Download or read book Effects of Land Use Change on Juvenile Fishes Blue Crab and Brown Shrimp Abundance in the Estuarine Nursery Habitats of North Carolina written by Gregory F. R. Meyer and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 203 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The U.S. coastal region is home to more than half of the American population. Also, the coastal counties' population is growing much faster than that of inland counties. With a high density and an increasing population, there are rapid changes in land-use and land-cover (LULC) types, characterized mostly by the increase in areal coverage of anthropogenic land uses (agriculture and developed), while "natural/unaltered" land uses (forest and wetland) are in decline. The human population growth and land-use and land-cover changes caused by humans generate nutrients and pollutants to coastal waters, which can affect water quality and aquatic life. Trends in the land-use and land-cover changes that might impact fish and invertebrate species abundance at 71 selected estuarine stations sampled by the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries (NCDMF) juvenile sampling program (Program 120) were analyzed. Land use categories of interest were forest, wetland, agriculture, and developed areas. The selected fish and invertebrate species were: Atlantic croaker (Micropogonias undulatus), Atlantic menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus), pinfish (Lagodon rhomboides), southern flounder (Paralichthys lethostigma), spot (Leiostomus xanthurus), blue crab (Callinectes sapidus), and brown shrimp (Farfantepenaeus aztectus). Geographic information system (GIS) data, remotely sensed data and statistical techniques were used to quantify the LULC type changes between 1980 and 2000 within the immediate coastal watersheds of North Carolina. Forest has been the most affected, losing about 30.1% of its total area to the increase (~24.1%) of agriculture area. The wetland and developed land use varied depending on location, but their overall changes were small when the whole study area was considered. The long-term trends in abundance of juveniles of selected fish and invertebrate species indicated declines at certain sampling stations, and increases at others. In order to determine whether land use changes were correlated with changes in the selected species, and also to find which other factors might influence changes in their abundance, I analyzed seven predictor variables [(1) percent land use change within local catchments centered on the NCDMF sampling sites, (2) number of pollution point sources in large USDA Natural Resources Soil Conservation watersheds, (3) number of people in US Census tracts within watersheds, (4) water temperature, (5) water salinity, (6) station depth, and (7) distance to inlet (minimum distance by water to an ocean inlet) for each NCDMF juvenile fish and invertebrate trawl sampling program station] in a classification and regression tree statistical analysis to predict normalized change in trawl catch for the selected species in NCDMF Program 120 data between 1980 and 2004. Land use changes were found to be influential to the number of blue crab, southern founder and Atlantic croaker, and declines were observed at 47 stations when land use changes were greater than 13% (blue crab), at 30 stations when land use changes were greater than 21% (southern flounder), and 6 stations when land use changes were greater than 53% (Atlantic croaker). Water salinity was found to be more important than land use change for southern flounder catch, and increased catch was observed at stations with salinity 14 ppt. No significant changes due to land use could be associated with changes in Program 120 trawl catch of brown shrimp, Atlantic menhaden, pinfish or spot. There was a long-term increase in pinfish in the Program 120 data. Pinfish increased most at stations where bottom temperature was 25 C. Atlantic menhaden declined at stations where bottom temperature was 24 °C. Brown shrimp abundance was increased at stations where the distance to inlet was 21 km and highest when salinity was 14 ppt. Spot showed an increase in abundance when distance to inlet was greater than 42 km and the human population was 883 people/census tract in the year 2000. Land use change impacts were observed in the classification and regression tree analysis for blue crab at 66% of the NCDMF stations, 42% of stations for southern flounder, and 8% of stations for Atlantic croaker. These three species were ranked first, second, and fourth in commercial value in North Carolina fisheries, and were the only species of those selected for this study that were considered to be overfished in 2000 by the NCDMF. Thus, land use change had the greatest impact on species that were targets of intensive commercial fishing and had low adult spawning stock. This result suggests an interaction between commercial fisheries harvest and land development for agriculture along the coast. Recruitment of these species may have been low because of reduced spawning stock due to commercial harvests, and this reduced recruitment was most noticeable where land use changes were high. Species that were not intensively harvested (pinfish) or had stable adult stock sizes as determined by the NCDMF (brown shrimp, Atlantic menhaden, and spot) were able to produce many recruits, and this high recruitment may have allowed colonization of areas with marginal habitat due to land use changes. Few stations showed declines in abundance of the juvenile stages of these latter species, suggesting that land use change was not a significant factor between 1980 and 2004. However, post-recruitment mortality (survivorship after June throughout the summer and fall) was not monitored by NCDMF and should be studied in the future. The results of this study serve as an early warning to coastal managers regarding the potential impact of coastal land use changes. The abundance and growth of these valuable fishes and invertebrates in North Carolina estuarine nursery habitats could be reduced in the future, given the national trends in coastal development and fishery harvests.
