Historical changes in seagrass coverage on the Mississippi barrier islands, northern Gulf of Mexico, determined from vertical aerial imagery (1940–2007)

Carter, Gregory A.; Biber, Patrick D.; Criss, G. Alan; Blossom, Gabriel A.

doi:10.1080/10106049.2011.620634

Cited by 27 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…However, the MS Sound is relatively uniform with respect to these factors. Seagrass coverage is limited to a very small spatial extent along the northern shore of the barrier islands (Carter et al, ) and the majority of the bottom is considered unstructured, mudflat with the exception of oyster reef habitats in the western MS Sound (MS Department of Marine Resources, ). The variables used in our models are those that probably affect dolphin occurrence and exhibit a greater degree spatiotemporal variation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predictive spatial modelling of seasonal bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) distributions in the Mississippi Sound

Pitchford

Howard

Shelley

et al. 2015

Aquatic Conservation

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Spatial distribution models (SDMs) have been useful for improving management of species of concern in many areas. This study was designed to model the spatial distribution of bottlenose dolphins among seasons of the year in the Mississippi Sound within the northern Gulf of Mexico. Models were constructed by integrating presence locations of dolphins acquired from line‐transect sampling from 2011–2013 with maps of environmental conditions for the region to generate a likelihood of dolphin occurrence for winter (January–March), spring (April–June), summer (July–September), and autumn (October–December) using maximum entropy. Models were successfully generated using the program MaxEnt and had high predictive capacity for all seasons (AUC (area under curve) > 0.8). Distinct seasonal shifts in spatial distribution were evident including increased predicted occurrence in deepwater habitats during the winter, limited predicted occurrence in the western Mississippi Sound in winter and spring, widespread predicted occurrence over the entire region during summer, and a distinct westward shift of predicted occurrence in autumn. The most important environmental predictors used in SDMs were distance to shore, salinity, and nitrates, but variable importance differed considerably among seasons. Geographic shifts in predicted occurrence probably reflect both direct effects of changing environmental conditions and subsequent changes in prey availability and foraging efficiency. Overall, seasonal models helped to identify preferred habitats for dolphins among seasons of the year and can be used to inform management of this protected species in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predictive spatial modelling of seasonal bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) distributions in the Mississippi Sound

Pitchford

Howard

Shelley

et al. 2015

Aquatic Conservation

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“…A quantitative or qualitative metric that defines a desired condition or goal for each indicator should be established, allowing indicator metrics to be assessed and reported in the EcoHealth assessments. Goals and benchmarks can be set in several ways, including using established regulatory metrics (e.g., numerical ambient water quality criteria; Stephan et al ), identifying biologically or ecologically relevant data values from the literature (e.g., defining hypoxia to be ≤2.0 mgL –1 dissolved O; Rabalais et al ), comparisons to historical conditions prior to major impacts (e.g., assessing areal coverage of seagrass communities in the northern Gulf; Carter et al ), or measurements of benchmarks that have been achieved in similar ecosystems elsewhere. Characterize results. Indicator values are evaluated against specific goals, benchmarks, or thresholds.…”

Section: Dpscr4 Framework: Need For a New Synthesis Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conceptual Framework for Assessing Ecosystem Health

