Sentinel |
Indice |
Water Quality & Quantity |
Hypoxia in LIS and embayments |
- Dissolved oxygen
- Duration of hypoxia
- Area affected and severity
- Wind speed and direction
|
Changes in groundwater quality and quantity |
- Salinity
- Groundwater elevation
- Water temperature
|
Human pathogens |
- Abundance of specific pathogen (i.e.,
enterococci)
|
Shellfish bed (commercial/recreational) closures
(human/economic impacts) |
- #bed closures
- Duration of closures/year
|
Acidification |
- pH
- Thickness of crustacean shells = some species
develop thinner shells (oysters, clams, mussels), others develop
thicker shells (crabs, shrimp, lobster)
|
Turbidity of water column (abiotic reduction of
light penetration) |
- Turbidity (not secchi)
- Sediment accumulation rates
|
Harmful algae blooms (HAB) |
- Cell counts (with species ID); algal toxins
- Blue mussels quickly accumulate HAB cells and
are deployed in cages for two weeks
|
Pelagic/Benthic Systems and
Associated Species |
Distribution and abundance of aquatic invasive
species or new occurrences, particularly from a shellfish production
and natural resources perspective |
- Invasive species – distribution and abundance
|
Composition, abundance of benthic (shallow and
deep) fauna |
- LIS benthic index (under development by Robert
Whitlach @ UConn)
- REMOTS benthic camera
|
Phytoplankton species composition and abundance |
- Chlorophyll a
- Nutrients
- HPLC and microscopy & species
identification analysis
- Biogenic silica (POM)
|
Zooplankton species composition and abundance |
- Annual biomass
- Species composition
- Species identification analysis
|
Finfish (distribution and abundance) |
- Trend analyses (similarity coefficient
regression) of survey catch data
- Correlation of adaptation group abundance and
individual species
|
Benthic macroalgae |
|
Hard substrate subtidal communities |
- Distribution and abundance of shallow water
suspension feeders; macroalgae; foraminifera
|
Fisheries of Long Island
Sound and Associated River Systems |
Lobster |
- Lobster larval abundance from fisheries
independent monitoring; Catch per unit effort
- Indices from fishery monitoring
- Neoparamoeba distribution in water column;
- Temperature effects – analysis of catch
distribution in LIS Trawl Survey and LIS commercial catch. Assay
to measure heat shock protein
|
All shellfish (clams, mussels, oysters, scallops) |
- pH
- Alkalinity
- CO2 concentrations
|
Eastern Oysters (shellfish): changes in
populations due to Dermo or MSX; ocean acidification, potentially
invasive species that are predatory or compete for resources |
- Dermo and Haplosporidium which causes MSX
- pH changes effects on calcification
|
Northern quahog (shellfish): changes in
populations are due to disease (QPX), ocean acidification, potentially
invasive species that are predatory or compete for resources |
- % infected clams/area (disease prevalence &
intensity)
- Range changes in parasites
|
Bay scallops (shellfish): Changes in populations
due to habitat loss (eelgrass): ocean acidification, |
- Distribution and abundance of shellfish and
habitat (eelgrass)
|
Is there a change in finfish pathogen abundance
and occurrence. |
- Proportion of population infected with the
pathogen or annual index of mortalities directly attributable to this
disease (difficult)
- Parasite prevalence, abundance, seasonality,
location, pathology: including but not limited to: Lironeca, Lernanthropus, Lernaeenichus
|
Diadromous fish |
- Trend analyses (similarity coefficient
/regression) of survey catch data; correlation of adaptation group
abundance and individual species, with LIS temperature data
- NY would only see changes to timing, more
applicable in CT
|
Coastal habitats and
associated species/systems
|
Is there evidence of inundation of tidal flats?
Are hard clam landings declining in association with decreases in the
area of tidal flats? |
- Hard clam landings from monitoring
- Bushels or bag-counts (CT) per yr,
catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE)
- Acres of tidal flats
- Density per acre
- Shellfish harvest closures/yr
- Recruitment
|
Salt marshes and associated species |
- Change in low:high marsh ratio
- Elevation (Surface elevation tables - SET’s);
mē, by veg type; transects;
- Extent of Phragmites
- Chronology of marsh elevation and accretion
(SETs & Pb210)
|
Brackish and freshwater tidal marshes and
associated species |
- mē by marsh type;
- Transects in marshes;
- Spring freshet (measure freshwater inflow)
|
Coastal forests, shrublands, grasslands |
- Invasive species distribution and abundance;
- Veg transects/plots;
- Species composition;
- Changes in timing of plant blooms
|
Sea Cliffs/Bluffs and Escarpments (Primarily NY) |
- mē lost (possibly using aerial photos)
|
Unvegetated nearshore submerged and intertidal,
habitats (mudflats, sandflats, rocky intertidal) |
|
Barrier beaches/islands |
- USGS Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI)
|
Changes to marsh birds, colonial nesting birds, shorebirds, waterfowl |
- Changes in bird population abundance, fecundity, number of nest sites
- Loss of coastal habitats
- Potential loss of SAV and other food sources
|
Insects |
- Abundance of particular species of insects
|
Distribution and Abundance of Terrestrial Invasive
species (plant and animal) |
- Distribution and abundance of new invasive
species
|
Eelgrass (Zostera marina) and
organisms that depend on eelgrass habitat/food |
- Secchi depth (light penetration)
- Eelgrass distribution
- Salinity
|
SAV (other than eelgrass) |
- Secchi depth (light penetration)
- SAV abundance and distribution
- Salinity
- Temperature
- pH
|
Marine mammals & sea turtles |
|