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ANIMAL-HABITAT ASSOCIATIONS IN PACIFIC NORTHWEST ESTUARIES
Citation:
Ferraro, S P. ANIMAL-HABITAT ASSOCIATIONS IN PACIFIC NORTHWEST ESTUARIES. Presented at Northwest Aquatic and Marine Educators Conference, Olympia, WA, August 20, 2004.
Description:
The mission of the Pacific Coastal Ecology Branch (EPA, Newport, OR) is to determine the effects of habitat alteration by stressors on ecological resources in Pacific Northwest (PNW) estuaries. Research being conducted in support of this mission includes identifying critical habitats and developing empirical animal-habitat models which can be used to help prioritize habitats for protection and as a tool for habitat-based ecological risk assessments. The habitats being investigated include eelgrass (Zostera marina), Japanese eelgrass (Zostera japonica), Atlantic cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora), mud shrimp (Upogebia pugettensis), ghost shrimp (Neotrypaea californiensis), oyster ground culture, bare mud, bare sand, and subtidal. These habitats account for most of the area of most PNW estuaries, and, importantly, in the context of ecological risk assessment, they are likely to change over time as a function of the major stressors (sediments, nutrients, invasive species). The ecological resources being investigated are the benthic macrofauna (animals 0.5 mm) and nekton (fish, crabs, etc. 3.0 mm) communities. Results of studies conducted to date in Willapa Bay, WA, Tillamook Bay, OR, and Yaquina Bay, OR indicate that PNW estuarine habitats differ in terms of the number of species, numerical abundance of individuals, and total biomass by up to 100? for benthic macrofauna and up to 29? for nekton communities. The rank order of habitats in benthic macrofauna resource value is: Z. japonica = oyster = Zostera marina > Spartina > Upogebia > bare mud > Neotrypaea = bare sand = subtidal. The rank order of habitats in nekton resource value is: Z. marina > Upogebia > Neotrypaea = bare mud/sand.