GREAT BAY ESTUARY ECOLOGICAL TRENDS. in the GREAT BAY NATIONAL ESTUARINE RESEARCH RESERVE

Transcription

1 GREAT BAY NATIONAL ESTUARINE RESEARCH RESERVE ECOLOGICAL TRENDS in the GREAT BAY ESTUARY II Great Bay Nationa Estuarine Research Reserve 20 Year Anniversary Report

2 Acknowedgements Severa individuas beyond the Great Bay NERR and NH Fish and Game Department contributed data and information for this report. We thank Tracy Shattuck of the NH Port Authority for information on port activities and moorings in the Great Bay Estuary. Rob Roseen of the UNH Stormwater Center contributed data and text for the section on impervious surfaces and ow impact deveopment approaches. Phi Trowbridge of the Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership and NH Department of Environmenta Services shared insights that shaped the description of nutrient criteria in the estuary. Richard Langan, Director of Ocean and Coasta Technoogy Programs at UNH, reviewed the water quaity section of the report. Fred Short of the Jackson Estuarine Laboratory provided geospatia data for the seagrass maps and input regarding the seagrass text in the report. Communication with Wan-Jean Lee, a graduate student in the UNH Zooogy Department and a Graduate Research Feow with the Great Bay NERR, improved the description of horseshoe crab activities in the estuary. We thank Bruce Smith (NH Fish and Game) and Sheia Roberge (Great Bay NERR) for patienty proofreading each chapter.

3 ECOLOGICAL TRENDS in the GREAT BAY ESTUARY Written and edited by Kathy Mis GBNERR Research Coordinator Contributions from: Kee Loughin Education Coordinator Steve Mier Coasta Training Program Coordinator Rache Stevens Stewardship Coordinator Peter Weenberger Manager Eizabeth Heckman Assistant Education Coordinator Robert Roseen UNH Stormwater Center Maps by Rache Stevens Copy editing by Liza Poinier Design and composition by Victor Young Financia support for this pubication was provided, fuy or in part, by a grant under the Federa Coasta Zone Management Act, administered by the Office of Ocean and Coasta Resource Management, Nationa Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Siver Spring, MD. Copies of this pubication are avaiabe from the Great Bay Nationa Estuarine Research Reserve, 225 Main St., Durham, NH Great Bay Nationa Estuarine Research Reserve cover images: VICTOR YOUNG, KELLE LOUGHLIN, GARY KRAMER USFWS

4 Tabe of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction 3 The Great Bay Estuary is a dynamic meeting pace where the ocean and rivers, and and water, and peope and nature meet. For twenty years, the Great Bay Nationa Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) has promoted informed management of the estuary through inked programs of research, education, and stewardship. This section introduces readers to both the Great Bay Estuary and the Great Bay NERR. Chapter 2: Human Use 7 Resources in the Great Bay Estuary as we as its tributaries and watershed provisioned eary inhabitants of the area, provided a base for the growth of industry and transportation, and sti supports diverse commercia and recreationa opportunities. Sustaining these vauabe uses remains an important management goa, but its achievement reies on protecting the heath of the ecosystem itsef. Chapter 3: Land Use 11 The Great Bay watershed supports growing communities in 55 municipaities. Changing human activities and and use choices affect habitat distributions, water quaity, and bioogica communities in the watershed. This section provides an overview of and use change and its impications for Great Bay. It aso identifies actions to conserve ands, restore habitats, and promote sustainabe deveopment. Chapter 4: Water Quaity 19 Water quaity structures the Great Bay ecosystem. Sainity changes as the baance between fresh water and ocean water shifts, but nutrients, dissoved oxygen, and turbidity can be affected by human activities. A of these water quaity conditions infuence the distribution and success of habitats and species in the estuary. This section describes water quaity changes in the Great Bay Estuary and their impications for the ecosystem. Chapter 5: Bioogica Communities 27 The Great Bay Estuary and its watershed contain a wide array of habitats that support diverse species. This section focuses on some of the key habitats and representative species to describe changes that have been noted over the past twenty years. It highights bioogica research within the Great Bay NERR to better understand these communities as we as actions that are undertaken to protect them. Chapter 6: Future Directions 37 The Great Bay NERR strives to address the most pressing changes and chaenges facing the Great Bay ecosystem. As it ooks towards the future, the Reserve s research, education, and stewardship programs wi deveop and disseminate information focused on four priority themes and use, water quaity, bioogica communities, and cimate change. Together these efforts wi hep sustain a heathy Great Bay ecosystem and thriving human communities.

