Life Sciences Commons^™

Seasonal Appearance And Monitoring Of Invasive Species In The Great Bay Estuarine System, Larry G. Harris, Jennifer A. Dijkstra

PREP Reports & Publications

The University of New Hampshire Zoology Department reports on a study designed to synthesize existing data on invasive species in the estuary and the surrounding area, compare succession between two panel studies (1979 to 1982 and 2003 to 2006), seasonally monitor invasive species in the Great Bay Estuary, and identify predators of invasive species. Researchers identified species most likely to invade the Great Bay Estuary, analyzed succession between two long-term panel studies separated by approximately 25 years, collected presence/absence and abundance data of invasive species at four sites within the Great Bay Estuarine System and identified potential predators of invasive …

Predicting The Success Of Invasive Species In The Great Bay Estuarine Researve, Jennifer A. Dijkstra, Larry G. Harris

PREP Reports & Publications

The University of New Hampshire Zoology Department reports on a study designed to continue monitoring the distribution of invasive species in the Great Bay Estuary and to carry out laboratory experiments designed to test the effects of salinity on ascidian mortality and determine predators of ascidian species. Researchers collected presence/absence and abundance data of invasive species at four sites within the Great Bay Estuarine System. The report gives a brief description of the results of the monitoring program to compare results obtained from 2006 to 2007 and to assess the response of ascidians to varying salinity and predators. This report …

Buffer Projects In The Town Of Wakefield And City Of Somersworth, Julie Labranche

PREP Reports & Publications

Participants in the Wakefield Buffer Project include SRPC staff, members of the Acton Wakefield Watershed Alliance (AWWA), local board and commission members, and the Wakefield Town Planner, Kathy Menici. AWWA members included: Linda Schier, Carol Lafond, Marge Kimball and Adam Soukimas. Town Staff included Joe Fluet (Planning board Chair) and Nancy Spencer Smith (Conservation Commission). The goals of AWWA are to educate and inform shoreland property owners about the harmful effects of erosion and uncontrolled stormwater runoff on water quality of its lakes and ponds. AWWA focuses their on- the-ground efforts to repair, restore and preserve healthy functioning buffers and …

An Optical Model For Heat And Salt Budget Estimation For Shallow Seas, Hari Warrior, Kendall L. Carder

Marine Science Faculty Publications

The effects of the underwater light field on heat-budget calculations for shallow waters are developed and applied for the region of Bahamas. Most of the general circulation models use a simplified heat budget scheme based on Jerlov water types, and do not account for optical bottom effects. by optical bottom effect, we mean the bottom absorption and reflection of the short-wave radiation, which in turn affects the thermal stratification and heat exchange with the atmosphere. In this paper, this optical bottom effect is added to a 3D turbulence model (a 1D model called GOTM is coupled to a 3D model …

A High Resolution Satellite-Only Grace-Based Mean Dynamic Topography Of The South Atlantic Ocean, Marcio L. Vianna, Viviane V. Menezes, D. Chambers

Marine Science Faculty Publications

A new filtering method based on Singular Spectrum Analysis has been devised to extract high resolution (0.25° × 0.25° grid) satellite-only Mean Dynamic Ocean Topography(MDT) constructed by differencing of the GGM02 GRACE Gravity Model from the GSFCMSS00 Mean Sea Surface. This data-adaptive interpolation-type filter is adequate for the finite domain MDT processing since it minimizes smoothing and does not lose boundary points. It is applied to the computation of two new MDTs and MDT-derived mean geostrophic circulation maps of the South Atlantic region from 15°N to 50°S. Advantages of these new maps are clarified when contrasted with the Rio-2005, Chambers-Zlotnicki-2004 …

A Regional Modeling Study Of The Entraining Mediterranean Outflow, Xiaobiao Xu, E. P. Chassignet, J. F. Price, T. M. Özgökmen, H. Peters

