Salt Marsh Integrity Assessment Program in USFWS region 5

Salt Marsh Integrity Assessment Program 

in USFWS Region 5 

SusanC. Adamowicz; Neckles, Hilary; 

Guntenspergen, Glenn; Shriver, Greg; Taylor, Jan

Background 

• USFWS Region 5 National 

Wildlife Refuges 

• Refuge purposes….. 

– Threatened & 

Endangered Species 

– Migratory Birds 

– Wilderness 

– Shorebirds & Wading Birds 

– Encourage Natural 

Diversity 

– Conservation of Wetlands

Background cont. 

• US FWS has series of unrelated research 

projects but no common baseline assessment 

Fundulus heteroclitus Length (mm) 

Before After 1 yr After 2+ yr 

Konisky et al. 2004

Background cont. 

• Desire for more 

informed 

management 

decision making 

at local and 

regional level 

Scott Kahan 

Refuge 

Manager 

Regional 

Refuge 

Chief 

Regional 

Director 

Wendi Weber 

Regional Natural 

Resources Chief 

Refuge 

Biologist 

Jan Taylor

Structured 

Decision 

Making 

PrOACT 

Problem Definition 

Objectives 

Action alternatives 

Consequences (Predictive model) 

Trade-offs/Optimization (Solution algorithm) 

Monitoring 

Reference: Smart Choices by Hammond, Keeney, and Raiffa

PrOACT 

Problem Definition: 

• Identify indicators of salt marsh integrity that are 

effective across large geographic regions, responsive to 

a wide range of threats, and feasible to implement 

within funding and staffing constraints of the NWRS 

• Management/restoration decisions made for a given 

refuge at 3- to 5-year time scales, 

• The ecological and geographic focus of this exercise 

was historically brackish and saline marshes dominated 

by halophytic vegetation in FWS Region 5 (Northeast)

PrOACT 

• Objectives: 

Biological Diversity 

and Integrity 

Obligate Salt 

Marsh Breeding 

Birds 

Nonbreeding 

Wetland Birds 

Native 

Nekton 

Community 

Native Veg 

Community 

Trophic 

Structure 

Tidal Regime 

and Hydrology 

Environmental 

Health 

Herbicide 

Applied During 

Mgt. 

Maintain 

Marsh Area

Salt Marsh Integrity Objectives Hierarchy 

Biological Diversity and Integrity (0.5) 

Environmental Health (0.5) 

Obligate Salt 

Marsh Breeding 

Birds (0.10) 

Nonbreeding 

Wetland Birds 

(0.10) 

Native Nekton 

Community 

(0.09) 

Native Veg 

Community 

(0.12) 

Trophic Structure 

(0.09) 

Tidal Regime and 

Hydrology (0.22) 

Maintain Marsh 

Area (0.22) 

Herbicide Applied 

During Mgt. 

(0.06) 

Birds/point 

Ave ABDU winter 

abundance 

Nekton Density 

(#/m2) (0.045) 

% cover native 

spp. 

Marsh spiders 

per m2 

Flood 

Duration (0.11) 

Relative change 

marsh surface 

elevation 

Pints 

Nekton Species 

Richness (0.045) 

Salinity (0.11) 

Objective 

Measureable Attribute

Desire for “Rapid” Assessement 

Method 

Intensive 

• Obligate Marsh Bird Nesting 

Success 

• Vegetation Quadrats 

• Nekton Throw Traps& Ditch 

Nets 

• Groundwater Wells 

• GIS 

“Rapid” 

• Bird Point Counts/Callback 

• Vegetation Transects 

• Veg: Visual Community ID 

• Minnow Traps 

• Water Level Loggers 

• GIS

Rapid Method “Final” List 

Historical condition and geomorphic setting 

Landscape_position 

• Landscape position: 1 (marine), 2 (middleestuary), 

3 (upper-estuary) 

• Shape: 1 (expansive meadow), 2 (narrow 

fringing marsh) 

• Fill/fragmentation: 1 (no), 2 (low), 3 (mod), 

4 (severe) 

• Tidal flushing: 1 (well flushed), 

2 (moderately flushed), 3 (poorly flushed) 

• Aquatic edge: 1 (low), 2 (mod), 3 (high) 

• Ditch Density: 1 (no), 2 (low), 3 (mod), 

4 (severe)

Rapid Method “Final” List cont. 

