Abstract
Long-term monitoring of estuarine nekton has many practical and ecological benefits but efforts are hampered by a lack of standardized sampling procedures. This study provides a rationale for monitoring nekton in shallow (< 1 m), temperate, estuarine habitats and addresses some important issues that arise when developing monitoring protocols. Sampling in seagrass and salt marsh habitats is emphasized due to the susceptibility of each habitat to anthropogenic stress and to the abundant and rich nekton assemblages that each habitat supports. Extensive sampling with quantitative enclosure traps that estimate nekton density is suggested. These gears have a high capture efficiency in most habitats and are small enough (e.g., 1 m2) to permit sampling in specific microhabitats. Other aspects of nekton monitoring are discussed, including spatial and temporal sampling considerations, station selection, sample size estimation, and data collection and analysis. Developing and initiating long-term nekton monitoring programs will help evaluate natural and human-induced changes in estuarine nekton over time and advance our understanding of the interactions between nekton and the dynamic estuarine environment.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Able, K. W., McBride, R. S., Rountree, R. A. and Smith, K. J.: 1996, ‘Fishes of polyhaline estuarine shores in Great Bay-Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey: a case study of seasonal and habitat influences’, in: Nordstrom, K. F. and Roman, C. T. (eds.), Estuarine Shores: Evolution, Environments and Human Alterations, John Wiley and Sons, Ltd., West Sussex, England, pp. 335–353.
Able, K. W., Manderson, J. P. and Studholme, A. L.: 1998, ‘The distribution of shallow water juvenile fishes in an urban estuary: the effects of manmade structures in the lower Hudson River’, Estuaries 21, 731–744.
Able, K. W., Nemerson, D. M., Light, P. R. and Bush, R. 0.: 2000, ‘Initial response of fishes to marsh restoration at a former salt hay farm bordering Delaware Bay’, in: Weinstein, M.P. and Kreeger, D.A. (eds.), Concepts and Controversies in Tidal Marsh Ecology, Kluwer Academic Publishers, The Netherlands, pp. 749–773.
Adams, S. M.: 1976, ‘The ecology of eelgrass, Zostera marina (L.), fish communities. I. Structural analysis’, Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 22, 269–291.
Ayvazian, S. G., Deegan, L. A. and Finn, J. T.: 1992, ‘Comparison of habitat use by estuarine fish assemblages in the Acadian and Virginian zoogeographic provinces’, Estuaries 15, 368–383.
Cain, R. L. and Dean, J. M.: 1976, ‘Annual occurrence, abundance and diversity of fish in a South Carolina intertidal creek’, Marine Biology 36, 369–379.
Carpenter, S. R. and Kitchell, J. F.: 1985, ‘Cascading trophic interactions and lake productivity’, Bioscience 35, 634–639.
Carr, M. R.: 1997, Primer User Manual: Plymouth Routines in Multivariate Ecological Research, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Plymouth, England, 42 pp.
Clarke, K. R. and Warwick, R. M.: 1994, Change in marine communities: an approach to statistical analysis and interpretation, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Plymouth, England, 144 pp.
Deegan, L. A., Finn, J. T., Ayvazian, S. G., Ryder-Kieffer, C. A. and Buonaccorsi, J.: 1997, ‘Development and validation of an estuarine biotic integrity index’, Estuaries 20, 601–617.
Fausch, K. D., Kan, J. R. and Yant, P. R.: 1984, ‘Regional application of an index of biotic integrity based on steam fish communities’, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 113, 39–55.
Friedland, K. D., Garman, G. C., Bejda, A. J. and Studholme, A. L.: 1988, Interannual variation in diet and condition in juvenile bluefish during estuarine residency’, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 117, 474–479.
Fritz, E. S., Meredith, W. H. and Lotrich, V. A.: 1975, ‘Fall and winter movements and activity level of the mummichog, Fundulus heteroclitus, in a tidal creek’, Chesapeake Science 16, 211–215.
