Nearshore Marine Vital Signs Monitoring in the Southwest Alaska Network of National Parks

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

In 2008, we successfully completed a third year of protocol development and field sampling for the Southwest Alaska Network’s (SWAN) Nearshore Vital Signs monitoring program. The protocol narrative for the program was revised, standard operating procedures (SOPs) were revised based on 2007 sampling, and standardized data entry and database management functions were further developed. In addition, sampling was conducted in accordance with protocols set forth for each of six vital signs (kelp and seagrass, marine intertidal invertebrates, marine birds, black oystercatcher, sea otter, and marine water chemistry and quality). At both Katmai National Park and Preserve (KATM) and Kenai Fjords National Park (KEFJ), we tested newly developed preliminary sampling protocols for mussel beds and eelgrass beds; measured water temperature; deployed salinity measuring devices; and continued sampling of marine intertidal invertebrates and algae, marine birds, black oystercatchers and sea otters. In addition, we conducted an aerial survey of sea otter abundance at KATM. Methods for evaluating the abundance of mussels and eelgrass provided sufficient confidence to allow us to continue developing a SOP for implementation of monitoring in 2009. We were unable to develop a method to estimate abundance of subtidal, canopy forming kelps that would provide an acceptable level of precision at a reasonable cost. Mussel tissues that were obtained from six sites in KATM and five sites in KEFJ in 2007 were analyzed for a suite of heavy metal and organic toxicants. With the exception of high chlordane concentrations in Amalik Bay, none of the concentrations of either organics or metals appeared to be sufficiently high to be indicative of local or region-wide sources of contamination that are of ecological concern. As a result, we recommend resampling of mussel tissue at Amalik in 2009. At the other sites, we recommend that sampling of concentrations of metal and organic concentrations be measured at 5 year intervals, except in those instances when there is a reasonable cause for concern such as an oil spill or heavy ash fall from volcanoes. Sampling in 2008 at KATM represented the third year of data collection for vital signs including intertidal invertebrates and algae; marine bird surveys; black oystercatcher diet and productivity; and sea otter diet. For each of these, we presented coefficients of variation (CVs) to evaluate the extent of spatial and temporal variation for each metric and to evaluate our ability to detect reasonable levels of change. For most metrics, the data suggests that methods used will allow us to detect levels of change that are ecologically important. Exceptions were for the abundance of small motile invertebrates at rocky intertidal sites and for several bird species that displayed a great deal of spatial variation. We intend to either discontinue sampling (in the case of small motile invertebrates) or modify sampling protocols (in the case of bird abundance) to increase our ability to detect changes for these metrics. In 2009, we plan to continue revision of the sampling protocol and SOPs, continue to develop data entry and data management procedures, and continue sampling of vital signs at both KATM and KEFJ.

Nearshore Marine Vital Signs Monitoring in the Southwest Alaska Network of National Parks

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