Landscape Structure and Scale Constraints on Restoring Estuarine Wetlands for Pacific Coast Juvenile Fishes

Simenstad, Charles A.; Hood, W. Gregory; Thom, Ronald M.; Levy, David A.; Bottom, Daniel L.

doi:10.1007/0-306-47534-0_28

Cited by 32 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Williams & Zedler (1999) suggested that future restoration projects should mimic natural marsh hydrogeomorphology and diversity more closely. The importance of dendritic tidal channel complexity, habitat matrix heterogeneity and other attributes of estuarine landscape structure is described by Simenstad et al (2002). Additional investigations of relationships between geomorphological features of creeks, water quality and the behavior and production of nekton populations will be necessary to determine design and management criteria that achieve sustainable functional equivalency for created marshes in different geographic regions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geomorphological determinants of nekton use of intertidal salt marsh creeks

Allen¹,

Haertel‐Borer²,

Milan³

et al. 2007

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Spatial variations in nekton use are often attributed to differences in the configuration and composition of habitat. We predicted that differences in nekton use among intertidal creeks were related to certain geomorphological characteristics. We measured or derived 28 features at 8 intertidal creeks in the high salinity North Inlet Estuary, South Carolina, USA. Nekton were collected simultaneously from all creeks once each season for 2 yr. Spatial variations in total abundance and biomass were greater than seasonal variations. Differences of 3-to 30-fold in resident and transient taxa densities occurred among creeks on the same date. Relative use (ranks) was similar among seasons and years. In canonical correlation analyses, depth, steepness, flow, and location were primary factors for total nekton and many taxa. Creeks that were shallow, broad, and filled and emptied slowly supported the greatest use. Total nekton use was not related to creek size, amount of edge, or oyster bottom. Grass shrimp Palaemonetes spp., numerically dominant in 83% of the collections, responded most to creek shape. Mummichog Fundulus heteroclitus favored shallow creeks with low flow and low proportions of submerged bottom at low tide. Juvenile spot Leiostomus xanthurus and pinfish Lagodon rhomboides were associated with the same features throughout their seasonal periods of occurrence. Persistent differences in nekton use of adjacent intertidal creeks might be explained by behavioral selection for preferred conditions and reoccupation of selected creeks. Geomorphological variations are significant among sites and must be considered when assessing factors affecting nekton use along salinity and other environmental gradients.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geomorphological determinants of nekton use of intertidal salt marsh creeks

Allen¹,

Haertel‐Borer²,

Milan³

et al. 2007

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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“…The young-of-the-year (YOY) and later juveniles of many fish species use estuaries extensively, presumably benefiting from a combination of high resource availability, low predation pressure and suitable physico-chemical conditions (Nixon & Oviatt 1973, Weinstein 1979, Weinstein et al 1980, Boesch & Turner 1984, Rountree & Able 1992, Kneib 1997, Able & Fahay 1998, Simenstad et al 2000. However, estuaries are dynamic habitats and the attributes that make them beneficial to fishes vary across space and time (Pennock & Sharp 1986, Day et al 1989, Lankford & Targett 1994.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial patterns in diet and distribution of juveniles of four fish species in Delaware Bay marsh creeks: factors influencing fish abundance

Nemerson¹,

Able²

2004

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Delaware Bay is one of the largest estuaries on the east coast of the United States and provides juvenile habitat for many fish species. We investigated spatial patterns in the diet and distribution of the young-of-the-year of 3 marine transients -the weakfish Cynoscion regalis, the spot Leiostomus xanthurus and the Atlantic croaker Micropogonias undulatus -and the juveniles and adults of 1 estuarine resident, the white perch Morone americana, in 5 marsh creeks systems along a salinity gradient running from the poly/mesohaline (12 to 20) lower bay to the meso/oligohaline upper bay (0 to 12). Sampling was conducted monthly from April through November in 1997 and 1998, resulting in over 1700 otter trawl (4.9 m, 6 mm cod-end mesh) samples and 5703 fish stomachs examined, making this one of the largest studies of its kind. We employed a bootstrap technique to generate 95% confidence intervals for proportional consumption of the major prey categories. The diets of the target species differed significantly among the 5 marsh creeks. Mysid consumption was high for all species at the 3 most saline marshes and low at the 2 freshest sites, suggesting either low mysid abundance or availability at the latter sites. Consumption of insect larvae was important only at the freshest site. L. xanthurus consumed 80% annelids at the most saline sites, but less that 32% at the other sites. The other important consumer of annelids, Micropogonias undulatus, consumed similar quantities of annelids at all sites (32 to 41%). Total stomach fullness was almost always higher at the sites of highest fish abundance. We conclude that the marine transients appear to recruit preferentially to sites of high resource abundance, while M. americana is restricted by physico-chemical tolerance during the spring through fall to limited juvenile habitats where it may experience food resource competition.

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“…We found that vegetated and non-vegetated wetland cover types currently account for >36% of the study area. While tidal marshes do not generally dominate estuarine landscapes in the Pacific Northwest (Simenstad et al, 2000), the significant losses of wetland cover types reported in previous studies underscore the immediate need to assess and develop management plans involving remaining areas. We found that a significant portion (20%) of the study area is currently diked suggesting that numerous restoration and management opportunities exist.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

Estuarine and Tidal Freshwater Habitat Cover Types Along the Lower Columbia River Estuary Determined from Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM+) Imagery, Technical Report 2003.

Garono¹,

Robinson²

2003

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Landscape Structure and Scale Constraints on Restoring Estuarine Wetlands for Pacific Coast Juvenile Fishes

Cited by 32 publications

References 27 publications

Geomorphological determinants of nekton use of intertidal salt marsh creeks

Geomorphological determinants of nekton use of intertidal salt marsh creeks

Spatial patterns in diet and distribution of juveniles of four fish species in Delaware Bay marsh creeks: factors influencing fish abundance

Estuarine and Tidal Freshwater Habitat Cover Types Along the Lower Columbia River Estuary Determined from Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM+) Imagery, Technical Report 2003.

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