Chapter 3: Protect and Restore Living Resources of the Reserve
The diversity, abundance and productivity of the living resources of the South Shore Estuary Reserve define much of the character of Long Island's south shore and provide a readily recognized and long-standing hallmark. Stewardship of these living resources requires a commensurate effort in management of populations of individual species, restoration of physically defined habitat areas, and realization of the need to recognize a natural landscape that preserves and enhances existing living resource values.
The story of the living resources in the Reserve has been one of natural and human-influenced changes in the estuarine environment. An obvious example of such change is provided by the estuary's hard clam populations. This important resource was a significant and abundant component of at least the Great South Bay portion of the Reserve through the 1970's. Now, with depressed population levels in these same waters, the species is at the forefront of concern as an indicator of the complex interactions of commercial harvest pressure and environmental and biological changes in the estuary (see map at end of this chapter). The explosion of blue crab stocks in the estuary, although occurring over different time scales and geographic areas from the coincident depression of hard clam populations, is another example of species-based change. Geographical shifts in colonial waterbird populations represents yet a third type of species-based change in the Reserve. In this case, species-based management approaches have resulted in better understanding of the population dynamics of these species and moderate success in achieving population restoration goals.
| Now, with depressed populations in these waters, hard clams are at the forefront of concern as an indicator of the complex interactions of commercial harvest pressure and environmental and biological changes in the estuary. |
Human population growth and burgeoning development in the Reserve, especially since World War II, had and continues to have a dramatic effect on the estuary. Wetlands and other habitats in the Reserve, such as bay bottoms, upland woodlands, and overwash flats, have undergone substantial change. The loss of historic wetlands since the onset of development has been well documented, with at least half of the remaining wetlands having been lost beginning in the 1950's. Although wetland losses in New York were largely arrested with the initiation of wetland protection programs in the 1970's, the remaining wetlands present both challenges and opportunities for management and restoration (see map at end of this chapter). Other types of habitats have also undergone substantial changes, although less obvious. The two most notable examples in the Reserve are the open bays and the upland woodlands; the former influenced by changes in inlet dynamics, the latter a physical habitat undergoing loss today comparable to the loss of tidal wetlands beginning in the 1950's.
Despite their importance, species and habitats are only individual components of the Reserve's broader ecological landscape. Although an essential step in gaining an understanding of its living resources, dividing the Reserve by species use and by geography creates an artificial construct that ignores the way in which living resources occur throughout the Reserve's physical setting. Tributaries offer a prime example of the need to maintain a clear context for understanding and managing any single resource by integrating the physical components of the landscape - open water, flood plains, wetlands, woodlands, coves and bay bottoms, upland areas and developed shoreline - with the Reserve's living resources of shellfish, resident and transient fish, and bird species.
As part of its mandate under Article 46 of Executive Law, the Council was to develop strategies to effectively manage the living resources of the Reserve. Building upon the recommendations contained in the technical reports, this chapter offers guidelines for recognizing, protecting and enhancing natural resource values throughout the Reserve.
Living Resources of the Reserve
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The cumulative effect of these physical forces has been the evolution of highly productive and diverse natural communities and ecosystems within the estuarine watershed. Estuarine areas, together with riverine corridors and associated uplands within the Reserve, currently support a myriad of aquatic and terrestrial species. These areas provide: breeding, nesting, and spawning sites; migration pathways and stopover areas; roosting sites; nursery and staging areas; dispersal corridors; species concentration and overwintering areas; and major feeding and foraging grounds.
For most of the Reserve's natural communities, management concern is centered on the needs of a limited number of key species. These are species or species assemblages that represent significant recreational, commercial, ecological, or biodiversity values within the Reserve, and whose status provide a measure of estuarine capacity to maintain resource production levels.
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Perhaps the most striking feature of the Reserve's landscape is its extensive tidal wetlands. These salt marshes, which make up about 15% of the total estuarine acreage, are a significant source of primary productivity and provide critical foraging, nursery, and nesting habitat for many coastal species. Though greatly reduced and substantially degraded by development, the salt marshes offer substantial opportunity for restoration of ecological functions and living resource values.
