CICEET Progress Report for the period 3/01/09 Through 8/31/09

Project Title: In-Situ Multichannel Wireless Sensor Networks and iButton Temperature Logger Arrays for Characterizing Habitat Drivers in Tidal Wetland Reference Sites
Principal Investigator(s): Craig Young and Craig Cornu
Additional Investigators: Laura Brophy, Paul Adamus, John Christy
Project Start Date: The official project start date was 9/1/06, but our funding agreement with CICEET was not finalized until March 1, 2007. Therefore, for practical purposes, the project began in March 2007.
Report Compiled By: Laura Brophy
Contributing Team Members and Roles:
Lead investigators Young and Cornu coordinate grant administration through the University of Oregon Institute of Marine Biology. Cornu coordinates South Slough NERR activities including practitioner surveys and web portal development, and assists with site selection, protocol development, and interpretation of results. Co-investigator Brophy leads the project’s technical implementation, taking primary responsibility for protocol development, site selection, equipment specification and manufacturer liaison, sampling, data analysis, interpretation, and report writing. Co-investigators Adamus and Christy contribute to site selection, field sampling design, data collection, data analysis, and interpretation. Oregon State University graduate students Rebecca Tully and Julie Custer contribute to project data collection, data analysis, interpretation, and report writing.

Figures

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

Figure 9

Figure 10

Figure 11

Figure 12

Figure 13

Figure 14

Project Objectives for This Reporting Period
Objectives

1. Working with NOAA-COOPS, build a more complete model of tidal inundation at each study site, using a full year of local tide gauge data.
2. Continue analysis of all project data collected in 2007-2008.
3. Extend groundwater monitoring to obtain 9 months of data (January 2009 through September 2009) at the higher elevation sites (Blind Slough, Coal Creek Swamp, and Millport Slough) where 2008 data indicate that groundwater is likely to constitute a controlling factor in ecosystem development.
4. Submit proposals for presentations at the fall 2009 meeting of the Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation (CERF 2009).
5. Continue to assist AO with steps towards final delivery of the wireless multichannel sensor networks.

Progress on Objectives
A1. Working with NOAA-COOPS, build a more complete model of tidal inundation at each study site, using a full year of local tide gauge data.
During this reporting period, we had the opportunity to continue our fruitful collaboration with Allison Allen, Lijuan Huang, and Stephen Gill of NOAA/CO-OPS. In June 2009, NOAA/CO-OPS completed final computation of tidal datums using a full-year, on-site water level record (tide gauge data) from each study site. Study sites are shown in Figure 1; tidal datums are shown in Figures 2-7. For Hidden Marsh, we used tidal datums from the NOAA tide station at Charleston.

Although not planned in our initial project proposal, we are currently working with NOAA to refine the inundation model for each site, incorporating the effects of nontidal river flows (the fluvial component of the inundation regime). In a related study, Brophy (2009) developed a comparable model for other Oregon tidal swamps. Among the products of that study were graphics designed to illustrate tidal and fluvial components of mid- to upper estuarine wetland inundation regimes. An example is provided in Figure 8.

A2. Continue analysis of all project data collected in 2007-2008.
Analyses completed during this reporting period are described below.

YSI-6000 datasondes were deployed at all sites during spring 2008 to validate results from AO prototypes. YSI deployments were extended at the mid- to upper-estuary tidal swamp sites (Coal Creek and Blind Slough) to better characterize these little-studied systems. The sondes recorded salinity, temperature and water depth in tidal channels. Data from Coal Creek are shown in Figure 9 and Figure 10. During the next reporting period, we will summarize YSI sonde results for all study sites.

Graduate student Julie Custer completed ordination of vegetation and soil salinity data from a large number of tidal wetland sites (Custer, 2009). Data were collected in 2006-2007 as part of co-PI Adamus’s development of an HGM functional assessment method for Oregon tidal wetlands (Adamus 2005, 2006; Adamus et al. 2005). Results of Ms. Custer’s ordination will assist in our development of the reference conditions database, one of the products of this CICEET project.

Macroinvertebrate data from 2008 have been analyzed and results compared to 2007; results are provided as Appendix 1 of this report. Data analysis will be further refined and interpreted during the next reporting period.