Download or read book The North Carolina Historical Review written by and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 504 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Habitat Plan for the South Atlantic Region Essential Fish Habitat Requirements for Fishery Management Plans of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council written by and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 1010 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Amendment 6 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Shrimp Fishery of the South Atlantic Region written by and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 816 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Living Shorelines written by Donna Marie Bilkovic and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2017-03-03 with total page 956 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Living Shorelines: The Science and Management of Nature-based Coastal Protection compiles, synthesizes and interprets the current state of the knowledge on the science and practice of nature-based shoreline protection. This book will serve as a valuable reference to guide scientists, students, managers, planners, regulators, environmental and engineering consultants, and others engaged in the design and implementation of living shorelines. This volume provides a background and history of living shorelines, understandings on management, policy, and project designs, technical synthesis of the science related to living shorelines including insights from new studies, and the identification of research needs, lessons learned, and perspectives on future guidance. Makes recommendations on the correct usage of the term living shorelines Offers guidance for shoreline management in the future Includes lessons learned from the practice of shoreline restoration/conservation Synthesizes regional perspectives to identify strategies for the successful design and implementation of living shorelines Reviews specific design criteria for successful implementation of living shorelines Provides detailed discussions of social, regulatory, scientific and technical considerations to justify and design living shoreline projects International perspectives are presented from leading researchers and managers in the East, West and Gulf coasts of the United States, Europe, Canada, and Australia that are working on natural approaches to shoreline management. The broad geographic scope and interdisciplinary nature of contributing authors will help to facilitate dialogue and transfer knowledge among different disciplines and across different regions. This book provides coastal communities with the scientific foundation and practical guidance necessary to implement effective shoreline management that enhances ecosystem services and coastal resilience now and into the future.
Download or read book Impacts of climate change on fisheries and aquaculture written by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and published by Food & Agriculture Org.. This book was released on 2019-01-06 with total page 654 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report indicates that climate change will significantly affect the availability and trade of fish products, especially for those countries most dependent on the sector, and calls for effective adaptation and mitigation actions encompassing food production.
Download or read book Habitats and Biota of the Gulf of Mexico Before the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill written by C. Herb Ward and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-06-26 with total page 917 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is open access under a CC BY-NC 2.5 license. The Gulf of Mexico is an open and dynamic marine ecosystem rich in natural resources but heavily impacted by human activities, including agricultural, industrial, commercial and coastal development. The Gulf of Mexico has been continuously exposed to petroleum hydrocarbons for millions of years from natural oil and gas seeps on the sea floor, and more recently from oil drilling and production activities located in the water near and far from shore. Major accidental oil spills in the Gulf are infrequent; two of the most significant include the Ixtoc I blowout in the Bay of Campeche in 1979 and the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in 2010. Unfortunately, baseline assessments of the status of habitats and biota in the Gulf of Mexico before these spills either were not available, or the data had not been systematically compiled in a way that would help scientists assess the potential short-term and long-term effects of such events. This 2-volume series compiles and summarizes thousands of data sets showing the status of habitats and biota in the Gulf of Mexico before the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. Volume 1 covers: water and sediment quality and contaminants in the Gulf; natural oil and gas seeps in the Gulf of Mexico; coastal habitats, including flora and fauna and coastal geology; offshore benthos and plankton, with an analysis of current knowledge on energy capture and energy flows in the Gulf; and shellfish and finfish resources that provide the basis for commercial and recreational fisheries.
Download or read book The Ecology of Humboldt Bay California written by Roger A. Barnhart and published by . This book was released on 1992 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Interactions in the Marine Benthos written by Stephen J. Hawkins and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2019-08-29 with total page 535 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comprehensive account of how abiotic and biotic interactions shape patterns of coastal marine biodiversity and ecosystem processes globally.