Beds of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV), which occupy much of the Reserve's predominant shallow subtidal zone, and phytoplankton communities, are the major contributors to overall estuarine productivity. Dependent on good water quality, SAV beds provide additional ecosystem benefits in terms of finfish and shellfish nursery habitat, as well as foraging areas for many fish, crabs, and avian species. Although lost from many coastal regions, SAV beds, composed primarily of eelgrass, appear to be thriving in many areas of the estuary, where they occupy as much as 20% of estuarine waters [Technical reports: Wetlands (1997); Estuarine Finfish (1998)].
Another hallmark of the estuary is its molluscan shellfish populations, especially the signature species, the hard clam, which has experienced declines in productivity and its commercial harvest. Hard clam and other shellfish provide important nutrient cycling and water filtration functions for the estuary's waters, and substantial recreational and commercial values as well. As a consequence of its ecological and economic importance, the Council has made the restoration of the estuary's hard clam population a priority. Also identified within the estuary are its important crustacean shellfish species, particularly its populations of blue crabs. Significant components of the estuarine food web, blue crab populations have the potential to be an increasingly important commercial and recreational species [Technical reports: Molluscan Shellfish (1999); Crustacean Shellfish (1999)].
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The Reserve has also long been recognized for its abundant shorebird and colonial water bird populations. As is the case for many coastal areas, this group includes a number of rare or endangered species such as
the piping plover, roseate tern, least tern, and others such as the common tern, all considered reliable indicators of the estuary's health. While some species have maintained their population level and geographic distribution in the face of development pressure, most have experienced declines in numbers and shifts in distribution. For many species, a major consequence of human disturbance has been a shift in populations to more isolated or protected locations such as the saltmarsh islands of the western bays or protected areas of the barrier beach. Recognition, protection and management of key feeding and nesting areas is critical for these groups of bird species [Technical report: Coastal Colonial Waterbirds (1997)].In addition to shorebird and colonial waterbird concerns, avian conservation management in the Reserve is also focused on the region's abundant waterfowl (geese and duck) populations. With NYS Department of Environmental Conservation midwinter aerial surveys indicating an average population for all species of over 42,000 birds and peak counts of over 82,000 birds, the Reserve is an important overwintering area. But it also provides vital breeding and migrational habitat. Although there are regional variations in distribution and abundance, the most numerous species for the Reserve as a whole include black duck (a species of concern), brant, scaup, and Canada goose. This resource supports a substantial recreational base through hunting and birdwatching (Technical report: Waterfowl (1997)].
Another key community within the Reserve, the estuary's finfish population, provides commercial and recreational pursuits, with activity focused on winter and summer flounders, striped bass, bluefish, and blackfish. Of greater ecological importance, however, are the abundant forage species assemblages which inhabit the shallows and intertidal wetlands that comprise over 55% of the estuary. These finfish transfer food energy, and thus productivity, to predatory finfish and avian populations [Technical report: Estuarine Finfish (1998)].
A less conspicuous species group is the Reserve's turtles and seals. Although formerly much more abundant, most marine and freshwater turtle species have experienced severe declines. Diamondback terrapin, although not common, are an exception. Their population numbers have steadily increased, as have those of the various seal species associated with the estuary's inlets and isolated haulout beaches [Technical report: Sea Turtles, Diamondback Terrapin, Mud Turtles and Seals (1997)].
In addition to wetlands, other community types are of particular importance within the Reserve. For reasons of specialized ecosystem function, critical support for other habitats, or extent of historic loss, riverine corridors and tributary coves deserve special conservation efforts. Tributary systems especially are focal areas of biological diversity, abundance and productivity, and are of high ecological value. Of particular interest is their importance for restoration of anadromous fish populations in the Reserve [Technical report: Diadromous Fish (1997)].
Strategies to Protect and Restore Living Resources
Historically, management of natural resources has been approached in a variety of ways. Initially, the focus was on single species, where there is a long history of resource management to maximize yields of game and commercial species or to restore rare species. This approach has demonstrated a limited effectiveness in promoting stable, long-term maintenance of target species. On Long Island, recent examples of this single-species approach include programs for common terns, piping plovers, winter flounder, and hard clams. Application of this type of management strategy was particularly successful in preserving colonial waterbird populations in the Reserve.