Harwell¹,

Gentile²,

McKinney

et al. 2019

Integr Envir Assess & Manag

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Over the past century, the environment of the Gulf of Mexico has been significantly altered and impaired by extensive human activities. A national commitment to restore the Gulf was finally initiated in response to the unprecedented Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010. Consequently, there is a critical need for an assessment framework and associated set of indicators that can characterize the health and sustainability of an ecosystem having the scale and complexity of the Gulf. The assessment framework presented here was developed as an integration of previous ecological risk– and environmental management–based frameworks for assessing ecosystem health. It was designed to identify the natural and anthropogenic drivers, pressures, and stressors impinging on ecosystems and ecosystem services, and the ecological conditions that result, manifested as effects on valued ecosystem components. Four types of societal and ecological responses are identified: reduction of pressures and stressors, remediation of existing stressors, active ecosystem restoration, and natural ecological recovery. From this conceptual framework are derived the specific indicators to characterize ecological condition and progress toward achieving defined ecological health and sustainability goals. Additionally, the framework incorporates a hierarchical structure to communicate results to a diversity of audiences, from research scientists to environmental managers and decision makers, with the level of detail or aggregation appropriate for each targeted audience. Two proof‐of‐concept studies were conducted to test this integrated assessment and decision framework, a prototype Texas Coastal Ecosystems Report Card, and a pilot study on enhancing rookery islands in the Mission‐Aransas Reserve, Texas, USA. This Drivers–Pressures–Stressors–Condition–Responses (DPSCR4) conceptual framework is a comprehensive conceptual model of the coupled human–ecological system. Much like its predecessor, the ecological risk assessment framework, the DPSCR4 conceptual framework can be tailored to different scales of complexity, different ecosystem types with different stress regimes, and different environmental settings. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2019;15:544–564. © 2019 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC)

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“…Severe storms can also impact seagrass distribution, causing them to be buried or washed away (Eleuterius 1987). However, seagrass patches have been observed to withstand storm impacts with some protection from waves (Byron and Heck 2006;Carter et al 2011).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…The inlet between East and West Ship Island, opened by Hurricane Camille's impact in 1969, severely reduces the available seagrass habitat by exposing the back barrier to higher wave and current energy (USACE 2014). The only seagrass species present around Ship Island is Halodule wrightii (Ascherson), or shoal grass (Carter et al 2011;Eleuterius 1987;Handley et al 2007). This species has been dominant along the MS-AL barriers since 1978 (Eleuterius 1987).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Relating seagrass habitat to geomorphology and substrate characteristics around Ship Island, MS

Eisemann¹,

Altman²,

Acevedo-Mackey³

et al. 2019

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Coastal vegetation, including marsh and submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV), is threatened in many places across the United States and globally. Human activity, sediment starvation, and subsidence, among other factors, put these ecosystems at risk (Kirwan and Megonigal 2013; Orth et al. 2006). One type of SAV, seagrass, is of particular ecological importance, providing food and critical habitat for numerous coastal species. However, seagrass is currently in decline globally due to the aforementioned factors (Eleuterius 1987). Identifying the necessary conditions to promote seagrass recovery and growth is highlighted as one of the "important yet essentially unanswered questions" globally in the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) report on seagrass coverage in the Mississippi Sound from 1940-2002 (Moncreiff 2007). In sandy barrier island systems, where seagrass habitat has been related to barrier island stability and length, there is a distinct need to quantify in detail the conditions that will promote seagrass recovery and growth (Carter et al. 2011; Eleuterius 1987; Pham et al. 2014). This report introduces a new methodology for quantifying the relationship between seagrass habitat and its physical environment, including substrate and geomorphological characteristics. BACKGROUND: Studies relating seagrass growth to physical conditions tend to focus on finegrained estuarine environments, where wave exposure and light are identified as primary limiting factors for growth (Boer 2007; Koch 2001; Livingston et al. 1998). Important seagrass ecosystems also occur in sandy, geomorphologically dynamic barrier island systems, where controlling factors such as wave energy and rapid deposition or erosion can be much more complex (Pham et al. 2014). Seagrass Ecosystems. Barrier island systems are ecologically unique. They form the boundary between high-energy marine environments and low-energy back-barrier marshes, bays, or sounds. Barrier islands are composed of unconsolidated sediments, and are therefore dynamic. Storms, sea-level rise, and sediment supply are the primary controlling factors of their formation,

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Historical changes in seagrass coverage on the Mississippi barrier islands, northern Gulf of Mexico, determined from vertical aerial imagery (1940–2007)

Cited by 27 publications

References 36 publications

Predictive spatial modelling of seasonal bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) distributions in the Mississippi Sound

Predictive spatial modelling of seasonal bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) distributions in the Mississippi Sound

Conceptual Framework for Assessing Ecosystem Health

Relating seagrass habitat to geomorphology and substrate characteristics around Ship Island, MS

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