A3. Extend groundwater monitoring to obtain 9 months of data (January 2009 through September 2009) at the higher elevation sites (Blind Slough, Coal Creek Swamp, and Millport Slough) where groundwater is likely to constitute a controlling factor in ecosystem development.
A related study in the Siuslaw and Yaquina estuaries (Brophy 2009) strongly suggested that groundwater is a controlling factor in tidal swamp ecosystem development. Preliminary groundwater data collected during 2008 at our CICEET tidal swamp sites (Coal Creek and Blind Slough) showed similar patterns. The extended timeline for this project has created a valuable opportunity to better define groundwater patterns at our tidal swamp sites (Coal Creek and Blind Slough). We also added groundwater monitoring at the highest of our tidal marsh sites (Millport Slough high marsh), because preliminary sampling suggested that groundwater may be a controlling factor at that site as well. We are currently monitoring groundwater at 12 min intervals using automated level loggers within study plots at these sites, and monitoring will continue at least through September 2009.

Figure 11 and Figure 12 show groundwater fluctuation during spring to early fall 2008 at our Yaquina tidal swamp study site (the pilot site for this CICEET project). Our investigations at the Yaquina swamp have been conducted through several related projects, including Brophy (2009), Brophy (2007), and this CICEET project. Preliminary analyses of groundwater data from forested tidal wetlands at our Coal Creek and Blind Slough study sites show similar results.

As described in our previous progress report, we modified our groundwater monitoring protocol in winter 2009 to better exclude surface tidal flows, to preclude rapid filling of groundwater wells by surface flows (Figure 13). Results suggest that the revised protocol has been successful. During the next reporting period, we will complete our analysis and provide comparisons of the two methods.

A4. Submit proposals for presentations at the fall 2009 meeting of the Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation (CERF 2009).
Three proposals from our team have been accepted for oral presentation at the Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation meetings in November 2009. Details are below.

Presentation 1:
DATE AND TIME: 10:30-10:45AM, Thursday, November 5, 2009
TITLE: Building a Blueprint for Restoration: Using high-accuracy land surface elevation survey, electronic sensors, and tidal inundation regime modeling to link site structure and function in least-disturbed estuarine wetlands of Oregon, USA
SESSION: SCI-084 Geospatial Infrastructure and Tools for Monitoring Coastal Environmental Change
PRESENTER: Laura Brophy
AUTHORS: Laura Brophy1, Paul Adamus2, John Christy3, Craig Cornu4, Julie Doumbia5, Rebecca Tully6, Craig Young7
INSTITUTIONS:
1. Green Point Consulting, Corvallis, OR, USA.
2. Adamus Resource Assessment, Inc., Corvallis, OR, USA.
3. Oregon Natural Heritage Information Center, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA.
4. South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, Charleston, OR, USA.
5. College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA.
6. Watershed Sciences, Inc., Corvallis, OR, USA.
7. Oregon Institute of Marine Biology, University of Oregon, Charleston, OR, USA.
PRESENTATION TYPE: Oral
ABSTRACT: In a project funded by the Cooperative Institute for Coastal and Estuarine Environmental Technology (CICEET), we collaborated with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminstration/National Geodetic Survey (NOAA/NGS) and NOAA’s Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (COOPS) to deploy innovative monitoring technologies and pilot an online, multi-site reference conditions database for estuarine wetlands in Oregon, USA. Study sites were least-disturbed estuarine wetlands ranging from euhaline low marsh to oligohaline and freshwater forested tidal wetlands. The reference conditions database will serve as a robust resource for restoration planning and evaluation of project performance. Monitoring parameters included controlling factors (hydrology, elevation, salinity, soil chemistry, tidal inundation regime, and groundwater level) and structural and functional characteristics (vegetation and benthic invertebrate assemblages). NOAA/NGS customized high precision RTK GPS equipment to conduct accurate land surface elevation surveys under challenging conditions of dense canopy cover; installed concrete post bench marks; and established NAVD88 heights. Our in-state team deployed water level loggers, iButton temperature loggers, and in-situ wireless multiparameter sensors for determination of tidal inundation, water temperature, and salinity; and monitored soils, groundwater, vegetation and invertebrates. In collaboration with NOAA/COOPS, we modeled tidal datums and river flow regimes to develop an integrated inundation regime model for each site. Results show distinct differences by habitat class, and shed light on little-understood and highly impacted estuarine resources. Study products included an iButton user guide and the pilot reference conditions database, disseminated online via the Oregon Explorer website (http://oregonexplorer.info/). We will present results and discuss their importance to Pacific Northwest restoration science.