Resource management has also occurred at the community level, a community encompassing all the plant and animal species at a given location. Management practices at this level manipulate critical components of habitat. This approach, which evolved from the single-species management, has shown greater promise for sustaining and enhancing living resource values. Within the Reserve, management plans for restoring tidal wetland communities, and for protecting and enhancing the open bays, are guided by community level management principles. [Technical reports: Wetlands (1997); Molluscan Shellfish (1999); Crustacean Shellfish (1999)].
Resource managers over the past two decades have begun to develop a more comprehensive approach directed at increasing resource values throughout an estuary by managing at the ecosystem level. This approach, which incorporates tools from both single species and community level, is used by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the NYS Departments of Environmental Conservation and State, and most other resource management agencies. In keeping with this approach, the significance of natural resource use and management issues in the Reserve have been noted in a number of studies that have provided ecological characterizations of the Reserve or significant portions of it. Most notable among these are The Great South Bay (Schubel et al.1991), Estuarine Resources of the Fire Island National Seashore and Vicinity (NYSGI 1993), and Significant Habitats and Habitat Complexes of the New York Bight Watershed (USFWS 1997).
Actions to Enhance the Resource
In some cases, information regarding living resources of the Reserve is unparalleled in comparison to many other estuarine ecosystems. Nowhere else in North America is there a comprehensive set of hard clam population monitoring data spanning over ten years. Similarly, comparable data regarding wetland trends has not been advanced elsewhere to the extent that it has for the Reserve. Notwithstanding the quality and quantity of information available for the Reserve, however, these data provide only a portion of the information needed to substantially improve management of the estuary's living resources. The first general action is to improve our understanding of these resources through: continued, objective-driven monitoring; empirical research studies designed to address specific management needs; and fundamental biological research necessary to understand the species, population dynamics, and community ecology.
Despite remaining information needs, it is possible to undertake a selective program of habitat restoration in the Reserve. The initial focus of such restoration would address tidal wetlands, colonial waterbird nesting habitat and anadromous fish runs. For tidal wetlands, identifying the complete realm of possible restoration activities and specific sites is a necessary first step in the development of a restoration plan for the Reserve. Such a step has already been taken for colonial waterbird nesting restoration needs. As for anadromous fish, restoration initiatives such as removal of barriers to fish passage could begin immediately by confirming population data at selected creeks. Other information needs must be addressed before restoration can begin on submerged aquatic vegetation, tributaries, bay bottoms, and forested wetlands.
Based on its technical reports and other literature, the Council offers the following recommendations to direct future management of living resources of the Reserve. These recommendations integrate the large number of individual technical report recommendations into a smaller number of broader, more comprehensive ones. The entire array of living resource technical report recommendations are captured below.
RECOMMENDATIONS TO INCORPORATE AN ECOSYSTEM PERSPECTIVE IN MANAGEMENT OF ESTUARINE LIVING RESOURCES
1. To achieve the greatest benefit for the estuary, tailor restoration, protection, and other management recommendations to areas of the Reserve demonstrating similar ecological characteristics.
Managing natural communities requires consideration of the functional connections between communities in the Reserve. For example, SAV beds function as nurseries for numerous crustaceans, shellfish, and resident finfish; and freshwater marshes play the role of sediment filters for tributary waters. In addition to this whole ecosystem perspective, resource managers also need to recognize that there is regional variation within the Reserve that is relevant to management strategies and practices. Differences in physical parameters across the estuary have produced ecological differences between regions, resulting in divergent management needs. The preferred management approach is to segregate or categorize the Reserve into ecological management areas of similar physical habitats and biological communities. This approach provides a rational set of management guidelines for application of restoration, protection and other management methods that recognize the different environments within the Reserve. Based on current resource information, the Reserve can be viewed as three distinctive geographical and ecological units:
Specific strategies appropriate for each area must be pursued. For example, methods for wetland restoration appropriate to Great South Bay, with its lower tidal range, may need to be modified for application near barrier island inlets. Shellfish restoration efforts provide another example. In this case, different levels of nutrients, estuarine circulation, and nuisance algal blooms in the higher tidal range environments of the eastern and western bays mandate different management strategies.
2. Document the current status of living resources in the Reserve and implement a comprehensive ecosystem monitoring program to document and evaluate improvements in quality and quantity of living resources achieved through restoration and other management measures.
