U.S. EPA Office of Research
H'll
and Development's Science
To Achieve Results (STAR)
Research in Progress
Vol. 3 Issue 1 July 1999 A product of the National Center for Environmental Research and Quality Assurance
ECOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF COASTAL STRESSORS
1998 was designated the "Year of the Ocean"
through the efforts of a host of national and inter-
national ocean education and conservation organi-
zations and public agencies. In a 1997 study
relevant to technical information needs for U.S.
coastal assessments, a team of federal scientists and
program managers convened by the Federal
Interagency Committee on Environment and
Natural Resources had released the report, "Inte-
grating the Nation's Environmental Monitoring and
Research Networks and Programs: A Proposed
Framework." They recommended creating a
network of index sites that could provide standard-
ized information on coastal ecological condition,
filling a critical gap in the nation's ability to assess
the health of ecosystems.
Responding to this recommendation, in 1998 the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Na-
tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA), and the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA) established CISNet (the
Coastal Intensive Site Network). This program will
develop a network of coastal monitoring and
research locations. Within EPA, CISNet is a compo-
nent of the Environmental Monitoring and Assess-
ment Program, which conducts research into
monitoring design and implementation to address a
range of ecological resources, including coastal
ecosystems. Within NOAA, CISNet research is
jointly supported by programs including the Na-
tional Sea Grant College, the National Estuarine
Research Reserve System, and other components of
the National Ocean Service. Within NASA, CISNet
research is a component of the "Mission to Planet
Earth", and aims at developing remote sensing
capabilities to complement the EPA and NOAA field
work. In many cases CISNet sites are existing
federal or academic research stations.
CISNet supports baseline monitoring of ecological
condition simultaneously with use of the sites as
"outdoor laboratories" for fundamental research to
better understand ecosystem processes and re-
sponses to stress. Results eventually will include
better descriptions and understanding of short-term
-------
coastal variability, monitoring of
long-term trends, and determin-
ing which indicators are most
useful for identifying stress and
responses to stress in coastal
systems across the range of
conditions found in U.S. coastal
regions.
Following is a description of current
STAR CISNet projects. If not
otherwise described, these projects
are supported by EPA funds. Where
some or all funds are from other
federal agencies, that is noted.
Atlantic and Gulf Coast
CISNet Studies
The University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill is building on an
existing twenty-year data base
recording water quality and
ecological conditions of the Neuse
River Estuary. Researchers will
expand on the previous research
to evaluate the mechanisms of
nitrogen-driven eutrophication.
The Neuse is experiencing nui-
sance algal blooms, low oxygen
and fish kills. In 1997 it was listed
by the American Rivers Foundation
as one of the nation's most
polluted rivers. It is presumed that
increased nitrogen loads from
human population growth and
various land use changes contrib-
ute to the observed impacts, but
there is not a complete under-
standing of the importance of
various stressors, or of the ways in
which the ecosystem is respond-
ing. Nevertheless, in 1997 the
state of North Carolina was driven
by public pressure to take protec-
tive measures, and legislation was
passed directing that reductions in
nitrogen loading be achieved, and
that a "nutrient response model"
be developed as a tool for manag-
ing future nutrient loading. A
target of 30 percent nitrogen
reduction from point and
nonpoint sources over the next 5
years is being sought. Monitoring
and process studies over this time
period should provide an excep-
tionally useful setting for observ-
ing ecosystem response to de-
creased nutrient loads. The
researchers are assessing nutrient
inputs from airborne and water-
borne pollution, with sources
including urban and suburban
runoff and air emissions, row
crops and livestock. They are
assessing ecological quality
through plankton and water
quality analysis. Detailed hydro-
graphic monitoring and modeling
are used to assess pollutant
transport routes. Results should
be directly relevant to the needs
to verify and evaluate the state's
overall nutrient response model,
supporting any needed modifica-
tions for its continued use for
water quality management in the
future.