Presentation 2:
DATE AND TIME: 2:00-2:15pm, Thursday, November 5, 2009
TITLE: Temperature Loggers as a Low Cost Alternative for Measuring Tidal Inundation Regime
SESSION: SCI-067 Innovative Monitoring Methods for Estuarine Resource Management and Habitat Restoration
PRESENTER: Julie Doumbia
AUTHORS: Laura Brophy1, Paul Adamus2, John Christy3, Craig Cornu4, Julie Doumbia5, Rebecca Tully6, Craig Young7
INSTITUTIONS:
1. Green Point Consulting, Corvallis, OR, USA.
2. Adamus Resource Assessment, Inc., Corvallis, OR, USA.
3. Oregon Natural Heritage Information Center, Portland, OR, USA.
4. South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, Charleston, OR, USA.
5. College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA.
6. Watershed Sciences, Inc., Corvallis, OR, USA.
7. Oregon Institute of Marine Biology, University of Oregon, Charleston, OR, USA.
PRESENTATION TYPE: Oral
ABSTRACT: iButton temperature loggers were tested as a low-cost alternative to traditional water-level loggers to measure tidal inundation frequency and duration in five tidal wetlands in Oregon (three herbaceous, one scrub-shrub and one forested). Two iButton deployment methods were used: (1) on the wetland surface in study plots, and (2) attached to vertical posts in tidal channels. Reference iButtons were also deployed at each site to record ambient air temperature (in adjacent upland habitat) and water temperature (in deep channels). Inundation events were signaled by abrupt directional changes of the iButton temperature curves: warming towards the water reference temperature at inundation and cooling towards the air reference temperature at emersion. These abrupt temperature changes were best detected during night-time high tides. Daytime high tides were harder to detect because solar warming obscured temperature changes due to tidal inundation. The iButton method was validated with water level loggers deployed in tidal channels near study plots. The times of abrupt warming recorded by the iButtons were compared with the times that the same elevations inundated at the water level loggers. The vertical post data in channels were validated as expected, showing sequential inundation according to iButton height. For the wetland surface iButtons, we observed a delay from predicted to actual inundation time that corresponded to the distance from the water level logger to the location of the iButton. Results were optimized by deploying iButtons during spring tide cycles in which higher high tides occurred at night. Study products included an iButton methods manual for distribution to end-users. We found the iButton method to be an economically-priced tool that has the potential to characterize the most important controlling factor in tidal wetland ecology -- frequency and duration of tidal inundation -- at high spatial and temporal resolution.

Presentation 3:
Title: Using invertebrate communities to characterize tidal wetland reference sites
AUTHORS AND INSTIUTIONS: Ayesha Gray (Cramer Fish Sciences, North Bend, OR), Craig Cornu (South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, Charleston, Oregon), Laura Brophy (Green Point Consulting, Corvallis, Oregon), Paul Adamus (Adamus Resource Assessment, Inc., Corvallis, Oregon), John Christy (Oregon Natural Heritage Information Center, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon), Craig Young (Oregon Institute of Marine Biology, University of Oregon, Charleston, Oregon)
ABSTRACT: Macroinvertebrates can be used to characterize ecosystems. Given the diversity of physiological needs represented in invertebrate communities, the presence/absence of certain taxonomic groups may provide critical information about the condition of specific habitats. As part of a Cooperative Institute for Coastal and Estuarine Environmental Technologies-funded project designed, in part, to pilot the development of a reference conditions database for a suite of regional tidal wetland habitat classes, we sampled benthic invertebrates in six tidal wetlands representing four habitat classes (low marsh, high marsh, scrub-shrub, forested wetland) in July 2007, 2008 and conducted community and indicator analyses. Non-metric multidimensional scaling was used to compare invertebrate communities, and INDVAL analysis was used to determine indicators for site or marsh type. Significant differences in invertebrate communities were detected among the forested wetland and scrub-shrub in both years. Community differences were less reliably detected between the low and high marsh. INDVAL analysis provided a suite of repeatable (from 2007 to 2008) indicators distinguishing marsh type and site. With repeated sampling, invertebrate communities may offer a monitoring tool for better understanding the recovery of function in restored tidal wetlands.