As most resource managers will agree, one of the foremost living resource management issues in the Reserve is the need for more comprehensive baseline information to guide management decisions. This base of information should include documentation of species abundance and distribution and assessment of coastal habitats, as well as determining and measuring natural and manmade factors that affect the functioning of the estuarine ecosystem. At present, an extensive body of species-specific information exists for a select group of living resources, primarily avian species; current data collection programs for these groups should be continued. For other biological resources where existing information may be limited, such as hard clam, estuarine finfish communities, plankton and algae, and benthic invertebrates, expanded efforts are required. For most Reserve living resources, particularly lesser known species and specific habitat types, the existing information base is almost non-existent, with inventory procedures only now developing.
Following the establishment and analysis of a comprehensive baseline for the Reserve's living resources, an ecosystem monitoring program should be initiated for those resources and environmental factors determined as most critical. Such a program would involve continued reassessment of the status of critical species and ecosystem components. It would be designed to evaluate the level of success in attainment of specific site goals and the cumulative achievement of projected improvements in estuarine resources from habitat restoration and protection activities. A Reserve-wide monitoring program would also benefit visual and aesthetic resources, stormwater control and treatment, and other values, and would provide a measure of progress toward the implementation of this plan.
The large number of tributaries that drain the Reserve have historically been a focal point for human activities and continue to provide important natural resource values. High potential exists for protecting the remaining tributary systems and restoring impaired ones. In particular, the productive wetlands associated with tributaries warrant continued protection. Based on their proximity to nonpoint pollutant sources, these wetland communities play an important part in mitigating water quality problems in the Reserve. As such, their protection and stewardship should be a Reserve priority.
Coves are a frequently overlooked component of tributary management. Recognized as concentration areas for many estuarine species, including the particularly important winter flounder, these habitats are subject to sedimentation and altered salinities. To curtail degradation of these, as well as other important tributary features, emphasis should be placed on improving the quality of stormwater runoff. Other activities that significantly affect tributary cove environments include bulkheading of remaining natural shoreline, dock placement, dredging, and groundwater withdrawals that affect stream flow.
RECOMMENDATIONS TO INCREASE WETLAND COMMUNITY VALUES IN THE RESERVE
4. Improve the ecological function and productivity of the estuary by increasing the quality and quantity of its wetlands.
Wetlands are a major feature of the estuarine landscape. Key contributors to the high level of biological productivity in the estuary, the Reserve's 19,000 acres of tidal wetlands are also recognized for other significant functions, including sediment and nutrient removal, flood prevention, storm protection, and provision of feeding and nursery sites for estuarine species. Historic losses of wetlands through development activity have reduced the estuary's productivity and diminished the extent to which the benefits of other wetland functions accrue. Although many wetlands are permanently lost, a large number of sites present substantial opportunities for wetland restoration, either through reversing wetland loss through removal of fill, or by enhancing specific wetland values.
Principal means available to restore and enhance wetland values in the Reserve include: hydromodification of formerly connected wetlands; restoration of dredge spoil deposit sites; open marsh water management; establishment of protective buffer areas; and recognition of existing high quality wetlands. Wetlands lost to fill disposal and altered hydrology, comprising almost 1,800 acres, may have restoration potential. Another 15,000 acres of salt marsh have been altered by mosquito ditching practices. Many of these wetlands may present restoration opportunities through open marsh water management techniques. An additional 2,200 acres of relatively high quality, unditched tidal wetlands, 5,000 acres of riparian wetlands, and smaller areas of rare wetland types are found in the Reserve. These areas need to be recognized for their living resource values and provided with enhanced protection efforts, through establishment of protective buffer areas and other measures. The threat presented by exotic invasive species will also need to be addressed as part of the restoration effort.
Wetland restoration projects are being developed by multiple agencies and institutions in the Reserve. Coordination of effort among these parties -- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Long Island Wetland Initiative, and various State agencies -- is vital to achieving overall goals and securing public support. As part of this coordinated effort, regulations should be streamlined in order to facilitate habitat restoration projects. This would include institution of measures to improve communication among the various entities involved in reviewing restoration projects so as to avoid duplication of effort and to speed up the decision-making process.
