Download any area of the marine environment that has

Experimental methods of quantifying and
monitoring ecological response to notake marine reserves in Northeastern
National Parks
Jason Krumholz
Graduate School of Oceanography- University of Rhode Island
RI SURFRIDER- Robert Lloyd Scholarship Presentation
5/16/06
What is a Marine Protected Area?
Presidential Executive Order #13158
“ to protect the significant natural and cultural resources
within the marine environment for the benefit of present and
future generations by strengthening and expanding the
Nation’s system of marine protected areas.”
“any area of the marine environment that has been
reserved by Federal, State, territorial, tribal, or local laws
or regulations to provide lasting protection for part or all
of the natural and cultural resources therein.”
Federal Register. 2000. Executive Order #13158 Vol. 65, No. 105. Wednesday, May 31, 2000
Reviewing the options...
www.mpa.gov/information_tools
National Park Service Northeast
Region
Acadia
Boston Harbor Is
Cape Cod
Sagamore Hill
Fire Island
Gateway
Assateague Island
Colonial
George Washington Birthplace
The Project...
Goal: Review scientific methods for justifying and
monitoring no-take reserves in Northeast
National Parks
• Site Selection
•Ecosystem Response
Primary
Focus
•Fisheries Response
•Monitoring
•Modeling
Secondary Focus
Challenges
Fire Island National Seashore
Landings (Thousands of Bushels)
800
Figure 1. Hard Clams
700
Babylon
600
Islip
Brookhaven(GSB)
500
400
300
200
100
0
1960
1965
1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
Year
Maps and Data: Henn & Cullen. 2004 USACE/TNC Conference
2000
Ecosystem Response Toolbox
 Water
Quality (oxygen, chlorophyll, Nutrients)
 Habitat
Quality (eelgrass, sediment chemistry)
 Species
Richness / Diversity
 Benthic
Infauna (Polychaetes)
 Modeling
(Ecosystem, Fisheries)
Polychaetes

Simple to Collect
 Multiple Uses




Shortfalls



Abundance
Diversity
Indicator Species
Time consuming
High taxonomic res.
How can we apply
this to MPA’s?
A. Giangrande et.al. Mar Pollut Bull. 2005 50(11):1153-62.
Trophic Cascade Theory1
Ecosystem Health Theory2
More Big
Fish
Less Disturbance
Less Little
Higher Ecosystem
Health
Fish
Less
Predation
More
Polychaetes
Less
Opportunists
More
Polychaetes
More
Diversity
1 Pinnegar,
J.K., et.al. 2000. Trophic cascades in benthic ecosystems: lesson for fisheries and protected-area
management. Environmental Conservation 27 (2), 179–200.
2 A.
Giangrande et.al. Mar Pollut Bull. 2005 50(11):1153-62.
Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI)
 Single
metric for ecosystem health/change

Simplifies a lot of data into a single index

Sometimes over-simplifies
 Used
extensively in coral reef ecosystems
 Attempted
 How
for Narr. Bay (Meng et. al., 2002)
useful is this tool?
Modeling
 Particularly
useful in a fisheries and
reserve establishment context
 Generally show reserves most effective at:
•
•
•
•
Moderate size (10-25% of habitat)
Moderate to high fishing pressure
Low migration rate
High dispersal rate of larvae
 Most
highly adaptable models lack fine
scale resolution
Ecospace
T.A. Okey et al. / Ecological Modelling 172 (2004) 383–401
Conclusions
• Many techniques from tropical studies can
be adapted for use in the Northeast Region
• Some techniques will have reduced
effectiveness in temperate ecosystems
• NPS must consider scientific programs of
study on a park by park basis based on
specific reserve goals
• NPS should consider increased use of
benthic infaunal sampling
• Models are a viable synthetic tool for reserve
management, particularly in a fisheries
context
Acknowledgements
•
•
•
•
Dr. Charles Roman (NPS)
Dr. Candace Oviatt (GSO)
Kate Smukler (MPA center)
Cliff McCreedy & Gary Davis (NPS)
Photo Credits: Brooke Longval, Eric Klos, Charles Roman, J.C. Shou
Funding From: Coastal Institute IGERT Program
Matt horn is
gay
THANK YOU VERY
MUCH
?
ANY QUESTIONS