Field Investigation of Wave and Surge Attenuation in Salt Marsh Vegetation and Wave Climate in a Shallow Estuary

This research investigates and quantifies the effectiveness of salt marsh vegetation in reducing storm-induced waves and surge, and the potential for wetland erosion due to wave action, using field measurements on the Louisiana coast. To quantify wave attenuation and wave energy dissipation by vegetation (Spartina alterniflora), wave data were measured along a transect using pressure transducers during two tropical storms. Measurements showed that incident waves attenuated exponentially over the vegetation. The linear spatial wave height reduction rate increased from 1.5% to 4% /m as incident wave height decreased. The bulk drag coefficient estimated from the field measurements decreased with increasing Reynolds (Re) and Keulegan-Carpenter (KC) numbers. The vegetation-induced wave energy dissipation did not linearly follow incident energy, and the degree of non-linearity varied with the dominant wave frequency. The estimated drag coefficient is shown to be frequency-dependent and is parameterized by a frequency-dependent velocity attenuation parameter inside the canopy. The spectral drag coefficient predicts the frequency-dependent energy dissipation with better accuracy than the integral coefficient. The probability distribution of zero-crossing wave heights attenuated by vegetation was observed to deviate from the Rayleigh distribution and follow the theoretically derived one-parameter Weibull distribution which depends on local wave conditions only. Empirical relationships are developed to estimate the shape parameter from the local wave parameters. Field data collected during Tropical storm Ida (2009) and Lee (2011) showed that the surge attenuated at different rates in two estuaries of different topography. Surge reduction by vegetation was more effective on a large marsh. To quantify the potential for wave action to cause erosion of coastal wetlands, directional wave measurements were collected over a seven-month period. Marsh retreat rates estimated in the study area, using the wave power calculated from the field measurements are on the same order of magnitude of the recent marsh loss monitoring data. The empirical relationships of vegetation drag coefficient and wave height probability distribution function can be used to improve coastal modeling and to estimate characteristic wave heights for the design of coastal defense structures fronted by large swaths of salt marsh vegetation

Spatial assessment of intertidal seagrass meadows using optical imaging systems and a lightweight drone

Seagrass ecosystems are highly sensitive to environmental change. They are also in global decline and under threat from a variety of anthropogenic factors. There is now an urgency to establish robust monitoring methodologies so that changes in seagrass abundance and distribution in these sensitive coastal environments can be understood. Typical monitoring approaches have included remote sensing from satellites and airborne platforms, ground based ecological surveys and snorkel/scuba surveys. These techniques can suffer from temporal and spatial inconsistency, or are very localised making it hard to assess seagrass meadows in a structured manner. Here we present a novel technique using a lightweight (sub 7 kg) drone and consumer grade cameras to produce very high spatial resolution (∼4 mm pixel−1) mosaics of two intertidal sites in Wales, UK. We present a full data collection methodology followed by a selection of classification techniques to produce coverage estimates at each site. We trialled three classification approaches of varying complexity to investigate and illustrate the differing performance and capabilities of each. Our results show that unsupervised classifications perform better than object-based methods in classifying seagrass cover. We also found that the more sparsely vegetated of the two meadows studied was more accurately classified - it had lower root mean squared deviation (RMSD) between observed and classified coverage (9–9.5%) compared to a more densely vegetated meadow (RMSD 16–22%). Furthermore, we examine the potential to detect other biotic features, finding that lugworm mounds can be detected visually at coarser resolutions such as 43 mm pixel−1, whereas smaller features such as cockle shells within seagrass require finer grained data (<17 mm pixel−1)

Current and Future Remote Sensing of Harmful Algal Blooms in the Chesapeake Bay to Support the Shellfish Industry

Harmful algal bloom (HAB) species in the Chesapeake Bay can negatively impact fish, shellfish, and human health via the production of toxins and the degradation of water quality. Due to the deleterious effects of HAB species on economically and environmentally important resources, such as oyster reef systems, Bay area resource managers are seeking ways to monitor HABs and water quality at large spatial and fine temporal scales. The use of satellite ocean color imagery has proven to be a beneficial tool for resource management in other locations around the world where high-biomass, nearly monospecific HABs occur. However, remotely monitoring HABs in the Chesapeake Bay is complicated by the presence of multiple, often co-occurring, species and optically complex waters. Here we present a summary of common marine and estuarine HAB species found in the Chesapeake Bay, Alexandrium monilatum, Karlodinium veneficum, Margalefidinium polykrikoides, and Prorocentrum minimum, that have been detected from space using multispectral data products from the Ocean and Land Colour Imager (OLCI) sensor on the Sentinel-3 satellites and identified based on in situ phytoplankton data and ecological associations. We review how future hyperspectral instruments will improve discrimination of potentially harmful species from other phytoplankton communities and present a framework in which satellite data products could aid Chesapeake Bay resource managers with monitoring water quality and protecting shellfish resources

THEORETICAL AND QUANTITATIVE METHODS CONNECTING CHARACTERIZING MICORIBAL METABOLISM DIVERSITY: IMPLCIATIONS FROM PHYLOGENETICS, COMMUNITY DIVERSITY, AND ORGANIC GEOCHEMISTRY

