2008 Annual Monitoring Report (pdf 10.9MB) - Bolsa Chica ...

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Bolsa Chica Lowlands Restoration Monitoring 2008 Annual Report As the system continues to evolve it is expected that soil conditions may become more interesting and useful in understanding controls on vegetation structure or gaps within particular locations of interest. However, to adequately study the linkage between the development of new or restored marsh communities and the soil conditions, a much more focused study would be needed. While many interesting questions on the subject could be answered by more intensive studies, the present monitoring program does not substantially contribute to the larger objective of the present monitoring program, which is to document the habitat improvements achieved for wildlife by the restoration, to document the success of revegetation efforts, and to identify management needs to correct observed shortcomings in desired habitat development. Based on this circumstance, continued collection of soils data in Year 5, following the same monitoring structure, is not expected to yield substantial additional data for meeting the fundamental project goals. Therefore it is recommended that the collected soils data from 2008 serve as a baseline data set that can be revisited if future vegetation monitoring reveals any areas of concern, and that the Year 5 monitoring be removed from the program. If, after further vegetation development, particular areas of concerns exist regarding the absence of vegetation or undesirable vegetation conditions develop, a more focused soils investigation may be appropriate at that time. Recommendations • Use collected soil data from 2008 as a baseline data set. • Remove Year 5 monitoring from the program. 1.3. FISH COMMUNITY MONITORING Introduction The Monitoring Plan calls for fisheries monitoring to be conducted in Years 2, 5, and 10 following the opening of the FTB to the ocean. The Bolsa Chica Steering Committee decided to collect an additional year of data in Year 3 as well. The first sampling event of Year 2 was conducted during the prior reporting period, in October 2007. The remainder of the Year 2 monitoring and the first quarter of the Year 3 monitoring were conducted during the present reporting period (January to December 2008). Methodology Fisheries sampling was conducted over a two-day period each quarter to obtain the appropriate tidal elevations for each gear type. During 2008 surveys were conducted during daylight hours on January 17 and 24, April 2 and 7, July 7 and 17, and October 15 and 27. Additional sampling in the MTBs was conducted on July 7 and November 24. Each quarter, sampling was done at Stations 1 and 2 in the FTB and in the Muted Pocket Marsh (MPM) (Figure 1-1). Limited sampling was done in the west MTB in April, July, and October after tidal waters had been introduced into the basin. Sampling equipment included an otter trawl, purse seine, and large beach seine at Stations 1 and 2 and a large beach seine only in the MPM. A variety of depth, current, substrate, and exposure conditions exist within each station, each of which encompass large areas. To characterize the fish communities that utilize the large sampling stations, three replicates hauls were made across each station, using gear as indicated in Figure 1-7. A small beach seine was used in the MTBs. Merkel & Associates, Inc. 37
Bolsa Chica Lowlands Restoration Monitoring 2008 Annual Report The otter trawl consists of a 4.6-m trawl with 2-cm mesh in the body and 0.3-cm mesh in the cod end. The otter trawl was deployed at offshore sampling locations using a small vessel traveling between 1.5 and 2 knots along 250-m transects. The trawl was used to sample primarily demersal offshore fish at Stations 1 and 2 in the FTB. The otter trawl was not used in the MPM due to the inaccessibility of the site by boat. The purse seine consists of a 66-m x 6-m seine with 1.2-cm mesh in the wings and 0.6-cm mesh in the bag. The purse seine was deployed at offshore sampling locations using a small vessel. This gear was used to sample adult and juvenile fish species in the water column as well as demersal fish at Stations 1 and 2 in the FTB. The purse seine was not used in the MPM due to the inaccessibility of the site by boat. Purse seine being deployed in the FTB. The large beach seine consists of a 15- m x 1.8-m net with a 1.8-m x 1.8-m x 1.8-m bag in the center. The seine has 1.2-centimeter (cm) mesh in the wings and 0.6-cm mesh in the bag. It was utilized to sample shoreline waters between the bottom and surface at depths of 0 to 1 m. The seine was positioned parallel to shore between 8 and 31 m from the water’s edge, depending on bottom contours. The seine was held in place for 3 minutes and then walked slowly to shore. Small beach seine in the West MTB. The small beach seine is a 7.3-m x 1.2 m-net with 0.3-cm mesh, with no bag. It was utilized to sample waters between 0-1 m in depth on the shorelines of the MTBs. The seine was positioned perpendicular to the shore, walked parallel to the shore for a measured distance, then pivoted in and walked to shore. The length of the each haul was determined by the space and water available at the time of the sampling and recorded on the field datasheet. By the October 2008 sampling period, the muting of the tide by the accreted flood shoal in the inlet had reduced the tidal drainage in the FTB to an extent that the regular shore-based large beach seine stations were deeper than suitable at some station replicates. At Station 1, replicate 2 had to be moved slightly to the west to an area that provided enough exposed beach to pull the net up onto. At Station 2, replicate 1 had to be moved slightly to the west along the shoreline and replicate 3 moved around the corner to the north to accessed exposed beach as well. Station 2, replicate 1 was therefore not pulled through eelgrass beds during October 2008, while in all other quarters the eelgrass bed was sampled. In 2008, the MTB fish sampling program was not fully implemented because the basins were not fully open to the FTB through the tide gates at the water control structure (WCS). The west MTB was opened to FTB tidal influence in March 2008, therefore some sampling was done there in April 2008 at two locations near the tide gate. By July, some tidal water had spilled over from the west to the central MTB (as designed), so some sampling was done in that basin as well at two locations, though conditions were non-tidal. Additionally, the WCS was briefly opened to the FTB for several hours five days prior to the sampling, which likely allowed in some fish. In October, the west MTB was still the only basin open to tidal influence, however three replicate hauls were collected in both the west and central basins. Merkel & Associates, Inc. 38
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2008 Annual Monitoring Report (pdf 10.9MB) - Bolsa Chica ...

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