Faculty Publications

[1] We have evaluated a regional-scale simulation of the Mediterranean outflow by comparison with field data obtained in the 1988 Gulf of Cadiz Expedition. Our ocean model is based upon the Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM) and includes the Richardson number-dependent entrainment parameterization of Xu et al. (2006). Given realistic topography and sufficient resolution, the model reproduces naturally the major, observed features of the Mediterranean outflow in the Gulf of Cadiz: the downstream evolution of temperature, salinity, and velocity profiles, the mean path and the spreading of the outflow plume, and most importantly, the localized, strong entrainment that has been …

Reconstructing Twentieth-Century Sea Surface Temperature Variability In The Southwest Pacific: A Replication Study Using Multiple Coral Sr/Ca Records From New Caledonia, Kristine L. Delong, Terrence M. Quinn, Frederick W. Taylor

Marine Science Faculty Publications

Coral‐based climate reconstructions typically have not used multiple cores from a region to capture and replicate a climate signal largely because of concerns of coral conservation, analytical expense, and time constraints. Coral Sr/Ca reproducibility through the twentieth century was investigated using three intracolony and three intercolony coral records from the reefs offshore of Amédée Island, New Caledonia. Different sampling resolutions were examined in coral Sr/Ca (fortnightly and monthly) and δ¹⁸O (fortnightly, monthly, and seasonally) as well as similar scale subsampling of the daily in situ sea surface temperature (SST) record. The mean coral Sr/Ca, δ¹⁸O, and …

Hydrological Parameters For New Hampshire's Estuaries, Phil Trowbridge

PREP Reports & Publications

The New Hampshire Estuaries Project (NHEP) is part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Estuary Program which is a joint local/state/federal program established under Section 320 of the Clean Water Act with the goal of protecting and enhancing nationally significant estuaries. The NHEP’s Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan for New Hampshire’s estuaries was completed in 2000 and implementation is ongoing. The Management Plan outlines key issues related to management of New Hampshire’s estuaries and proposes strategies that are expected to collectively preserve and protect the state’s estuarine resources. The coastal watershed for the NHEP drains into two major estuary …

2005 Coastal Municipal Stormwater Infrastructure Mapping Project, Jeffrey Marcoux

PREP Reports & Publications

The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (DES) received funds in 2005 from the New Hampshire Estuaries Project (NHEP) to provide assistance to coastal communities to develop storm sewer infrastructure maps. This final report describes the grant projects completed in Rye and Seabrook.

NHEP chose to fund stormwater infrastructure mapping projects for a number of reasons. Primarily, this grant was established in order to fulfill one of the water quality action plans identified in the NHEP Management Plan. In addition, the Coastal/Piscataqua watershed has been identified by DES as a priority watershed in need of restoration. Updated and comprehensive maps …

Evaluation Of Striped Bass Stocks In Virginia : Monitoring And Tagging Studies, 2004-2008 - Annual Report 1 September 2006 - 31 August 2007, Philip W. Sadler, John M. Hoenig, Robert E. Harris, Rebecca J. Wilk, Lydia M. Goins

Reports

This report presents the results of striped bass (Morone saxatilis) tagging and monitoring activities in Virginia during the period 1 September 2006 through 31 August 2007. It includes an assessment of the biological characteristics of striped bass taken from the 2007 spring spawning run, estimates of annual survival and fishing mortality based on annual spring tagging, and the preliminary results of the fall 2006 study that documents the prevalence of mycobacterial infections of striped bass in Chesapeake Bay. The information contained in this report is required by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and is used to implement a coordinated …

Fish And Coral Reef Communities Of The Parque Nacional Sistema Arrecifal Veracruzano (Veracruz Coral Reef System National Park) Veracruz, Mexico: Preliminary Results, Marcos Alberto Rangel Avalos, Lance K. B. Jordan, Brian K. Walker, David S. Gilliam, Elvira Carvajal Hinojosa, Richard E. Spieler

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Speeches, Lectures

Effective resource management requires robust baseline datasets and efficient monitoring programs to identify and quantify temporal change. The Parque Nacional Sistema Arrecifal Veracruzano (Veracruz Coral Reef System National Park) encompasses a total of 52000ha including 23 coral reefs in two island groups separated by the mouth of the Jamapa River; one near the port of Veracruz, Mexico and one approximately 20km south near Punta Antón Lizardo. Both groups receive substantial fisheries pressure and other anthropogenic impacts. Using non-destructive, visual methods we surveyed fish and benthic assemblages at 18 sites, which included 10 individual coral reefs within the Park. For fishes, …