RECOMMENDATIONS TO RECOGNIZE, RESTORE, AND PROTECT TRIBUTARY RESOURCE VALUES
5. Restore diadromous fish populations in tributaries where the necessary habitat conditions exist or can be created.
Tributary systems provide significant habitat values for many diadromous and estuarine fish species in the Reserve, including shelter, nursery areas, and food sources for diadromous fish such as river herrings (alewife and blueback herring), sea-run trout, and American eel. The majority of Long Island tributaries with water quality sufficient to support trout and trout spawning are located within the Reserve. For Suffolk County, nearly 90 percent of such designated streams fall within the Reserve, and for Nassau County, 67 percent.
Although modification of tributary systems through agricultural practices, flood control, groundwater manipulations, development and land clearing, has been extensive, there is considerable potential for restoring natural tributary function. The greatest concentration of tributaries likely to warrant restoration is in the central and eastern portion of the Reserve. Many of the western tributaries have been irrevocably altered; however, the limited riverine forest associated with these western tributaries warrant restoration effort. Restoration of tributaries would include: recovery of filled wetlands; restoration of stream flows; restoration of wetland hydrology; removal of physical impediments to spawning; water quality improvement measures; and development of buffer areas.
RECOMMENDATIONS TO PROTECT AND IMPROVE HABITAT CONDITIONS FOR ESTUARINE BIRD SPECIES GROUPS
6. Provide for continued abundance and diversity of avian species by protecting key foraging and nesting habitat areas necessary for shorebird, waterfowl, and colonial waterbird populations, as well as feeding and resting areas for migratory birds.
The diversity of physical habitats and biological communities in the Reserve sustains a wide variety of estuarine bird species - colonial waterbirds, shorebirds, and waterfowl. Management of these species entails implementing strategies that ensure their continued existence and provide an environment in which their populations can flourish.
Current programs have exhibited considerable success in conserving colonial waterbird and shorebird populations in the Reserve. Such efforts need to continue and should be expanded to include waterfowl as well. Programs that benefit beach-nesting shorebirds by insulating them from human disturbance on the beach face and dune fronts can be highly effective. Likewise, colonial waterbirds, shorebirds, and waterfowl have all benefitted from wetland protection activities, and will experience further benefits from wetland restoration programs. Currently, the most important management concerns involve protection of nesting sites on beaches and bay islands, including predator exclusion and management of human disturbance, vegetation management and the potential use of dredge spoils in habitat restoration.
RECOMMENDATIONS TO IMPROVE PRODUCTIVITY OF IMPORTANT ESTUARINE LIVING RESOURCES
7. Increase molluscan shellfish populations for commercial harvest through enhancement of shellfish stocks and improvements in water quality.
Seed planting should be evaluated rigorously as a management alternative in terms of its effectiveness in increasing shellfish stocks versus associated costs. Consistent with other regions, where seed programs contribute to 25% or more of total hard clam harvest, there is an opportunity to make significant contributions to stocks by increasing seed clam programs in the Reserve. In particular, growout of seed clams to larger sizes (ie., 25 mm or greater), which confer significantly higher seed clam survival rates, and protection of cultured stock in predator exclusion racks, could produce marked increases in survival and subsequent harvest.
Spawner relay, the transplanting of hard clams from uncertified to certified waters, capitalizes on the spawning potential of transplanted clams to maintain spawning stock or spawning sanctuaries. The spawner sanctuary concept is a refinement of the spawner transplant program. SUNY computer models currently in use in Babylon and Islip simulate the flow fields of coastal embayments and may be useful in focusing efforts to select candidate sites for establishment of spawner sanctuaries, which will in turn supply larvae to preselected target areas. Spawner sanctuaries can be established in known high productivity beds where stock is allowed to grow out to chowder size. Additional techniques, such as placing broodstock to enhance reproduction and placing later spawning northern stocks, have been implemented in Babylon and should be considered elsewhere to enhance and extend spawning in sanctuaries.
Efforts to improve water quality should also continue to receive support in order to increase the acreage of certified shellfishing waters and improve shellfish habitat, while recognizing that water quality may not be the principal issue relating to declining shellfish abundance.
8. Support efforts to manage harvest of shellfish and other living estuarine resources on a basis consistent with the natural capacity of the estuary.