-------
Investigators from the
Smithsonian Environmental
Research Center are studying
the Rhode River, a Chesapeake Bay
tributary and an established
CISNet Site, assessing how well
certain aquatic optical properties
serve as indicators of responses to
natural and anthropogenic
stressors. Although stresses
affecting coastal systems vary from
site to site, and there is wide
natural variability in ecological
characteristics, stressors common
to most coastal waters result in
characteristic changes in spectral
attenuation of light underwater.
The spectrum of light penetration
monitor the parameters as they
respond to perturbations on
varying time scales. These will
range from individual storms or
phytoplankton blooms to the
seasonal, decadal or even longer
responses relevant to some natural
ecosystem changes and to
changes in land use and other
human impacts, including envi-
ronmental management pro-
grams. In a related study, the
University of Maryland Center
for Environmental Science is
conducting remote sensing
analyses and field work needed to
establish the Choptank River, a
second tributary of the Chesa-
is influenced by suspended
particulate matter, phytoplankton
chlorophyll and colored dissolved
organic matter. These parameters
serve as indicators to integrate
each system's response to a
combination of stressors. This
study will develop the capability to
continuously and cost-effectively
peake Bay, as a new CISNet Site.
EPA and NASA are jointly funding
this work, which combines analy-
ses of aerial and satellite imagery
with data from automated buoys
designed to continuously monitor
water chemistry and associated
data with high spatial and tempo-
ral resolution. The study overall
focuses on impacts of weather
fluctuations and nutrient inflows.
Specific objectives are to: 1)
assess the role of marshes and
submerged aquatic vegetation in
modulating nutrient fluxes from
land to water; 2) quantify the
effects of changing nutrient loads
on water quality and living re-
sources in this system; 3) docu-
ment effects of specific nutrient
management actions on nutrient
loads; and (4) evaluate indicators
of condition and ecological
sustainability over a range of
ecological states.
A set of indicators ranging from
molecular to landscape scales are
being simultaneoulsy tested to
monitor estuarine eutrophication
at the the North Inlet-Winyah Bay
National Estuarine Research
Reserve CISNet Site in South
Carolina. The University of
South Carolina is continuing and
enhancing that Site's long-term
monitoring program to address
basic and applied questions about
eutrophication impacts. Ongoing
data collection will be linked with
new measurements of phytoplank-
ton and bacterial community
structure made possible by
advances in molecular biology and
analytic chemistry. The biotic
change indicators have broad
application and rely on technolo-
gies that could be widely adopted.
The community structure data will
be compared to indices of wet-
land productivity and change
based on landscape-scale remote-
sensing (satellite) data. The North
Inlet and Winyah Bay are in close
proximity but have extreme
differences in nutrient loading,
nutrient dynamics and productiv-
ity, making them ideal natural
laboratories for assessing these
indicator methodologies in a
range of conditions. The goal is to
improve the value of the current
monitoring program by adding
practical new parameters that
demonstrate linkages between
water quality factors and nutrient
&ER&
-------
uptake, feeding and survival of
various types of bacteria and
plankton.
Delaware's "Inland Bays" ecosys-
tem, including Rehoboth and
Indian River Bays, is an example of
the small, often very shallow
waters between barrier islands and
the mainland that characterize
much of the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf
Coasts. Such small systems are
relatively unstudied. They are
typically subject to serious pollu-
tion stress because of their low
water volumes and often high
degrees of
human
use,
often including seasonal tourism
combined with crops, poultry
farming or other livestock. The
University of Delaware is study-
ing nutrient inputs and net
nutrient fluxes out of the Inland
Bays as an indicator of stress
response. They will evaluate
nitrogen and phosphorus dynam-
ics to determine the primary
stressors in the system, their
sources and the magnitudes of
nutrient sinks, including Bay
sediments; They will also develop
conceptual and quantitative
models relating the inputs and
outputs to more easily monitored
forcing factors such as precipita-
tion, temperature, season,
ground-water levels and surface-
water discharges. Sources
assessed will include
surface water inputs,
groundwater and
atmospheric
deposition.