Wakefield Land Conservation Education & Outreach Project, Cindy Barstow, Cheri Schlenker

PREP Reports & Publications

The Town of Wakefield has experienced an unprecedented growth explosion in the past seven years. Pressures to use heretofore undeveloped land for the construction of residential housing has threatened the natural resources of this community. The projected growth rate has the potential to severely impact Wakefield’s natural resources. While the town has undertaken a comprehensive revision of zoning, site plan and subdivision regulations, it is important that voluntary land protection measures are advanced to secure permanent protection of valuable resources.

Eutrophication In Shallow Coastal Bays And Lagoons: The Role Of Plants In The Coastal Filter, Karen J. Mcglathery, Kristina Sundback, Iris C. Anderson

VIMS Articles

Nutrient loading to coastal bay ecosystems is of a similar magnitude as that to deeper, river-fed estuaries, yet our understanding of the eutrophication process in these shallow systems lags far behind. In this synthesis, we focus on one type of biotic feedback that influences eutrophication patterns in coastal bays — the important role of primary producers in the ‘coastal filter’. We discuss the 2 aspects of plant-mediated nutrient cycling as eutrophication induces a shift in primary producer dominance: (1) the fate of nutrients bound in plant biomass, and (2) the effects of primary producers on biogeochemical processes that influence nutrient …

Review Of Durham’S Regulations Related To Stormwater Management Durham, New Hampshire, Stone Environmental, Inc.

PREP Reports & Publications

This report provides a review of Durham’s Zoning Ordinance, Subdivision Regulations, Site Plan Review Regulations, Road Construction Regulations, and proposed Stormwater Ordinance regarding 1) compliance with state and federal stormwater regulations, and 2) how well these ordinances and regulations may be expected to perform in managing stormwater. The revisions suggested in these documents are intended to improve stormwater management in Durham for the benefit of the community and the protection of its water resources and wetlands. STONE

Impervious Surface Analysis For Durham Under Current And Build-Out Conditions In Support Of Stormwater Management, David Cedarholm, Stone Environmental, Inc.

PREP Reports & Publications

An analysis was performed to determine current and projected impervious surface areas in the Town of Durham, New Hampshire with the purpose of generating data to guide the adoption of stormwater management practices in the Town. Because impervious surfaces affect stormwater runoff peak flows and volumes significantly, it is critical to understand the Town’s impervious area characteristics (and the resulting stormwater management implications) under current conditions in order to develop appropriate stormwater management policies.

Review Of Northwood’S Stormwater Management Regulations Northwood, New Hampshire, Stone Environmental, Inc.

PREP Reports & Publications

This project was funded through a grant from the New Hampshire Estuaries Project (NHEP) of the University of New Hampshire to assist the Town of Northwood in a review of their stormwater management regulations. The revisions suggested in Northwood’s Development Ordinance, Subdivision Regulations, and Site Plan Review Regulations are intended to improve stormwater management in Northwood for the benefit of the community and the protection of its water resources and wetlands. Review

The Economic Contribution Of Marine Science And Education Institutions In The Monterey Bay Crescent, Judith T. Kildow Dr, Nathaniel Miller

Publications

Ocean and coastal areas of the United States contribute significantly to our nation’s overall economy. The extent to which our economy benefits from the wide range of marine and coastal activities is not completely understood. The National Ocean Economics Program (NOEP) has attempted to track and value the ocean and coastal- related economic activities in the United States. To date six sectors are included in its information system (www.oceaneconomics.org). The economic contribution of marine research and education institutions is a sector of activity that lies outside of the normal federal government datasets, but one which seemed to have growing importance …

The Lobster Bulletin, Fall 2007, Lobster Institute, University Of Maine

Lobster Bulletin

The Lobster Bulletin newsletter includes research updates, and information on lobsters and the lobster industry. The Lobster Institute at the University of Maine is dedicated to protecting and conserving the lobster resource, and enhancing lobstering as an industry and a way of life.