5 2 rache stevens photo Amidst a backdrop of ongoing ecoogica change, there is one constant a strong commitment to protect Great Bay and ensure that it remains a natura treasure that can be enjoyed by generations yet to come.

6 Introduction The Great Bay Estuary: A Dynamic Meeting Pace The Great Bay Estuary is a mutifaceted convergence zone a pace where the ocean and rivers, and and water, and peope and nature meet. Great Bay ies at the confuence of tiday driven seawater from the Guf of Maine and fresh water from seven major river systems the Samon Fas, Cocheco, Beamy, Oyster, Lamprey, Squamscott, and Winnicut. Before reaching Great Bay, seawater traves 15 mies inand through the Piscataqua River and Litte Bay. This geographic configuration makes Great Bay one of the nation s most recessed estuaries, and it is often referred to as New Hampshire s hidden coast. The oceanic connection to the Guf of Maine substantiay infuences the physica setting and ecoogica dynamics of the Great Bay Estuary. When high tides food the estuary, the water surface of Great Bay extends 8.9 square mies, whereas at ow tide, over 50 percent of the bay is exposed as mudfat. The arge quantities of water that move in and out of the estuary create some of the strongest tida currents in North America. This tida exchange structures the Great Bay ecosystem by affecting water quaity, habitat extent, and species distributions. The rivers that fow into the Great Bay Estuary drain a watershed that extends more than 1,000 square mies, and this convergence of and and water shapes features and uses of the ecosystem. Between the water s edge and the upper watershed, a rich mosaic of habitats sustains diverse species. For centuries, the watershed aso has supported human societies and activities. Historicay, communities deveoped around the abundant resources of the estuary, and today many peope sti choose to ive, work, and recreate in the Great Bay area. As the popuation of the region grows, individua and community choices about how to use the and in the watershed take on greater importance because they affect streams, rivers, and utimatey the Great Bay Estuary. Great Bay s position at the confuence of and, rivers, and the sea creates an ecosystem that is ever-changing over tida, seasona, annua, and historica time scaes. Some of these changes are part of the natura dynamics of the ecosystem, whie others are driven by human activities. But amidst this backdrop of ongoing ecoogica change, there is one constant a strong commitment to protect Great Bay and ensure that it remains a natura treasure that can be enjoyed by generations to come. The capacity to conserve Great Bay and steward it effectivey stems from our abiity to first detect and understand changes occurring within the ecosystem, then to appy this knowedge to improve management decisions. Monitoring and interpreting changes in natura dynamics and human-environment interactions require a concerted effort over many years. Appying these insights to support stewardship reies not ony on good science but aso on its interpretation in the context of pressing management issues. The Great Bay Estuary benefits from the efforts of mutipe groups that seek to better understand how it functions and forward its protection. Twenty Years of Stewarding Great Bay The Great Bay Nationa Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) was estabished in 1989 with a mission to advance our understanding of Great Bay and promote stewardship of this compex ecosystem. It accompishes this mission through integrated programs of research, education, and stewardship. The twentieth anniversary of the Reserve s inception provides an opportune time to refect on both the ecoogica changes that have occurred in Great Bay and the roes that the NERR has payed in understanding and addressing these changes. This report focuses specificay on three management-reevant themes and use and habitat change, water quaity, and bioogica communities that aign with the Great Bay NERR s priorities. Data that have been coected by the Great Bay NERR and its partners are presented to document major changes in the ecosystem and interpreted to contextuaize associated management issues. In addition, exampes highight how the Great Bay NERR and other groups use the data to guide stewardship initiatives, support oca decision-making, and advance pubic understanding of the ecosystem. Utimatey, the report outines future pans for the Great Bay NERR that wi continue to buid its capacity to provide scientific information and support management of the Great Bay Estuary and its watershed. Habitats within the Great Bay Estuary provide homes for a variety of species, incuding the marsh wren, a secretive bird that is often hidden in ta emergent marsh vegetation. terry. spivey photo / bugwood.org Chapter 1: Introduction