Models developed will be directly
relevant to state needs to plan for
wastewater management needs
and pollution control measures in
these areas as human uses in-
crease in the future.
In the Florida Keys National
Marine Sanctuary, scientists from
the University of California at
Davis* Bodega Marine Laboratory
are conducting a CISNet research
project evaluating the role of
climate change in altering pen-
etrance of ultraviolet (UV) radia-
tion over coral reefs, potentially
contributing to coral bleaching.
The study involves coordinating
with EPA scientists who specialize
in coral disease identification and
the measurement of underwater
UV radiation. It will incorporate
data from on-going Sanctuary
programs to characterize tempera-
ture and overall light conditions.
Climate change may contribute to
coral bleaching because thermal
stratification (ocean water layer-
ing) can lead to sea surface
warming and increased UV
penetration, both associated with
bleaching. Remote sensing will be
used to assess underwater UV
levels under stratified and
unstratified conditions. Coral
genetics studies will investigate a
type of DNA damage, the pres-
ence of thymine dimers, known to
be specific to UV irradiation,
assessing whether the damage
occurs in bleached corals at the
monitored sites. Con-
trolled lab experi-
ments will
further
re-
-------
fine the use of this DNA
"biomarker" as a potential indica-
tor of coral ecosystem health.
West Coast Studies
San Pablo Bay is the northern
sub-embayment of the San
Francisco Bay. Its largest freshwa-
ter inflows are the combined
Sacramento and San Joaquin
Rivers, which drain the massive
agricultural Central Valley of
California. The freshwater flow is
moderated by tidal ocean inflow .
This fairly small bay receives an
exceptionally large pollutant load,
including sediment loads and
pesticide residues from the Central
Valley together with discharges
from a heavy local concentration
of refineries and other industrial
facilities. Dredging and wetland
restoration projects are further
influencing the ecosystem, with
the restoration projects offering
the potential for improving the
Bay's health if their design proves
successful. Two grants, one from
EPA and one from NASA, have
been awarded to develop assess-
ments techniques for the Bay.
Under the EPA grant, the Univer-
sity of California at Davis is
designing a monitoring network
to provide advance warning and
long-term tracking of the impacts
of natural changes and human
impacts. They will document
movements and concentrations of
Dollutants over a range
of time scales in
an effort
to
design optimization techniques for
selecting monitoring locations and
temporal frequencies at this and
other CISNet Sites. Indicators will
be chosen by testing an extensive
set of chemical, biochemical and
ecological variables to select a
suite of measures that are both
ecologically most meaningful and
cost effective for long-term use.
Results are expected to include an
improved understanding of the
relationships among sediment
bound contaminants and impacts
on the food chain, including fish
and birds. The work will support
decisions concerning pollution
reduction strategies and provide
information for evaluating dredg-
ing and wetlands restoration
projects.
Through the NASA grant, the
California State University at
San Francisco is using Advanced
Very High Resolution Radiometry
(AVHRR) and Sea Wide Field
Sensor (SeaWiFS) satellite imagery
to produce images of surface
temperature, pigment concentra-
tions and sediment loads for San
Pablo Bay and other portions of
San Francisco Bay, and to attempt
to produce new kinds of high
temporal resolution data on
plankton productivity. The use of
these techniques for waters very
close to shorelines is a new
technique, requiring development
of site-specific algorithms and
compensation for distortions
created by proximity to land. If
successful, this approach promises
to support use of satellite imagery
for plankton productivity and
associated parameters at CISNet
and other sites where such
assessments are not presently
Hk feasible.
Washington State's Puget
Sound is a different kind
of estuary than San
Pablo Bay or the
Atlantic Coast estuaries.
Like others, the Sound
is a water body where
river inputs mix with tidal ocean
inflow, but it differs in geological
history, shape and hydrology.
Many estuaries are river mouths
submerged as sea level rose,
creating elongated shallow bays.