Surrounding land-use 

• % agricultural land in 150 m buffer * 

(area of buffer/area of MSU) 

• % natural land in 150 m buffer * (area 

of buffer/area of MSU) 

• % natural land in 1 km buffer * (area 

of buffer/area of MSU) 

• Ratio of open water area : 

vegetation area


Marsh surface elevation 

• Elevation to NAVD88 

Tidal range/groundwater level 

• % of Time Marsh Surface Flooded 

• Mean Flood Depth (cm) 

Salinity 

• Surface water salinity (@ nekton sites)


Vegetation community 

• Species richness using rapid point 

intercept method on transects 

• % Cover Visual Estimations of 

– Brackish Terrestrial Border 

Community 

– Open Water 

– Pannes, Pools, & Creeks 

– High Marsh Community 

– Low Marsh Community 

– Salt Marsh Terrestrial Border 

community 

– Upland Community 

– Invasive Plant Species


Nekton community 

(throw trap, ditch nets) 

• Nekton Density 

• Nekton Species Richness 

• Fundulus heteroclitus length (mm) 

Breeding bird community 

Point Count Surveys 

• Willet Abundance 

• Tidal Marsh Obligate Abundance 

• Call-broadcast surveys: Clapper Rail, 

Willet, Saltmarsh Sparrow, Seaside 

Sparrow

Tidal Regime Influence Diagram 

Planting 

Vegetation 

Spray 

Phrag 

Marsh 

Elevation 

Flood Duration 

(% Time 

Flooded ) 

Sea Level 

Rise 

Dredge 

Spoil 

Deposition 

Freshwater 

Input 

Sediment 

Traps 

Divert 

freshwater 

Tidal 

Exchange 

with Bay / 

Ocean 

Flood Depth 

(above marsh 

surface) 

Tidal 

Regime & 

Hydrology 

Increase 

culvert size 

Excavate 

Channels 

Tidal Creek 

Density 

Salinity 

Goal 

Marsh 

Mgmt for 

Mosquitoes 

Action 

Ditch Density 

Effect 

Measured 

Attributes

Alternatives and Consequence Table: 

Raw Scores (s ij ) 

Objectives 

Unit Management Action 1 2 3 … 8 9 10 

I Current Status 15 200 50 … 0 1 0 

I 

(A) Excavate old ditch, install new 

culvert under road 

19 500 70 … 0 1 0 

I (B) Treat Phragmites in WUI zone 17 550 65 … 0 1 10 

… … … 

II (A) DE Bay dredge spoil deposition … … 

II 

(B) Excavate Old Slaughter Creek 

… 

… 

… … … 

III (C) + (D) + (F) … … 0 

Slide Courtesy of Jim Lyons

Multi-attribute Utility Theory 

utility 

Example: Tidal marsh obligate birds 

1.00 

0.90 

0.80 

0.70 

0.60 

0.50 

0.40 

0.30 

0.20 

0.10 

0.00 

0 5 10 15 

Score for tidal marsh obligate birds 

utility 

Example: Nekton density 

1.00 

0.80 

0.60 

0.40 

0.20 

0.00 

0.0000 0.0020 0.0040 0.0060 0.0080 

Score for Nekton density 

Management 

Benefit 

( ) ∑ 

10 

U Action = 

i j = 

1 

w 

Utility functions for illustration purposes only. See spreadsheet for actual utility functions. 

