SALT MARSH VEGETATION AND NEKTON COMMUNITY MONITORING AT SAGAMORE HILL NATIONAL HISTORICAL SITE
2009 Summary Report
Natural Resource Report
NPS/NCBN/NRDS—2010/06
7
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
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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 Sagamore Hill National Historical Site (SAHI) located in New York. Fifty-one vegetation plots and a subset of creeks were sampled for nekton at one marsh in August of 2009. Monitoring data is to be collected a this same marsh site biennially. Nekton in large tidal creeks (all less than 1m deep) were sampled with a 1m2 aluminum throw trap (Kushlan 1981, Sogard & Able 1991, Raposa and Roman 2001). 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 SAHI site, 13 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 SAHI, Panicum amarum is listed by the State of New York as rare but unprotected (Young 2008). None of the identified vegetation species found at SAHI in 2009 are listed by the USDA as exotic, invasive, threatened, endangered, or rare (USDA 2010). Non-vegetation cover types recorded included wrack and litter, bare ground, water and trash.

Eight species of nekton were recorded at SAHI in 2009, including 6 fish species, 1 crab species, and 1 shrimp species. Examination of percent catch data indicates that two species account for approximately 98% of all nekton captured. The most prevalent species, daggerblade grass shrimp (Palaemonetes pugio), accounts for approximately 89% of all nekton recorded at SAHI in 2009 and was much more abundant during the second sampling visit. The second most common species, common mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus), accounts for approximately 9% of all nekton recorded and was more abundant during the first sampling visit. Substantial differences in abundances and species composition between the two sampling visits are to be expected and reinforce our decision to sample nekton twice during the summer.

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 the SAHI salt marsh selected for monitoring. 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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