In contrast, central Puget Sound is
a deep fjord created by faults and
tetonic activity, bordered by a
network of narrows. The topogra-
phy results in complex flows that
vary with river input, tides and
wind. Population growth has led
to nutrient enrichment problems,
especially in the narrows. To
monitor the transport regime and
water quality requires hydrologic,
chemical and biological sampling
approaches tailored to this
complex system.
The University of Washington has
received two grants to address
these issues for Puget Sound. The
first, funded by EPA, involves in
situ monitoring of primary produc-
tivity and nutrient cycles. To deal
with the rapid flows, a special
profiling instrument system that
measures chemistry, chlorophyll
and flows throughout the water
column will be deployed using a
moored buoy. The associated
NASA-funded study involves
monitoring "water leaving radi-
ance", an indicator of water color
and clarity, and comparing it with
ground truth images to be col-
lected by the Navy Earth Map
Observer (NEMO) satellite to be
launched in 2000. Current
satellites do not provide good
resolution of water color and
clarity close to shorelines, so they
have not been useful in studying
estuaries or the nearshore ocean.
NEMO instruments have been
designed to reduce this problem.
It is expected that combining
NEMO data with in situ profiling
will allow long-term variations in
nutrient cycling, productivity and
phytoplankton biomass to be
more fully assessed. This will be
coupled with an existing three-
dimensional model of circulation
in the Sound. The resulting model
-------
of ecosystem dynamics will
provide better understanding of
current eutrophication impacts
and support predictions of im-
pacts of any future increases in
nutrient loads.
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes Wisconsin Aquatic
Technology and Environmental
Research (WATER) Institute of the
University of Wisconsin-Milwau-
kee has received a grant to build
on a 50-year nearshore water
quality record for southwestern
Lake Michigan. They will add sites
in harbor.additional nearshore and
open lake habitats. This area is a
drinking water source and an
important perch spawning area.
The long-term data set offers a
unique opportunity to assess the
impacts of stresses that have
greatly increased since the moni-
toring began, including atmo-
spheric nutrient deposition,
increases in ultraviolet radiation
(UV-B), invasions by exotic species,
and the early increases and
subsequent decreases in water
pollution discharges from munici-
pal and industrial sources. Indica-
tors will include a suite of conven-
tional (non-toxic)
water quality
param-
eters and biological factors,
together with some toxic metal
analyses. There will also be site-
specific studies of zebra mussel
feeding, and special studies to
establish zooplankton migra-
tion patterns. Results are
expected to help develop
innovative methods to
target stressors most
responsible for general
and site-specific impacts
Tropical Pacific
An interdisciplinary
team of University of
Hawaii investigators is
being jointly funded
by NOAA and NASA
to study the linkages
between sources of
stressors in the water-
shed, and their impacts
on the reef ecosystem.
Historically.stresses were
dominated by urbanization,
including sewage discharge.
In 1978, construction of a
sewage outfall discharging off-
shore allowed considerable
recovery of the Bay, including reef
health and function. However,
recent data suggest there has
been only an incom-
plete return of the
Bay to its pre-
sewage state. This
study will assess
whether full recovery is
"stalled" due to
present-day pollution
sources in the watershed,
or whether current condi-
tions are simply one of several
possible natural states the
system could exhibit. Results
will be relevant to environ-
mental management options
as local managers attempt to
balance recreational and com-
mercial needs with long-term
health of the reefs and associated
fish and wildlife. Indicators to be
monitored include water chemis-
try, plankton,sediment and
benthic
biological
conditions,
supported
through the NOAA
grant, coordinated with assess-
ments of coral health based on
remote sensing imagery analyzed
under the NASA grant. Research-
ers hope to identify the wave-
lengths or wave bands that can
best be used with lower-cost
multispectral imagery techniques
to classify reef health. Comparing
this information with aquatic
monitoring data will support
recommendations of a set of cost-
effective in situ and remotely
sensed indicators for use in state
monitoring and the national
CISNET program.
