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CLASSIFYING OREGON ESTUARIES BY HABITAT: ANALYSIS OF EXISTING DATA AND A PROPOSAL FOR A PILOT STUDY
Citation:
Boese, B L., H Lee II, P J. Clinton, AND D. Reusser. CLASSIFYING OREGON ESTUARIES BY HABITAT: ANALYSIS OF EXISTING DATA AND A PROPOSAL FOR A PILOT STUDY. Presented at 19th Annual Symposium of the International Association of Landscape Ecology, Las Vegas, NV, March 30-April 3, 2004.
Description:
Because many estuarine resources are linked to benthic habitats, classification of estuaries by habitat types may prove a relevant approach for grouping estuaries with similar ecological values and vulnerability to landscape alterations. As a first step, we evaluated whether published habitat values for sixteen Oregon estuaries (Oregon Estuary Plan Book, 1987) grouped into classes using non-metric multidimensional scaling (MDS). The two estuaries with the largest and smallest ratios of estuary to watershed area (Netarts and Chetco) tended to separate from the other estuaries. While there were suggestions of additional groupings, the other estuaries did not form significantly different clusters as tested by analysis of similarity (ANOSIM). This lack of grouping may reflect anthropogenic effects such as dredging or limitations in the historic data set, such as the large percentage of unspecified habitat areas. To further examine this estuary classification method, a pilot study is planned for this summer on six Oregon estuaries (Yaquina, Alsea, Salmon, Nestucca, Coos, Umpqua). Field surveys will focus on determining the areas of subtidal and intertidal benthic habitat types using a detailed suite of habitats including the eelgrasses (Zostera marine, Z. japonica), macroalgae and burrowing shrimp. We will also measure various water sediment characteristics. Using these measurements, MDS analysis will be repeated on the new data set and a comparison between the percent of eelgrass beds in marine dominated versus the riverine portions of estuary will be made and compared to the 1987 study to determine if changes occurred during the last 17 years.