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GEOGRAPHIC MODELS LINKING BIOLOGICAL RESPONSES TO HABITAT CHANGE IN NORTHERN GULF OF MEXICO ESTUARIES: A RESEARCH COLLABORATION
Citation:
SMITH, L. M., S. J. JORDAN, AND D. D. DANTIN. GEOGRAPHIC MODELS LINKING BIOLOGICAL RESPONSES TO HABITAT CHANGE IN NORTHERN GULF OF MEXICO ESTUARIES: A RESEARCH COLLABORATION. Presented at Estuarine Research Federation Meeting, Norfolk, VA, October 16 - 21, 2005.
Description:
Abstract for poster presentation: The U.S. EPA's tiered aquatic life use framework (TALU) can be used to establish designated uses and criteria along biological condition gradients. Habitat-specific data are essential for developing stressor response models to establish protective biological criteria. To expand local habitat specific models to larger geo-spatial scales, habitat specific data from multiple systems are needed to estimate spatial variability. In collaboration with NOAA Fisheries, we will sample nekton densities and measure growth and survival rates in marsh edge, non-vegetated bottom and seagrass habitats in selected northern Gulf of Mexico estuaries. We will use new and existing data to develop habitat specific unit models. The next step will be to test whether species distributional patterns and productivity among major habitat types of selected Gulf of Mexico estuaries are respresentative of the estuaries of the northern Gulf of Mexico.