Headlines in the Fall 2007 issue include:

• Lobster Institute Honors Long-Time Volunteers at its 20^th Anniversary Celebration
• Lobster Institute Unveils New Logo
• Twenty Years of Service
• Maine DMR Announces Online Licensing Services
• Research Report: New Designs for Juvenile Sampling Trap Studied
• The Lobster Institute Celebrates Its 20^th Anniversary: 1987-2007

Hydrodynamic Modeling For The Proposed Dredging Assessment In Norfolk Harbor Channel, Elizabeth River, Mac Sisson, Harry V. Wang, Jian Shen, Wenping Gong, Albert Y. Kuo

Reports

No abstract provided.

Fisheries Research Report 165: Biological And Fisheries Data For Managing Deep Sea Crabs In Western Australia - Project 2001/055, Roy Melville-Smith, S M. Norton, Adrian W. Thomson

Fisheries research reports

The crystal crab fishery on the west coast of Western Australia has only been commercially fished since the late 1990s. When this project was initiated in 2001, only compulsory monthly catch and effort data were being collected. This project has successfully set up the methods and means to collect and analyse more appropriate commercial catch and effort data for the fishery. Fishers now record detailed daily catch and effort data for legal as well as undersize and berried crabs and the Department of Fisheries, WA, has a regular monitoring programme to record population size structure information.

This project has also …

Sger: Investigation Of Potential Co-Introduction Of Fucus Serratus And Littorina Littorea To North America In 1800s, Susan H. Brawley

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

This research will apply new approaches and expertise to understanding the probable invasion of North American intertidal zones by the herbivorous snail Littorina littorea in the 1800s. The investigator developed the following hypothesis during her recent analyses of late 1700s to mid-1800s shipping records: Fucus serratus and Littorina littorea were co-introduced into North America from Britain via the dumping of intertidal rock ballast in ships arriving at Pictou Harbor during the massive emigration of nearly 40,000 Scots (and some Irish and English) in the late 1700s-mid-1800s. This hypothesis will be tested using innovative molecular techniques (i.e., assay of nuclear …

Nhep 2007 Progress Report, New Hampshire Estuaries Project

PREP Reports & Publications

The New Hampshire Estuaries Project (NHEP) is part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) National Estuary Program, which is a collaborative local/state/federal program established under the Clean Water Act with the goal of protecting and enhancing nationally significant estuaries. The NHEP receives most of its funding from the EPA and is administered by the University of New Hampshire. The mission of the NHEP is to protect, restore, and monitor the environmental quality of the state’s estuaries, including the Great Bay Estuary and the Hampton-Seabrook Estuary. The NHEP study area covers the entire coastal watershed of New Hampshire, including all …

Effect Of Wave Action On Movement In The Owl Limpet, Lottia Gigantea, In Santa Cruz, California, William G. Wright, James W. Nybakken

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

The critical role of wave energy in the ecology of nearshore organisms is widely accepted, based primarily on biotic correlations over large scales of time and space. Much less is known about how large waves impact the behavioral ecology of individual organisms. Theoretical considerations and measurements of tenacity predict that intertidal gastropods should minimize the chances of dislodgement during periods of high waves by remaining stationary. We tested this prediction by observing a population of the owl limpet, Lottia gigantea G. B. Sowerby I, 1834, in a range of sea conditions. We found the proportion of the population moving during …

Town Of Fremont Wetland Evaluation Report, West Environmental, Inc.

PREP Reports & Publications

West Environmental, Inc. (WEI) has prepared this report to document the evaluation of 55 wetlands within the Town of Fremont, New Hampshire. This is a follow-up study to the WEI study of Spruce Swamp in 2003. These wetlands were previously identified in the Fremont Wetland Mapping Report (April 2007), also prepared by WEI. The field work for this evaluation was conducted from February to September 2007 and included the verification of potential prime wetland boundaries.

