Challenges and Changes: Urbanization Trends in Narragansett Bay Watershed Historical and Current
Citation:
Monroy, E., A. Kuhn, B. Rashleigh, E. Shumchenia, AND C. Schmidt. Challenges and Changes: Urbanization Trends in Narragansett Bay Watershed Historical and Current. American Fisheries Society 148th Annual Meeting, Atlantic City, NJ, August 19 - 23, 2018.
Impact/Purpose:
Estuaries provide critical habitat for an assortment of fish species that rely on them during some, or all of, their life history. Humans also depend on estuaries in a number of ways, as they provide a variety of economic, cultural, and ecological services. Nearly 50% of the population of the U.S. lives in coastal counties, most of that falling within estuarine watersheds. These watersheds are undergoing different rates of urbanization and the change from “natural” systems to those dominated by human development can impose significant stressors on estuaries. This research examines the impact of urbanization on estuarine fishes and shellfish within Narragansett Bay spatially and temporally.
Description:
The Narragansett Bay watershed is currently 35 percent urban concentrated mostly along the coastal fringe and in the upper reaches of the catchment. Forty percent of the population in the watershed also lives in coastal areas. Historical and current land use changes, driven by population growth, influenced changes in the bay ecosystem. Geospatial analysis shows that in the last 20 years the increase of urban lands (8.5 percent) has predominantly been from conversion of forestlands (currently 39 percent of the watershed). As people settle, impervious cover from infrastructure increased greatly as have sewer systems and septic systems to treat sewage. How water is delivered to the bay, and how it is or is not treated, impacts the condition of the ecosystem, and therefore the resources in the bay. Over the last century, degradation in water quality reduced the area in the bay used to shellfish for human consumption which is one of the bay’s hallmark activities and valuable natural resources. Freshwater and estuarine fish communities are also threatened by synergic urban and climate change impacts as water temperature increases. While water quality has improved for shellfishing due to management actions, effects of climate change remains a threat in the bay.