Maintaining healthy populations of commercially and recreationally important finfish and shellfish species is a major focus of the Council. Reserve waters have a demonstrated potential to support abundant finfish and shellfish populations. In some instances, however, commercial species utilization in the Reserve has been characterized by significant overharvest and ensuing depression of population levels. Recognizing that the current status of finfish and shellfish populations in the Reserve may be attributable in part to ecological changes, management of these resources must still ensure that harvest does not exceed the estuary's natural productive capacity. Accomplishing this will require increased commitments to research, assessment of existing information, and changes in shellfish resource management.
Effective management strategies for sustainable production require controls on fishing pressure and habitat degradation. Efforts to support and guide establishment of appropriate levels of harvest for commercially and recreationally important estuarine species will need to be based on improved knowledge of the population structure, food web dynamics, and critical life stages of individual species. For commercial shellfish species, particularly the hard clam, the lack of understanding of population biology is a significant factor hampering management decisions. Priority research needs include: stock assessment; population dynamics including recruitment, settlement, and growth; and a comprehensive substrate habitat analysis (see Recommendation 10).
Finfish are also subject to overharvest, as evidenced by the recent declines in oyster toadfish populations. Even with improved means of enhancing and augmenting populations, overharvest will continue to be an estuary-wide concern. The key principle guiding discussion of harvest limits must be the need to sustain the fishery, both for fishery products and for the bayman lifestyle associated with the South Shore.
While striving to increase productivity in recreational and commercial species, it should be possible to improve the natural capacity of the estuary by maintaining and enhancing the habitat conditions that support this productivity. Loss and degradation of estuarine habitats has reduced and fragmented populations of a number of the Reserve's important estuarine species. Maintaining or restoring population levels of these species will require both restoration of key physical habitats and protection of existing high quality habitat features.
Many finfish species use the Reserve for spawning, nursery habitat, seasonal feeding grounds, and general living space. A number of finfish, particulary forage fish species, display a strong habitat linkage to the estuary. Spawning and nursery habitats for estuarine fish in the Reserve are largely dependent on wetlands, shallows, and SAV beds, all of which are juxtaposed between intense human activity and the open waters of the estuary. Finfish populations will benefit from overall habitat protection and restoration. Potential management actions, including conservation area designation for selected cove areas important for winter flounder spawning and persistent hard clam beds, should be developed to protect the habitat values of these areas. Habitat-related recommendations in fishery management plans should be implemented.
Shellfish populations may also benefit from habitat restoration efforts. Habitat enhancement can be initiated at specific sites where management efforts focus on improvement of water quality, the control of nonpoint sources of pollution near shellfish resources, wetland restoration, and substrate restoration or improvement. Shellfish habitat enhancement efforts also need to recognize variation within the Reserve of critical environmental parameters, such as water temperature, salinity, and substrate characteristics, which affect management approaches. At present, a focus on the potential for substrate improvement through shell augmentation appears to be well deserved as a means of increasing shellfish populations.
RECOMMENDATIONS TO ADDRESS SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION NEEDS
10. Address critical information needs regarding productivity of hard clam and other shellfish with research that focuses on growth and nutrition, recruitment, settlement, predation and Brown Tide effects.
Fundamental research investigating the life history stages of various shellfish, especially hard clams, would permit the identification of those stages during which year class abundance is established and the biotic and abiotic factors that control the shellfish abundance. Coupled with applied research and monitoring of stock abundance and population structure, the minimum information would be on hand to effectively manage the Reserve's shellfish resources.
The NYS Department of State, in collaboration with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, has completed substantial study of the Reserve's tidal wetlands, including:
Similar information is not available for tributaries in the Reserve, especially tributary mouths, which are important for many species but especially vulnerable and poorly understood. Monitoring and mapping efforts are also critical for submerged aquatic vegetation beds and other benthic habitats that are especially important for shellfish populations.
Also lacking is information on the potential effects of sea level rise on the Reserve's tributaries
and associated corridors, tidal marshes, bay bottoms and barrier islands, and the potential impacts
of projects aimed at preventing overwash and inlet formation.
________________________________Endnote 1. For specific depth information see Embayment Use Study, Part 1 Addendum: Composite navigation charts of the South Shore Estuary.