The Statistics Of Natural Shapes In Modern Coral Reef Landscapes, Samuel J. Purkis, Kevin E. Kohler, Bernhard Riegl, Steven O. Rohmann

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Spatial heterogeneity is a fundamental characteristic of modern and ancient depositional settings, and the scaling of many carbonate environments has been shown to follow power function distributions. The difficulty in obtaining information on the horizontal persistence of sedimentary lithotopes at the basin scale has, however, hampered evaluation of this fact over larger geographic areas. In recent years, large‐scale maps of reef facies derived from remotely sensed data have become widely available, allowing for an analysis of reef‐scale map products from 26 sites spread through four reef provinces, covering >7000 km² of shallow‐water habitat in the U.S. territorial Pacific. For …

Ambient Rivers Monitoring In The Great Bay Estuary Watershed 2006, Natalie Landry

PREP Reports & Publications

The Department of Environmental Services (DES) received funding from the New Hampshire Estuaries Project (NHEP) to conduct monitoring activities in 2006. The activities described in this report were led by the DES Watershed Assistance Section and involved water monitoring at the head-of-tide in nine tidal tributaries. Other DES staff conducted laboratory analyses. These monitoring activities were completed with the overall purpose of improving the understanding of water quality trends. DES completed all tasks as planned. This report includes the sample collection information, field and laboratory data, and quality assurance information. Data summaries and interpretations will come at a later time …

Eelgrass Distribution In The Great Bay Estuary 2005, Frederick T. Short

PREP Reports & Publications

Eelgrass (Zostera marina) is an essential habitat for the Great Bay Estuary (GBE) because it provides food for wintering waterfowl and habitat for juvenile fish and shellfish. Eelgrass is the basis of an estuarine food chain that supports many of the recreationally, commercially and ecologically important species in the estuary. Additionally, eelgrass filters estuarine waters, removing both nutrients and suspended sediments from the water column. Eelgrass in the Great Bay Estuary is the largest monoculture in the State of New Hampshire and is considered a vital resource to the State’s marine environment. The present report describes and interprets the eelgrass …

Cooperative Project To Control Invasive Plants In The New Hampshire Seacoast Region, Rockingham County Conservation District

PREP Reports & Publications

The purpose of the Cooperative Project to Control Invasive Plants in the New Hampshire Seacoast Region is to coordinate with a variety of natural resource agencies and organizations and initiate an innovative collaborative effort to combat invasive species in the seacoast. Those partners include the University of New Hampshire, New Hampshire Estuaries Project, the New Hampshire Coastal Program, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Rockingham County Conservation District, New Hampshire Audubon, the Town of Rye, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the Corporate Wetlands Restoration Partnership. These groups all have a common interest in protecting existing habitat and restoring …

Upper Ocean Response Of The Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System To Hurricane Mitch And Coastal Freshwater Inputs: A Study Using Sea-Viewing Wide Field-Of-View Sensor (Seawifs) Ocean Color Data And A Nested-Grid Ocean Circulation Model, Jinyu Sheng, Liang Wang, Serge Andrefouet, Chuanmin Hu, Bruce G. Hatcher, Frank E. Muller-Karger, Bjoern Kjerfve, William D. Heyman, Bo Yang

Marine Science Faculty Publications

The passage of category‐5 Hurricane Mitch through the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System (MBRS) in October 1998 was an extreme event with the potential to create unusual patterns of reef connectivity. The impact of this hurricane on the upper ocean of the MBRS is investigated using a triply nested grid ocean circulation modeling system. The model results are validated with contemporaneous ocean color data from the Sea‐viewing Wide Field‐of‐view Sensor (SeaWiFS) satellite and oceanographic measurements in the MBRS. The nested grid system is forced by 6‐hourly National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) winds for the first 294 …

Pleasant Point Sewer Extension, City Of Portsmouth

PREP Reports & Publications

The City of Portsmouth (City) is located in Rockingham County at the mouth of the Piscataqua River in the seacoast area of New Hampshire. The City of Portsmouth’s sewerage system consists of approximately 115 miles of sewers (excluding the Pease International Tradeport), 19 pumping stations, and a 4.8 million gallon per day (mgd) primary wastewater treatment facility (WWTF) located on Peirce Island. The City has an inter-municipal agreement with the Town of New Castle, an island to the northeast of Portsmouth, to treat their wastewater at the City’s Peirce Island WWTF. Additionally, the City has entered into a long-term Municipal …