Slide Courtesy of Jim Lyons 

j 

u 

ij

Multi-attribute Utility Theory 

utility 

Example: Tidal marsh obligate birds 

1.00 

0.90 

0.80 

0.70 

0.60 

0.50 

0.40 

0.30 

0.20 

0.10 

0.00 

0 5 10 15 

Score for tidal marsh obligate birds (birds / point) 

utility 

Example: Nekton density 

1.00 

0.80 

0.60 

0.40 

0.20 

0.00 

0.0000 0.0020 0.0040 0.0060 0.0080 

Score for Nekton density (# / m^2) 

Management 

Benefit 

( ) ∑ 

10 

U Action = 

i j = 

1 

w 

Utility functions for illustration purposes only. See spreadsheet for actual utility functions. 

Slide Courtesy of Jim Lyons 

j 

u 

ij

Consequence Table: Utility (u ij ) 

Objectives 

Unit Management Action 1 2 3 … 8 9 10 

I Current Status u 1,1 u 1,2 u 1,3 … u 1,8 u 1,9 u 1,10 

I 

(A) Excavate old ditch, install new culvert 

under road 

u 2,1 u 2,2 u 2,3 … u 2,8 u 2,9 u 2,10 

I (B) Treat Phragmites in WUI zone … … 

… … … 

II (A) DE Bay dredge spoil deposition … … 

II 

(B) Excavate Old Slaughter Creek 

… 

… 

… … … 

III (C) + (D) + (F) … … u i,j 

Slide Courtesy of Jim Lyons

Pareto Efficiency Frontier 

8 

Conservation Benefit 

7 

6 

5 

22 

17 

16 

18 

23 

13 14 

8 9 

6 

7 

24 29 

25 

34 

20 

19 

15 

10 

35 

4 

2 

1 

Current 

Status 

3 

4 

2 

0 100 200 300 400 500 

Cost over 15 years Slide (x Courtesy $1000) of Jim Lyons

Examples of Data Gathered: 

2009 pilot study 

Grape Nelson OMWM 

Salinity Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD 

Rapid_Salinity 39 17 nd . 14 1 

Vegetation community 

Spp Richness 3 4 6 

RA_Brack_Terr_Border np . np . np . 

RA_Open_Water np . 5 4 np . 

RA_Pannes_Pools_Creeks 23 10 8 7 15 17 

RA_High_Marsh 75 14 69 13 81 13 

RA_Low_Marsh 31 38 30 13 15 17 

RA_Salt_Marsh_Terr_Border np 6 3 np 

RA_Upland np 16 19 np 

Invasive species 

RA_Invasives np 8 9 3 

Nekton community 

Spp Richness 5 nd 1 

Density 16 1 nd 25 35 

Fundulus_Length 40 17 nd 36 16 

Breeding bird community 

Willet_Abundance 3 4 15 11 15 10 

TMO_Abundance 4 3 9 5 12 6 

Data from Neckles et al. 2011, draft

2012 Implementation Sites 

Moosehorn NWR 

Maine Coastal Island NWR 

Rachel Carson NWR 

Parker River NWR 

RI Complex NWR 

Stewart B. McKinney NWR 

Long Island Complex NWR 

Forsythe NWR 

Bombay Hook NWR 

Prime Hook NWR 

Chincoteague NWR

2012 Data Analysis 

• Summary of number of points, samples etc. 

– 11 National Wildlife Refuges from Maine to Virginia 

– A minimum of 

• 34 salt marsh units 

• 680 nekton stations 

• 102 bird stations 

• 102 vegetation transects and community plots 

• 34 water level loggers deployed for at least 1 complete 

tidal cycle (spring and neap tide sequence)

Acknowledgements 

Field Crews from 12 

National Wildlife Refuges 

in 2008, 2009, 2012 

Project Developers: USFWS, 

USGS, Univ DE

Questions?

Salt Marsh Integrity Assessment Program in USFWS region 5

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