STAR: Building a scientific foundation for sound environmental decisions
-------
CISNet Workshop Proceedings
Investigators from each of these CISNet research projects participated in a progress review workshop on
February 22 to 23, 1999 in Gulf Breeze, Florida. A report providing abstracts of each project's work as
presented at that meeting is available on the World Wide Web at http://www.epa.gov/ncerqa. (At this date
use the general link to "publications" to access this report. This internal link may change as the website
expands in future months.) A limited number of bound copies of the report are presently available from EPA's
Office of Research and Development at the mailing address listed below.
STAR Research Projects Described in this Report
Note: Only Lead investigators are named. Most projects include multiple investigators
CISNet for the Neuse River
Estuary, NC: A Program for
Evaluating Nitrogen Driven
Eutrophication Associated with
Changing Land Use in a Coastal
Watershed, Richard A. Luettich,
University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill (EPA grant)
CISNet: Coral Bleaching, UV
Effects, and Multiple Stressors in
Florida Keys, Susan L. Anderson,
Regents of the University of
California (EPA grant)
CISNet San Pablo Bay Network of
Environmental Stress Indicators
S. Geoffrey Schladow, The Regents
of the University of California
(EPA grant)
CISNet: Nutrient Inputs as a
Stressor and Net Nutrient Flux
as an Indicator of Stress Re-
sponse in Delaware's Inland Bays
Ecosystem, William J. Ullman,
University of Delaware
(EPA grant)
Monitoring Ecosystem Condition
and Stress in the San Pablo Bay,
California Region, Raphael
Kudela, San Francisco State
University (NASA grant)
Environmental Monitoring of
Coastal Waters of Southwestern
Lake Michigan, Russell Cuhel,
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
(NOAA grant)
(over)
.'.*-•
-------
CISNet Molecular to Landscape-
Scale Monitoring of Estuarine
Eutrophication, James T. Morris,
University of South Carolina
(EPA grant)
Rhode River CISNet: Estuarine
Optical Properties as an Integra-
tive Response to Natural and
Anthropogenic Stressors,
Charles L. Gallegos, Smithsonian
Institution (EPA grant)
CISNet: In Situ and Remote
Monitoring of Productivity and
Nutrient Cycles in Puget Sound
Steven R. Emerson, University of
Washington (EPA grant)
In Situ and Remote Sensing of
Phytoplankton Biomass, Mary
Jane Perry, University of Washing-
ton (NASA grant)
CISNet: Linkages Between a
Tropical Watershed and a Reef
Ecosystem, Robert Kinzie III,
University of Hawaii (NOAA
grant)
Hyperspectral Remote Sensing
the Kaneohe Bay Tropical
Estuary, Marlin Atkinson, Univer-
sity of Hawaii (NASA grant)
The Choptank River: A Mid-
Chesapeake Bay Index Site for
Evaluating Ecosystem Responses
to Nutrient Management, Tho-
mas C. Malone, University of
Maryland, Center for Environmen-
tal Science (EPA grant)
Remote Observations in the
Choptank River Index Site,
Lawrence W. Harding, University
of Maryland Center for Environ-
mental Science (NASA grant)
Grants described in this report are part of EPA's Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program, a major research initiative
designed to improve the quality of scientific information available to support environmental decision making. The STAR
program is managed by EPA's National Center for Environmental Research and Quality Assurance in the Office of Research
and Development (ORD). The program funds approximately 200 new grants every year, with the typical grant lasting three
years. Funding levels vary from $50,000 to over $500,000 per year, with FY 1999 funding level at about $95 million for
grants to individual principal investigators or groups of investigators. Additional STAR funds are provided for a number of
Research Centers specializing in scientific areas of particular concern to EPA, and for a fellowship program supporting gradu-
ate students conducting environmental research.
&EBV
United States
Environmental Protection Agency
Mail Code 8701R
Washington, D.C. 20460
Offical Business
Penalty for Private Use
$300
EPA/600/F-99/012
STAR: Building a scientific foundation for sound environmental decisions
------- |