Harlin, M. M.: 1995, ‘Changes in major plant groups following nutrient enrichment’, in: McComb, A. J. (ed.), Eutrophic shallow estuaries and lagoons, CRC Press, Boca Raton, Fl., pp. 173–187
Heck Jr., K. L. and Orth, R. J.: 1980, ‘Structural components of eelgrass (Zostera marina) meadows in the lower Chesapeake Bay-decapod crustaceans’, Estuaries 3, 289–295.
Heck Jr., K. L., Able, K. W., Fahay, M. P. and Roman, C. T.: 1989, ‘Fishes and decapod crustaceans of Cape Cod eelgrass meadows: Species composition, seasonal abundance patterns and comparison with unvegetated substrates’, Estuaries 12, 59–65.
Heltshe, J. F. and Forrester, N. E.: 1983, ‘Estimating species richness using the jackknife Procedure’, Biometrics 39, 1–11.
Hoff, J. G. and Ibara, R. M.: 1977, ‘Factors affecting the seasonal abundance, composition and diversity of fishes in a southeastern New England estuary’, Estuarine and Coastal Marine Science 5, 665–678.
Jordan, F., Coyne, S. and Trexler, J. C.: 1997, ‘Sampling fishes in vegetated habitats: Effects of habitat structure on sampling characteristics of the 1-m2 throw trap’, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 126, 1012–1020.
Karr, J. R.: 1981, ‘Assessment of biotic integrity using fish communities’, Fisheries 6, 21–27.
Kneib, R. T.: 1997, ‘The role of tidal marshes in the ecology of estuarine nekton’, Oceanography and Marine Biology: An Annual Review 35, 163–220.
Krebs, C. J.: 1989, Ecological Methodology, Harper and Row, New York, NY, 654 pp.
Kushlan, J. A.: 1981, ‘Sampling characteristics of enclosure fish traps’, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 110, 557–562.
LaBrecque, E., Fritz, C., Tober, J., Behr, P. J. and Valiela, I.: 1996, ‘Abundance and age-specific growth rates in relation to population densities of Fundulus heteroclitus in Waquoit Bay estuaries subject to different nitrogen loads’, Biological Bulletin 191, 319–320.
Lazzari, M. A., Sherman, S., Brown, C. S., King, J., Joule, B. J., Chenoweth, S. B. and Langton, R. W.: 1999, ‘Seasonal and annual variations in abundance and species composition of two nearshore fish communities in Maine’, Estuaries 22, 636–647.
Matheson Jr., R. E., Camp, D. K., Sogard, S. M. and Bjorgo, K. A.: 1999, ‘Changes in seagrassassociated fish and crustacean communities on Florida Bay mud banks: the effects of recent ecosystem changes?’, Estuaries 22, 534–551.
Orth, R. J. and Heck, K. L.: 1980, ‘Structural components of eelgrass (Zostera marina) meadows in the lower Chesapeake Bay-fishes’, Estuaries 3, 278–288.
Pearcy, W. G. and Richards, S. W.: 1962, ‘Distribution and ecology of fishes of the Mystic River estuary, Connecticut’, Ecology 43, 248–259.
Peterson, J. T. and Rabeni, C. F.: 1995, ‘Optimizing sampling effort for sampling warmwater stream fish communities’, North American Journal of Fisheries Management 15, 528–541.
Pihl Baden, S. R. and Pihl, L.: 1984, ‘Abundance, biomass and production of mobile epibenthic fauna in Zostera marina (L.) meadows, western Sweden’, Ophelia 23, 65–90.
Pihl, L. and Rosenberg, R.: 1982, ‘Production, abundance, and biomass of mobile epibenthic marine fauna in shallow waters, western Sweden’, Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 57, 273–301.
Raposa, K. B.: 2000, Nekton utilization of tidally restricted, restoring, and reference New England salt marshes, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI, 172 pp.