Download or read book The Ecology of Delta Marshes of Coastal Louisiana A Community Profile written by National Coastal Ecosystems Team (U S ) and published by Franklin Classics Trade Press. This book was released on 2018-11-11 with total page 150 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
Download or read book Habitat Suitability Index Models written by Rosemarie Mulholland and published by . This book was released on 1984 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Habitats and Biota of the Gulf of Mexico Before the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill written by C. Herb Ward and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-06-26 with total page 948 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is open access under a CC BY-NC 2.5 license. The Gulf of Mexico is an open and dynamic marine ecosystem rich in natural resources but heavily impacted by human activities, including agricultural, industrial, commercial and coastal development. The Gulf of Mexico has been continuously exposed to petroleum hydrocarbons for millions of years from natural oil and gas seeps on the sea floor, and more recently from oil drilling and production activities located in the water near and far from shore. Major accidental oil spills in the Gulf are infrequent; two of the most significant include the Ixtoc I blowout in the Bay of Campeche in 1979 and the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in 2010. Unfortunately, baseline assessments of the status of habitats and biota in the Gulf of Mexico before these spills either were not available, or the data had not been systematically compiled in a way that would help scientists assess the potential short-term and long-term effects of such events. This 2-volume series compiles and summarizes thousands of data sets showing the status of habitats and biota in the Gulf of Mexico before the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. Volume 2 covers historical data on commercial and recreational fisheries, with an analysis of marketing trends and drivers; ecology, populations and risks to birds, sea turtles and marine mammals in the Gulf; and diseases and mortalities of fish and other animals that inhabit the Gulf of Mexico.
Download or read book Comparison of two trawls used for monitoring juvenile fish abundance in North Carolina written by Paul Stanley Phalen and published by . This book was released on 1989 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Hudson River Estuary written by Jeffrey S. Levinton and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2006-01-09 with total page 514 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Hudson River Estuary, first published in 2006, is a scientific biography with relevance to similar natural systems.
Download or read book A Physical and Ecological Characterization of the Charleston Harbor Estuarine System written by Robert F. Van Dolah and published by . This book was released on 1990 with total page 656 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Concepts and Controversies in Tidal Marsh Ecology written by M.P. Weinstein and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2000-10-31 with total page 862 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tidal salt marshes are viewed as critical habitats for the production of fish and shellfish. As a result, considerable legislation has been promulgated to conserve and protect these habitats, and much of it is in effect today. The relatively young science of ecological engineering has also emerged, and there are now attempts to reverse centuries-old losses by encouraging sound wetland restoration practices. Today, tens of thousands of hectares of degraded or isolated coastal wetlands are being restored worldwide. Whether restored wetlands reach functional equivalency to `natural' systems is a subject of heated debate. Equally debatable is the paradigm that depicts tidal salt marshes as the `great engine' that drives much of the secondary production in coastal waters. This view was questioned in the early 1980s by investigators who noted that total carbon export, on the order of 100 to 200 g m-2 y-1 was of much lower magnitude than originally thought. These authors also recognized that some marshes were either net importers of carbon, or showed no net exchange. Thus, the notion of `outwelling' has become but a single element in an evolving view of marsh function and the link between primary and secondary production. The `revisionist' movement was launched in 1979 when stable isotopic ratios of macrophytes and animal tissues were found to be `mismatched'. Some eighteen years later, the view of marsh function is still undergoing additional modification, and we are slowly unraveling the complexities of biogeochemical cycles, nutrient exchange, and the links between primary producers and the marsh/estuary fauna. Yet, since Teal's seminal paper nearly forty years ago, we are not much closer to understanding how marshes work. If anything, we have learned that the story is far more complicated than originally thought. Despite more than four decades of intense research, we do not yet know how salt marshes function as essential habitat, nor do we know the relative contributions to secondary production, both in situ or in the open waters of the estuary. The theme of this Symposium was to review the status of salt marsh research and revisit the existing paradigm(s) for salt marsh function. Challenge questions were designed to meet the controversy head on: Do marshes support the production of marine transient species? If so, how? Are any of these species marsh obligates? How much of the production takes place in situ versus in open waters of the estuary/coastal zone? Sessions were devoted to reviews of landmark studies, or current findings that advance our knowledge of salt marsh function. A day was also devoted to ecological engineering and wetland restoration papers addressing state-of-the-art methodology and specific case histories. Several challenge papers arguing for and against our ability to restore functional salt marshes led off each session. This volume is intended to serve as a synthesis of our current understanding of the ecological role of salt marshes, and will, it is hoped, pave the way for a new generation of research.
Download or read book Utilization of Marsh Habitats as Primary Nursery Areas by Young Fish and Shrimp Cape Fear Estuary North Carolina written by Ronald G. Hodson and published by . This book was released on 1979 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