Biogeochemistry is controlled by microorganisms obtaining nutrients and energy. Thus, microbial metabolisms directly link microbial ecology and geochemistry. The extent that microbial ecology and geochemistry microbial ecology and geochemistry affects the other requires constraint on the spatiotemporal distribution and abundance of microbial metabolisms with respect to geochemistry, or the microbial niches. Elucidating microbial metabolisms was challenging prior to the advent of ‘omics sequencing technologies, as most microbial lineages lack cultured representatives. Although revolutionizing microbial ecology, challenges still exist in fully leveraging information derived from ‘omics technologies. This dissertation attempts to address a small subset of these challenges that include quantifying the generalizability of microbial metabolism with respect to phylogeny, relating metagenomic sequencing effort to in situ genome discovery rates, quantifying and generalizing the relative contribution to a net ecosystem function by community members, and relating geochemistry gradients to microbial metabolism gradients. As a part of this work, theoretical and quantitative measures are proposed for evaluating microbial metabolism diversity with respect to phylogenetics (permutational multivariate ANOVA and variance component modeling), community diversity (generalized coupon collector equation, parametric diversity), and in situ geochemistry at the field site, White Oak River estuary, North Carolina (USA). Numerical simulations (community rarefaction, community extinction events, and reaction-transport modeling) and public data repositories (Reference Sequence Database, GenBank, Integrated Microbial Genome and Microbiomes, and Sequence Read Archive) are used for the testing efficacy of the proposed theoretical and quantitative methods. The results indicate that numerical simulations and public data repositories can be used for developing and testing ecological theory and concepts. The theoretical and quantitative methods proposed here can now be used in exploring microbial niche distributions in nature

Seagrass restoration is possible:Insights and lessons from Australia and New Zealand

Seagrasses are important marine ecosystems situated throughout the world&rsquo;s coastlines. They are facing declines around the world due to global and local threats such as rising ocean temperatures, coastal development and pollution from sewage outfalls and agriculture. Efforts have been made to reduce seagrass loss through reducing local and regional stressors, and through active restoration. Seagrass restoration is a rapidly maturing discipline, but improved restoration practices are needed to enhance the success of future programs. Major gaps in knowledge remain, however, prior research efforts have provided valuable insights into factors influencing the outcomes of restoration and there are now several examples of successful large-scale restoration programs. A variety of tools and techniques have recently been developed that will improve the efficiency, cost effectiveness, and scalability of restoration programs. This review describes several restoration successes in Australia and New Zealand, with a focus on emerging techniques for restoration, key considerations for future programs, and highlights the benefits of increased collaboration, Traditional Owner (First Nation) and stakeholder engagement. Combined, these lessons and emerging approaches show that seagrass restoration is possible, and efforts should be directed at upscaling seagrass restoration into the future. This is critical for the future conservation of this important ecosystem and the ecological and coastal communities they support

Phytoplankton composition from sPACE: Requirements, opportunities, and challenges

Ocean color satellites have provided a synoptic view of global phytoplankton for over 25 years through near surface measurements of the concentration of chlorophyll a. While remote sensing of ocean color has revolutionized our understanding of phytoplankton and their role in the oceanic and freshwater ecosystems, it is important to consider both total phytoplankton biomass and changes in phytoplankton community composition in order to fully understand the dynamics of the aquatic ecosystems. With the upcoming launch of NASA\u27s Plankton, Aerosol, Clouds, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission, we will be entering into a new era of global hyperspectral data, and with it, increased capabilities to monitor phytoplankton diversity from space. In this paper, we analyze the needs of the user community, review existing approaches for detecting phytoplankton community composition in situ and from space, and highlight the benefits that the PACE mission will bring. Using this three-pronged approach, we highlight the challenges and gaps to be addressed by the community going forward, while offering a vision of what global phytoplankton community composition will look like through the “eyes” of PACE

Seagrass restoration is possible: insights and lessons from Australia and New Zealand

Seagrasses are important marine ecosystems situated throughout the world's coastlines. They are facing declines around the world due to global and local threats such as rising ocean temperatures, coastal development and pollution from sewage outfalls and agriculture. Efforts have been made to reduce seagrass loss through reducing local and regional stressors, and through active restoration. Seagrass restoration is a rapidly maturing discipline, but improved restoration practices are needed to enhance the success of future programs. Major gaps in knowledge remain, however, prior research efforts have provided valuable insights into factors influencing the outcomes of restoration and there are now several examples of successful large-scale restoration programs. A variety of tools and techniques have recently been developed that will improve the efficiency, cost effectiveness, and scalability of restoration programs. This review describes several restoration successes in Australia and New Zealand, with a focus on emerging techniques for restoration, key considerations for future programs, and highlights the benefits of increased collaboration, Traditional Owner (First Nation) and stakeholder engagement. Combined, these lessons and emerging approaches show that seagrass restoration is possible, and efforts should be directed at upscaling seagrass restoration into the future. This is critical for the future conservation of this important ecosystem and the ecological and coastal communities they support