertebrates and algae on sheltered rocky shores - Version 4.6: Southwest Alaska Inventory and Monitoring Network
- SOP for collecting sea otter forage data - Version 3.1: Southwest Alaska Inventory and Monitoring Network
- SOP for conducting sea otter aerial surveys - Version 1.2: Southwest Alaska Inventory and Monitoring Network
- SOP for monitoring black oystercatchers - Version 1.1: Southwest Alaska Inventory and Monitoring Network
- SOP for Conducting Coastline Surveys of Birds and Mammals, Animal Carcasses, Debris and Other Resources – Version 1.1: Southwest Alaska Inventory and Monitoring
- SOP for conducting marine bird and mammal surveys - Version 4.1: Southwest Alaska Inventory and Monitoring Network
- Gene expression profiles in two razor clam populations: discerning drivers of population status
- Sea otter population collapse in southwest Alaska: assessing ecological covariates, consequences, and casual factors
- The Pacific Marine Heatwave: Monitoring During a Major Perturbation in the Gulf of Alaska. Long-Term Monitoring Program (Gulf Watch Alaska) Synthesis Report, (Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council Program 19120114)
- Ecosystem response persists after a prolonged marine heatwave
- Heatwave‐induced synchrony within forage fish portfolio disrupts energy flow to top pelagic predators
- Changes in rocky intertidal community structure during a marine heatwave in the northern Gulf of Alaska
- Gulf Watch Alaska: Nearshore ecosystems in the Gulf of Alaska. Long-Term Monitoring Program (Gulf Watch Alaska) Final Report (Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council Project 16120114-R)
- A Synthesis of Ten Years of Chemical Contaminants Monitoring in National Park Service - Southeast and Southwest Alaska Networks, a collaboration with the NOAA National Mussel Watch Program
- Nearshore Marine Systems
- Monitoring nearshore ecosystem health using Pacific razor clams (Siliqua patula) as an indicator species
- Extreme mortality and reproductive failure of common murres resulting from the northeast Pacific marine heatwave of 2014-2016
- Port Valdez Mussel Transcriptomics
- Wasting disease and static environmental variables drive sea star assemblages in the Northern Gulf of Alaska
- Future directions in sea otter research and management
- Intertidal ecosystem indicators in the northern Gulf of Alaska
- Gulf Watch Alaska: Nearshore benthic systems in the Gulf of Alaska. Long-Term Monitoring Program (Gulf Watch Alaska) Final Report (Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council Project 16120114-R)
- Gulf Watch Alaska: Nearshore benthic systems in the Gulf of Alaska. Long-Term Monitoring Program (Gulf Watch Alaska) Final Report (Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council Project 16120114-R)
- Long-term monitoring: nearshore benthic ecosystems in Kachemak Bay. Long-term Monitoring Program (Gulf Watch Alaska) Final Report (Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council Project 16120114-L)
- Nearshore marine bird surveys: Data synthesis, analysis and recommendations for sampling frequency and intensity to detect population trends. Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Long-Term Monitoring Program (Gulf Watch Alaska) Final Report (Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council Project 12120114-F)
- Are prey remains accurate indicators of chick diet? A comparison of diet quantification techniques for Black Oystercatchers
- Variation in abundance of Pacific Blue Mussel (Mytilus trossulus) in the Northern Gulf of Alaska, 2006–2015
- Black Oystercatchers
- Intertidal Zone Mapping
- Marine Birds
- Mussels
- Sea Otters
- Sea Star Wasting Disease
- Lingering Oil: Extending the Tracking of Oil Levels and Weathering (PAH Composition) in PWS through Time. Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Restoration Project Final Report (Restoration Project 12120014-S)
- Detecting and inferring cause of change in an Alaska nearshore marine ecosystem
- Influence of static habitat attributes on local and regional rocky intertidal community structure
- Nearshore Benthic Systems in the Gulf of Alaska Annual Report for 2015
