Streaming Media
Presentation Abstract
Zostera marina (eelgrass) supports an integral estuarine and coastal ecosystem throughout the Salish Sea. A diverse and extensive array of organisms live within or utilize these undersea meadows in the Pacific Northwest including anemones, mollusks, crustaceans, fish, and sea birds. Eelgrass beds also provide habitat for species harvested by commercial and native fisheries including Dungeness crab (Cancer magister), Pacific herring (Clupea pallasi), juvenile coho (Osteichthyes kisutch), and chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha). Extensive eelgrass meadows within the Salish Sea have important roles not only in the life cycles of these organisms, but also on the people who rely on them. Eelgrass meadows and their paired ecosystems have been shown to be negatively affected by increasingly extreme summer temperatures. Continuous water-surface temperatures over 25°C have consistently caused eelgrass decline or die-off in both lab and field conditions and as global surface temperatures continue to rise, eelgrass meadows and their associated ecosystems may suffer. In this poster presentation we will (1) quantify changes in eelgrass distribution since 2005 at four sites in the San Juan Archipelago region of the Salish Sea - Shallow Bay, Sucia Island, Shoal Bay, Lopez Island, Picnic Cove, Shaw Island and False Bay, San Juan Island – with data remotely acquired by the Washington State Department of Ecology, and the Washington Department of Natural Resources, Submerged Vegetation Monitoring Project in an ArcGIS format and then (2) augment remotely acquired data with shoot density data obtained by the Seagrass Lab, Friday Harbor Laboratories as a layer in ArcGIS. We will export our final product to state, local and tribal governments to show the value of combining remotely acquired data with shoot density counts to uncover trends not apparent using the techniques separately.
Session Title
Poster Session 3: Land - Water Connections
Conference Track
SSE14: Posters
Conference Name
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2022 : Online)
Document Type
Event
SSEC Identifier
SSE-posters-439
Start Date
27-4-2022 4:00 PM
End Date
27-4-2022 4:30 PM
Type of Presentation
Poster
Genre/Form
conference proceedings; presentations (communicative events); posters
Subjects – Topical (LCSH)
Zostera marina--Washington (State)--San Juan Islands--Geographical distribution; Seagrasses--Washington (State)--San Juan Islands; Fish populations--Washington (State)--San Juan Islands--Measurement
Geographic Coverage
San Juan Islands (Wash.)
Rights
Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author's written permission.
Type
Text
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
Included in
Fresh Water Studies Commons, Marine Biology Commons, Natural Resources and Conservation Commons
Examining changes in abundance and distribution of Zostera marina (eelgrass) within the San Juan Islands.
Zostera marina (eelgrass) supports an integral estuarine and coastal ecosystem throughout the Salish Sea. A diverse and extensive array of organisms live within or utilize these undersea meadows in the Pacific Northwest including anemones, mollusks, crustaceans, fish, and sea birds. Eelgrass beds also provide habitat for species harvested by commercial and native fisheries including Dungeness crab (Cancer magister), Pacific herring (Clupea pallasi), juvenile coho (Osteichthyes kisutch), and chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha). Extensive eelgrass meadows within the Salish Sea have important roles not only in the life cycles of these organisms, but also on the people who rely on them. Eelgrass meadows and their paired ecosystems have been shown to be negatively affected by increasingly extreme summer temperatures. Continuous water-surface temperatures over 25°C have consistently caused eelgrass decline or die-off in both lab and field conditions and as global surface temperatures continue to rise, eelgrass meadows and their associated ecosystems may suffer. In this poster presentation we will (1) quantify changes in eelgrass distribution since 2005 at four sites in the San Juan Archipelago region of the Salish Sea - Shallow Bay, Sucia Island, Shoal Bay, Lopez Island, Picnic Cove, Shaw Island and False Bay, San Juan Island – with data remotely acquired by the Washington State Department of Ecology, and the Washington Department of Natural Resources, Submerged Vegetation Monitoring Project in an ArcGIS format and then (2) augment remotely acquired data with shoot density data obtained by the Seagrass Lab, Friday Harbor Laboratories as a layer in ArcGIS. We will export our final product to state, local and tribal governments to show the value of combining remotely acquired data with shoot density counts to uncover trends not apparent using the techniques separately.
