Presentation Abstract

SNAPSHOT: A benthic monitoring program will be added in 2018 to the ongoing Englishman River Estuary recovery study, situated on the east coast of Vancouver Island. This will complement investigations which have been ongoing, prior to and following the removal of a berm during 2017. Changes in salinity patterns, flow regimes, channel morphology, elevation, sediment size, and vegetation distribution are being assessed and these variables will be used to map distinctive areas of the estuary. Benthic samples will be collected from representative areas and monitored over the long term. Relative and total abundance, species diversity, biomass, and various derivatives of these data, such as mean body weight, dominant faunal groups by weight and abundance, and species diversity/richness indices will be used to assess changes in the benthos following berm removal, and to determine community resiliency to climate change. The study will be used to develop protocol for a BC coastal wide estuary monitoring program investigating ecosystem resilience to climate change. It is being led by members of the West Coast Conservation Land Management Program and is supported by The Nature Trust of BC, The Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation, Ducks Unlimited, Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, BC Conservation Foundation and stewardship groups.

Session Title

Snapshot Presentations

Keywords

Estuary, Restoration, Sea level rise, Resilience, Ecosystem integrity

Conference Track

SSE17: Snapshots

Conference Name

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2018 : Seattle, Wash.)

Document Type

Event

SSEC Identifier

SSE17-649

Start Date

5-4-2018 10:15 AM

End Date

5-4-2018 10:20 AM

Type of Presentation

Oral

Genre/Form

presentations (communicative events)

Contributing Repository

Digital content made available by University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.

Subjects – Topical (LCSH)

Estuarine ecology--British Columbia--Englishman River Estuary; Benthos--Climatic factors--Monitoring--British Columbia--Englishman River Estuary

Geographic Coverage

Englishman River Estuary (B.C.); Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)

Rights

This resource is displayed for educational purposes only and may be subject to U.S. and international copyright laws. For more information about rights or obtaining copies of this resource, please contact University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9103, USA (360-650-7534; heritage.resources@wwu.edu) and refer to the collection name and identifier. Any materials cited must be attributed to the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference Records, University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.

Type

Text

Language

English

Format

application/pdf

COinS
 
Apr 5th, 10:15 AM Apr 5th, 10:20 AM

An investigation of benthic recovery and climate change resilience in the Englishman River estuary

SNAPSHOT: A benthic monitoring program will be added in 2018 to the ongoing Englishman River Estuary recovery study, situated on the east coast of Vancouver Island. This will complement investigations which have been ongoing, prior to and following the removal of a berm during 2017. Changes in salinity patterns, flow regimes, channel morphology, elevation, sediment size, and vegetation distribution are being assessed and these variables will be used to map distinctive areas of the estuary. Benthic samples will be collected from representative areas and monitored over the long term. Relative and total abundance, species diversity, biomass, and various derivatives of these data, such as mean body weight, dominant faunal groups by weight and abundance, and species diversity/richness indices will be used to assess changes in the benthos following berm removal, and to determine community resiliency to climate change. The study will be used to develop protocol for a BC coastal wide estuary monitoring program investigating ecosystem resilience to climate change. It is being led by members of the West Coast Conservation Land Management Program and is supported by The Nature Trust of BC, The Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation, Ducks Unlimited, Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, BC Conservation Foundation and stewardship groups.