Recksiek, C. W. and McCleave, J. D.: 1973, ‘Distribution of pelagic fishes in the Sheepscot River-Back River estuary, Wiscasset, Maine’, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 102, 541–551.
Rey, J. R., Shaffer, J. and Tremain, D.: 1990, ‘Effects of re-establishing tidal connections in two impounded subtropical marshes on fishes and physical conditions’, Wetlands 10, 27–45.
Rountree, R. A. and Able, K. W.: 1992, ‘Fauna of polyhaline subtidal marsh creeks in southern New Jersey: composition, abundance and biomass’, Estuaries 15, 171–185.
Rozas, L. P. and Minello, T. J.: 1997, ‘Estimating densities of small fishes and decapod crustaceans in shallow estuarine habitats: a review of sampling design with focus on gear selection’, Estuaries 20, 199–213.
SAS Institute, Inc.: 1997, SAS user’s guide, Version 6, 5th edition, SAS Institute, Inc., Cary, NC.
Sekiguchi, K.: 1995, ‘Occurrence, behavior and feeding habits of harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) at Pajaro Dunes, Monterey Bay, California’, Aquatic Mammals 21, 91–103.
Smith, J. P.: 1997, ‘Nesting season food habits of four species of herons and egrets at Lake Okeechobee, Florida’, Colonial Waterbirds 20, 198–220.
Smith, K. J. and Able, K. W.: 1994, ‘Salt-marsh tide pools as winter refuges for the mummichog, Fundulus heteroclitus, in New Jersey’, Estuaries 17, 226–234.
Snedecor, W. S. and Cochran, W. G.: 1980, Statistical Methods, Iowa State University Press, Ames, IA, 507 pp.
Sogard, S. M. and Able, K. W.: 1991, ‘A comparison of eelgrass, sea lettuce macroalgae, and marsh creeks as habitats for epibenthic fishes and decapods’, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 33, 501–519.
Sokal, R. and Rohlf, F.: 1981, Biometry, Freeman, San Fransisco, CA, 859 pp.
Taylor, D. S., Poulakis, G. R., Kupschus, S. R. and Faunce, C. H.: 1998, ‘Estuarine reconnection of an impounded mangrove salt marsh in the Indian River lagoon, Florida: short-term changes in fish fauna’, Mangroves and Salt Marshes 2, 29–36.
Tober, J., Fritz, C., LaBrecque, E., Behr, P. J. and Valiela, I.: 1996, ‘Abundance, biomass, and species richness of fish communities in relation to nitrogen-loading rates of Waquoit Bay estuaries’, Biological Bulletin 191, 321–322.
Valiela, I., Foreman, K. and LaMontagne, M.: 1992, ‘Couplings of watersheds and coastal waters: sources and consequences of nutrient enrichment in Waquoit Bay, Massachusetts’, Estuaries 15, 443–457.
Varnell, L. M., Havens, K. J. and Hershner, C.: 1995, ‘Daily variability in abundance and population characteristics of tidal salt-marsh fauna’, Estuaries 18, 326–334.
Vose, F. E. and Bell, S. S.: 1994, ‘Resident fishes and macrobenthos in mangrove-rimmed habitats: evaluation of habitat restoration by hydrologic modification’, Estuaries 17, 585–596.
Zedler, J.: 1990, A manual for assessing restored and natural coastal wetlands with examples from California, Report #T-CSGCP-021, California Sea Grant, La Jolla CA.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2003 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Raposa, K.B., Roman, C.T., Heltshe, J.F. (2003). Monitoring Nekton as a Bioindicator in Shallow Estuarine Habitats. In: Melzian, B.D., Engle, V., McAlister, M., Sandhu, S., Eads, L.K. (eds) Coastal Monitoring through Partnerships. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-0299-7_21
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-0299-7_21
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-6203-1
Online ISBN: 978-94-017-0299-7
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive