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NEKTON-HABITAT ASSOCIATIONS IN YAQUINA BAY, OREGON
Citation:
Ferraro, S P. AND F A. Cole. NEKTON-HABITAT ASSOCIATIONS IN YAQUINA BAY, OREGON. Presented at Pacific Estuarine Research Society annual meeting, Portland, OR, May 2-4, 2002.
Description:
Habitat-based ecological risk assessments rely, in part, on estimates of the ecological value of the habitats at risk. To estimate estuarine habitat values with respect to the nekton (small fish, crabs and other invertebrates), we determined nekton-habitat associations in four intertidal habitats in Yaquina Bay, OR: (1) eelgrass, Zostera marina, (2) mud shrimp, Upogebia pugettensis, (3) ghost shrimp, Neotrypaea californiensis, (4) bare mud/sand. Quantitative nekton samples were collected using a 5 ft high, 20 sq ft surface area drop sampler from which animals were removed with a 3 mm mesh dip net. Ten to 15 random samples were collected per habitat approximately monthly during the summer of 1998 and 1999. The nekton community was consistently most abundant and diverse in eelgrass habitat. For the entire study, the relative fish-habitat values for habitats 1-4, above, in order, were 11:4:3:1 for number of species (S), 14:3:2:1 for numerical abundance (A), and 17:3:2:1 for total biomass (B). Similarly, relative S, A, and B crab-habitat values were 8:4:1:1, 23:5:1:1, and 26:6:1:1; and relative S, A, and B total nekton-habitat values were 8:3:2:1, 17:5:2:1, and 21:4:2:1. Relative nekton-habitat values can be used in ecological risk assessments to translate changes in estuarine habitat areas into nekton community effects.