A5. Continue to assist AO with steps towards final delivery of the wireless multichannel sensor networks.
AO reports that they have completed construction of five wireless multichannel dataloggers, have completed controlled environment chamber testing, and are conducting final calibration. We expect to conduct field tests of the delivered devices this fall.

Please describe knowledge dissemination activities during this reporting period.
Trainings and workshops
During July 2009, co-PI Paul Adamus conducted several training sessions for the new Oregon Wetland Assessment Protocol (ORWAP). This functional assessment method (Adamus et al. 2009) was developed during 2006-2008 by Dr. Adamus under contract to the Oregon Division of State Lands. ORWAP is the required protocol for functional assessment of wetland restoration and mitigation sites in Oregon within areas where no existing hydrogeomorphic (HGM) assessment method is available.

Publications
During this reporting period, Laura Brophy (technical lead) completed a study on tidal swamp (forested and scrub-shrub tidal wetland) restoration and reference sites in the Siuslaw and Yaquina River estuaries of Oregon. The data from the reference sites constitute the first comprehensive data that have been published on brackish tidal swamp ecosystems of Oregon's outer coast. Results are being actively used to design and evaluate tidal swamp restoration projects in Oregon. Comments from stakeholders and restoration practitioners are described in D2 below.

Patent, copyright and invention disclosure activities:
None.

Outreach activities
Laura Brophy of Green Point Consulting (technical lead for this CICEET project) conducted the following outreach activities. The results of our CICEET research – particularly the reference conditions database -- contributed to all of these activities:

• Assisted federal, state and local coastal resource managers in analyzing LiDAR data for site-scale design and development of reference conditions datasets at several Oregon tidal wetland restoration projects. Brophy is also conducting a basin-scale tidal wetland assessment that will use LiDAR data to assist in mapping historic tidal wetlands. Since LiDAR data are expected to be available soon for the entire Oregon coast (through the Oregon LiDAR Consortium), we expect these analyses will inform numerous projects in the near future and will help improve our coastal resource management capabilities.
• Assisted USFWS and restoration engineers in design of a major tidal wetland restoration project on the Oregon coast (Bandon NWR Ni-Les’Tun restoration, over 400 acres in the Coquille River estuary of Oregon).
• Provided technical liaison and field site access for researchers at the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries (DOGAMI) and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in their research on coastal geomorphology and seismic risk (Figure 14).
• Provided technical liaison for coordination of salmonid monitoring and effectiveness monitoring at tidal wetland restoration sites in multiple Oregon estuaries. Salmonid monitoring is being conducted by several different resource management agencies in Oregon, including Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) and the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians.
• Provided technical input to Oregon Natural Heritage Information Center on revision of the Oregon Ecoregions coverage.
• Provided technical input to the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development and the Oregon Department of State Lands on tidal datums, tidal wetland habitats, tide station network development, and NOAA’s VDatum tool. Input on tidal datums and tidal wetland habitats was incorporated into revised state regulatory statutes (administrative rules).
• Provided technical liaison for USFWS and USGS during USGS’s installation of SETs (Surface Elevation Tables) at Bandon National Wildlife refuge, Coquille River estuary, Oregon. USGS monitors a worldwide network of SETs as part of its research on vulnerability of coastal wetlands to sea level rise.
• Provided technical input to federal, state and local resource managers on selection, design, implementation and monitoring of numerous tidal wetland restoration projects in addition to those listed above.
• Initiated technical liaison with Antonio Baptista’s Center for Coastal Margin Observation and Prediction. Goal of liaison is to improve technical coordination for tidal inundation regime modeling activities begun during this CICEET project, and to improve communications between scientific, regulatory and practitioner communities.

