What's Living on Living Shorelines?
What’s Living on Living Shorelines? Monitoring a Hybrid Living Shoreline Project in Delaware Bay
J. Paterno1, L. Calvo1, D. Bushek1, M. Katkowski2 1
Rutgers University, Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory 2 The Nature Conservancy
Gandy’s Beach Shoreline Protection Project Conservation Goals •Restore salt marsh and adjacent uplands •Improve natural coastal defenses against future storms Project Benefits •Reduces current erosion rate and storm damage and improves ecosystem connectivity •Increases protective capacity to buffer adjacent uplands •Restores and enhances habitat for migratory birds, fish, near-shore marine species and provides nursery habitats for commercial and recreational fish and shellfish •Provides suitable oyster habitat to promote the growth of oyster reefs •Improves near-shore water quality The project is supported by federal funding from the Hurricane Sandy Disaster Relief Act.
Shell bag breakwaters
Oyster Castles®
Nantuxent Creek, Money Island NJ Downe Township
Finfish and Mobile Invertebrate Monitoring
Pre‐installation monitoring: July‐October 2015
Post‐installation monitoring: July‐October 2016
Species Paleomonetes spp. Callinectes sapidus Fundulus heterclitus Menidia menidia Gobiosoma bosci Bairdiella chrysoura Penaeus aztecus Crangon septemspinosa Anchoa mitchili Fundulus majalis Opsanus tau Rhithropanopeus harrisii Anguilla rostrata Cynoscion regalis Micropogonias undulatus Paralichthys dentatus Pogonias cromis Panopeus herbstii Limulus polyphemus Trinectes maculatus Centropristis striata Gobiesox strumosus Cyprinodon variegatus Morone americana
Common Name grass shrimp blue crab mummichog Atlantic silverside naked goby silver perch brown shrimp sand shrimp bay anchovy striped killifish oyster toadfish estuarine mud crab American eel weakfish Atlantic croaker summer flounder black drum Atlantic mud crab horseshoe crab hog choker black sea bass skilletfish sheepshead minnow white perch
Pre‐installation July‐October 2015 1230 612 158 184 87 110 3 29 8 32 4 2 7 3 7 5 3 3 0 0 0 0 1 1
Post‐installation July‐October 2016 1234 361 68 15 54 8 67 15 30 6 25 12 5 4 0 2 1 0 2 2 2 1 0 0
Total number of species 20 20
Cummulative Number of Species Collected
Species Accumulation 25
20
15
10
Pre‐installation
5
Post‐installation
0
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Number of Net Deployments
Species Diversity 2015 1.542 0.683
Shannon H' Simpson index of diversity 1‐D
Mean Species Richness Per Sample Species Richness
10 8 6 4 2 0 2015
2016 Year
2016 1.270 0.545
Oyster Recruitment Monitoring
Random Sampling Design • Four transect lines placed at randomly selected locations perpendicular to structure • Three quadrat center points are identified at random locations along each transect line • Twelve, 10x10 cm quadrats examined per reef structure
In each quadrat: • Counted all oysters • Measured five oysters • Counted ribbed mussels • Estimated percent cover of fouling organisms (barnacles, algae, tunicates etc.)
Average Number of Oysters per Quadrat
Oyster Abundance: Gandy’s Beach 20 15 10 5 0 1
2
3 Castle Deck
4
5
Oyster Size Frequency 300
Frequency
250 200 150
Shell Bags
100
Castles
50 0 5
10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 Shell Height Bin (mm)
Trends • Densities of spat in Nantuxent Creek were greater than on Gandy’s Beach (p=0.007) • Recruitment was similar across all castle decks on Gandy’s Beach, except for deck 5 (p=0.0497) • Excluding reefs built in November 2016, reef installation date over a 1 year period did not cause significant differences in recruitment on structures (p=0.686) • However, installation date did have a significant relationship with oyster size (p
J. Paterno1, L. Calvo1, D. Bushek1, M. Katkowski2 1
Rutgers University, Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory 2 The Nature Conservancy
Gandy’s Beach Shoreline Protection Project Conservation Goals •Restore salt marsh and adjacent uplands •Improve natural coastal defenses against future storms Project Benefits •Reduces current erosion rate and storm damage and improves ecosystem connectivity •Increases protective capacity to buffer adjacent uplands •Restores and enhances habitat for migratory birds, fish, near-shore marine species and provides nursery habitats for commercial and recreational fish and shellfish •Provides suitable oyster habitat to promote the growth of oyster reefs •Improves near-shore water quality The project is supported by federal funding from the Hurricane Sandy Disaster Relief Act.
Shell bag breakwaters
Oyster Castles®
Nantuxent Creek, Money Island NJ Downe Township
Finfish and Mobile Invertebrate Monitoring
Pre‐installation monitoring: July‐October 2015
Post‐installation monitoring: July‐October 2016
Species Paleomonetes spp. Callinectes sapidus Fundulus heterclitus Menidia menidia Gobiosoma bosci Bairdiella chrysoura Penaeus aztecus Crangon septemspinosa Anchoa mitchili Fundulus majalis Opsanus tau Rhithropanopeus harrisii Anguilla rostrata Cynoscion regalis Micropogonias undulatus Paralichthys dentatus Pogonias cromis Panopeus herbstii Limulus polyphemus Trinectes maculatus Centropristis striata Gobiesox strumosus Cyprinodon variegatus Morone americana
Common Name grass shrimp blue crab mummichog Atlantic silverside naked goby silver perch brown shrimp sand shrimp bay anchovy striped killifish oyster toadfish estuarine mud crab American eel weakfish Atlantic croaker summer flounder black drum Atlantic mud crab horseshoe crab hog choker black sea bass skilletfish sheepshead minnow white perch
Pre‐installation July‐October 2015 1230 612 158 184 87 110 3 29 8 32 4 2 7 3 7 5 3 3 0 0 0 0 1 1
Post‐installation July‐October 2016 1234 361 68 15 54 8 67 15 30 6 25 12 5 4 0 2 1 0 2 2 2 1 0 0
Total number of species 20 20
Cummulative Number of Species Collected
Species Accumulation 25
20
15
10
Pre‐installation
5
Post‐installation
0
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Number of Net Deployments
Species Diversity 2015 1.542 0.683
Shannon H' Simpson index of diversity 1‐D
Mean Species Richness Per Sample Species Richness
10 8 6 4 2 0 2015
2016 Year
2016 1.270 0.545
Oyster Recruitment Monitoring
Random Sampling Design • Four transect lines placed at randomly selected locations perpendicular to structure • Three quadrat center points are identified at random locations along each transect line • Twelve, 10x10 cm quadrats examined per reef structure
In each quadrat: • Counted all oysters • Measured five oysters • Counted ribbed mussels • Estimated percent cover of fouling organisms (barnacles, algae, tunicates etc.)
Average Number of Oysters per Quadrat
Oyster Abundance: Gandy’s Beach 20 15 10 5 0 1
2
3 Castle Deck
4
5
Oyster Size Frequency 300
Frequency
250 200 150
Shell Bags
100
Castles
50 0 5
10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 Shell Height Bin (mm)
Trends • Densities of spat in Nantuxent Creek were greater than on Gandy’s Beach (p=0.007) • Recruitment was similar across all castle decks on Gandy’s Beach, except for deck 5 (p=0.0497) • Excluding reefs built in November 2016, reef installation date over a 1 year period did not cause significant differences in recruitment on structures (p=0.686) • However, installation date did have a significant relationship with oyster size (p