- Gulf Watch Alaska Long-term Monitoring Program - Evaluating Chronic Exposure of Harlequin Ducks and Sea Otters to Lingering Exxon Valdez Oil in Western Prince William Sound. Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Restoration Project Final Report (Restoration Project 12120114-Q)
- Nearshore marine vital signs monitoring in the Southwest Alaska Network of National Parks: 2012
- Nearshore marine vital signs monitoring in the Southwest Alaska Network of National Parks: 2011
- Long-term effects of the ‘Exxon Valdez’ oil spill: sea otter foraging in the intertidal as a pathway of exposure to lingering oil
- Nearshore marine vital signs monitoring in the Southwest Alaska Network of National Parks: 2010
- Sea otter abundance in Kenai Fjords National Park: Results from the 2010 aerial survey
- Distribution and density of marine birds and mammals along the Kenai Fjords National Park coastline - March 2010: Southwest Alaska Network Inventory and Monitoring Program
- Nearshore Marine Vital Signs Monitoring in the Southwest Alaska Network of National Parks
- Nearshore marine vital signs monitoring in the Southwest Alaska Network of National Parks
- Nearshore Marine Monitoring in the Southwest Alaska Network of National Parks
- Evidence of increased mussel abundance related to the Pacific marine heatwave and sea star wasting
- Stable isotope-determined diets of black oystercatchers Haematopus Bachmani in the Northern Gulf of Alaska
- Gene expression and wildlife health: varied interpretations based on perspective
- Marine bird mass mortality events as an indicator of the impacts of ocean warming
- Lack of strong responses to the Pacific marine heatwave by benthivorous marine birds indicates importance of trophic drivers
- Relative Importance of Macroalgae and Phytoplankton to Nearshore Consumers and Growth Across Climatic Conditions in the Northern Gulf of Alaska
- Latitudinal gradients and sex differences in morphology of the Black Oystercatcher (Haematopus bachmani)
- Brown bear-sea otter interactions along the Katmai coast: terrestrial and nearshore communities linked by predation
- Sea otter distribution aerial survey, Lake Clark National Park, Alaska
- Razor clam density estimates 1998 and 2019 in Hallo Bay, Alaska
- Nearshore Ecosystems in the Gulf of Alaska. Long-Term Monitoring Program (Gulf Watch Alaska) Final Report (Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council Project 21120114-H)
- Nearshore ecosystems in the Gulf of Alaska (Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council Project 22120114-H)
- Physiological and gene transcription assays to assess responses of mussels to environmental changes
- Variability Within Nearshore Ecosystems of the Gulf of Alaska
- Black Oystercatchers
- Marine Birds
- Mussels
- Sea Otters
- Sea Star Wasting Disease
- Monitoring for Evaluation of Recovery and Restoration of Injured Nearshore Resources
- Sea start wasting disease
- Black oystercatcher chick diet and provisioning: 2014 annual report
- Intertidal Communities
- Sea otter
- Marine birds
- Intertidal communitiies
- Diet patterns of black oystercatchers (Haematopus bachmani) in the northern Gulf of Alaska
- Black oystercatcher chick diet and provisioning: 2013 annual report
- Black oystercatchers
- Black Oystercatcher
- Kelp and Eelgrass
- Marine Birds
- Marine Intertidal Invertebrates
- Sea Otter
- Protocol narrative for marine nearshore ecosystem monitoring in the Southwest Alaska Network of National Parks: Version 1.0
- Nearshore marine vital signs monitoring in the Southwest Alaska Network of National Parks: 2009
- The genetic response of Pacific razor clams to domoic acid
- Divergent Gene Expression Profiles in Alaskan Sea Otters: An Indicator of Chronic Domoic Acid Exposure?
- Sea Otter Behavior and Its Influence on Littoral Community Structure
- Where Land and Sea Meet: Brown Bears and Sea Otters
- The Mysterious Case of the Missing Razor Clams
- Species distribution modeling of northern sea otters (Enhydra lutris kenyoni) in a data-limited ecosystem
- Transcriptomics as an Early Warning of Domoic Acid Exposure in Pacific Razor Clams (Siliqua patula)
- The important role of seaweed in nearshore food webs