Have the results/data gathered during this reporting period indicated that a change to your original approach is necessary? If so, who was involved in the decision-making process? Please explain.
The results and data gathered during this reporting period strongly support our project approach, so no changes have been made.

Please describe collaboration activities with target stakeholders during this period.
Has interaction with stakeholders during this period brought about any changes to the project?
Interaction with stakeholders have been extensive and strongly supportive of our project approaches, methods and planned products. See B4 (Outreach Activities) above for collaborative activities with stakeholders.

Have the stakeholders confirmed the relevance of the technology or approach you are working on?
As described in “Publications” above, Laura Brophy completed a study of tidal swamp restoration and reference sites in the Siuslaw River estuary of Oregon during this reporting period (Brophy 2009). The work was collaborative and multi-disciplinary; one study site was shared with this CICEET project, and a subset of that site’s data were obtained and analyzed as part of this CICEET project. Many of the analyses in Brophy (2009) are similar to those we are conducting for our overall CICEET project, so the responses of practitioners to the Siuslaw report demonstrate the relevance of the CICEET work. These responses were very positive: Staff at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service stated that the Siuslaw data report is “closing a significant gap in our current level of understanding of these tidal systems;” Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) staff stated they would reference the work in their Siuslaw Water Quality Management Plan and expressed strong support for our research and monitoring work. CICEET project staff commended the comprehensive approach and the collaborative nature of the work, and felt the results would be valuable in guiding on-the-ground restoration projects.

Project objectives and work plan for next reporting period (September 2009 – March 2010):

1. Continue working with NOAA/COOPS to complete inundation models for study sites, and to express inundation regimes using accessible, user-friendly metrics.
2. Finalize decisions regarding appropriate formats for web presentation of reference conditions data.
3. Incorporate end user feedback into reference conditions matrix.
4. Prepare a brief “user’s guide” on using iButtons to detect tidal inundation.
5. Prepare a brief “user’s guide” to the reference conditions database generated by this project.
6. Review existing literature and compare to insights gained during this project.
7. Write final report and submit to CICEET.
8. Contribute project results to NERRS/NOAA Restoration Center.
9. Field-test the AO wireless multichannel sensor networks.
10. Post final project results and project information on the OR Explorer website.
11. Present results at scientific meetings, including CERF 2009.

Literature cited
Adamus, P., J. Morlan, and K. Verble. 2009. Manual for the Oregon Rapid Wetland Assessment Protocol (ORWAP). Version 2.0. Oregon Dept. of State Lands, Salem, OR.

Adamus, P.R. 2006. Hydrogeomorphic (HGM) Assessment Guidebook for Tidal Wetlands of the Oregon Coast, Part 1: Rapid Assessment Method. Produced for the Coos Watershed Association, Oregon Department of State Lands, and U.S.E.P.A.-Region 10. Charleston, OR: Coos Watershed Association.

Adamus, P.R. 2005. Science Review and Data Analysis for Tidal Wetlands of the Oregon Coast. Part 2 of a Hydrogeomorphic Guidebook. Report to Coos Watershed Association, US Environmental Protection Agency, and Oregon Dept. of State Lands, Salem, OR.

Adamus, P.R., J. Larsen, and R. Scranton. 2005. Wetland Profiles of Oregon’s Coastal Watersheds and Estuaries. Part 3 of a Hydrogeomorphic Guidebook. Report to Coos Watershed Association, US Environmental Protection Agency, and Oregon Dept. of State Lands, Salem., OR

Brophy, L.S. (Green Point Consulting). 2009. Effectiveness Monitoring for Tidal Wetland Restoration and Reference Sites in the Siuslaw River Estuary: A Tidal Swamp Focus. Prepared for Ecotrust, Portland, OR. 125 pp.

Custer, J. 2009. Plant Indicator Species based on Soil Salinity Groups for 121 Oregon Tidal Marshes. Final paper for Biology 670 (Community Structure and Analysis), Oregon State University. 9 pp.