SALT MARSH VEGETATION AND NEKTON COMMUNITY MONITORING AT WILLIAM FLOYD ESTATE, FIRE ISLAND NATIONAL SEASHORE
2009 Summary Report
Natural Resource Report
NPS/NCBN/NRDS—2010/070

Erika L. Patenaude
Penelope S. Pooler
National Park Service
Northeast Coastal and Barrier Network
University of Rhode Island
1 Greenhouse Rd
Kingston, RI 02881

August 2010

U.S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Natural Resource Program Center
Fort Collins, Colorado
______________________________

Executive Summary

The Northeast Coastal and Barrier Network (NCBN) is one of 32 networks of parks created by the Inventory and Monitoring Program (I&M Program) of the National Park Service. The I&M Program has two components, 1) to collect baseline ecological inventory datasets and 2) to implement Vital Signs monitoring, a long-term ecological monitoring program, in each of the Network parks. The Northeast Coastal and Barrier Network consists of eight parks linked by geography and shared ecological characteristics along the Northeastern Atlantic Coast. As part of the Vital Signs program, each Network has developed detailed protocols for monitoring a select number of Vital Signs, or ecological indicators. Because the majority of parks in the NCBN are coastal parks, salt marsh monitoring was chosen as a high priority and a protocol was developed for collecting long-term data on salt marsh vegetation and nekton (James-Pirri In Development a, b).

This annual report summarizes the first year of data collected at William Floyd Estate, Fire Island National Seashore (WIFL) located in New York. Approximately fifty vegetation plots and a subset of pools and ditches were sampled for nekton at three marshes in July and August of 2009. Monitoring data is to be collected at these same marsh sites biennially. Nekton in marsh pools were sampled with a 1m2 aluminum throw trap (Kushlan 1981, Sogard & Able 1991, Raposa and Roman 2001). Nekton in ditches were sampled using ditch nets (James-Pirri et al. 2010). Vegetation was monitored using 1m2 plots and a revised Braun-Blanquet method (Kent and Coker 1992) to estimate percent cover of each vegetation species and non-vegetation cover type within each plot.

At the three WIFL sites, 14 vegetation species along with 4 non-vegetation cover types were recorded during vegetation sampling in 2009. One of the identified vegetation species in the sample plots at WIFL, Limonium carolinianum and is listed by both by the USDA and the State of New York as exploitably vulnerable (USDA 2010, Young 2008). One of the identified vegetation species in the sample plots, Phragmites australis, is listed by the state of New York as highly invasive (Invasive Plant Council of New York 2007). Non-vegetation cover types recorded included wrack and litter, bare ground, water, and trash.

Nine species of nekton were recorded at three sites at WIFLin 2009, including 5 fish species, 3 crab species, and 1 shrimp species. Examination of percent catch data indicates that one nekton species, daggerblade grass shrimp (Palaemonetes pugio), accounts for approximately 89% of all nekton captured. The second most prevalent species, Common Mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus), accounts for approximately 8% of all nekton recorded.

The information collected through this long-term monitoring program will equip park managers with scientific data to make informed decisions on both the aquatic and terrestrial resources they manage. This report summarizes the 2009 baseline data for WIFL salt marshes. Changes in salt marsh condition will be examined following data collection in 2011. By understanding the changes or trends occurring in salt marsh vegetation and nekton communities, managers will be able to better adapt and respond to these changes through their management practices.

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