7 1. Wes, ME. 2. Great Bay, NH. 3. Waquoit Bay, MA. 4. Narragansett Bay, RI. 5. Hudson River, NY. 6. Jacques Cousteau, NJ. 7. Deaware. 8. Chesapeake Bay, MD. 9. Chesapeake Bay, VA. 10. North Caroina. 11. North Inet-Winyah Bay, SC. 12. ACE Basin, SC. 13. Sapeo Isand, GA. Nationa Estuarine Research Reserve System Guana Toomato Matanzas, FL. 15. Rookery Bay, FL. 16. Apaachicoa, FL. 17. Weeks Bay, AL. 18. Grand Bay, MS. 19. Mission-Aransas, TX. 20. Tijuana River, CA. 21. Ekhorn Sough, CA. 22. San Francisco Bay, CA. 23. South Sough, OR. 24. Padia Bay, WA. 25. Od Woman Creek, OH. 26. Jobos Bay, PR. 27. Kachemak Bay, AK Nationa Estuarine Research Reserve System The Great Bay NERR is part of the Nationa Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS) a network of 27 protected and coordinated sites that promotes informed management of the nation s estuaries and coasta habitats through ong-term research, monitoring, education, and stewardship. Estabished by the Coasta Zone Management Act of 1972, the NERRS operates as a partnership between the Nationa Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the coasta states. Since its inception, the NERRS has protected more than 1.3 miion acres of estuarine ands and waters that span diverse biogeographic regions in 21 states and Puerto Rico (Figure 1). The NERRS advances a vision of heathy estuaries and watersheds where coasta communities and ecosystems thrive. It pursues this vision through three primary goas: 1. Strengthen the protection and management of representative estuarine ecosystems to advance conservation, research and education. 2. Increase the use of Reserve science and sites to address priority coasta management issues. 3. Enhance peope s abiity and wiingness to make informed decisions and take responsibe actions that affect coasta communities and ecosystems. These goas are addressed through research, education, and stewardship programs that focus on and use patterns and popuation growth, habitat oss and ateration, water quaity degradation, and bioogica community change. These priority issues need to be understood and managed at mutipe scaes. With its network of oca sites distributed around the country, the NERRS has a unique capacity to address nationay reevant management issues and information needs, whie aso providing data and information for use by oca and regiona scientists and decision-makers. Since its inception, a key goa of the NERRS has been to ensure stabe environments for estuarine research. Reserves serve as patforms for ong-term research and monitoring, with a focus on water quaity and bioogica communities. Throughout the NERRS, 109 water quaity monitoring stations coect high-frequency data that is used for rea-time appications as we as for tracking ong-term changes. Reserve sites aso function as iving aboratories for research staff, visiting scientists, and graduate students. Nationay, more than 300 graduate students doing research appicabe to coasta management have been funded and mentored through the NERRS Graduate Research Feowship program. Nationa Estuarine Research Reserves are aso designated to provide educationa opportunities that enhance pubic awareness and understanding of estuarine areas. Each reserve site conducts a variety of programming for key audiences, ranging from young chidren to aduts. Within the NERRS, over 2,000 K-12 education programs are offered annuay; these programs introduce approximatey 100,000 students to estuaries near them and encourage them to expore these environments. Reserves aso host educationa presentations and hands-on workshops for aduts. In addition, each reserve offers education and training opportunities specificay for professionas who make decisions that affect coasta ecosystems and resources. The Coasta Training Program provides science-based information and ski-buiding workshops to ensure that decision-makers have the knowedge and toos they need to address issues of concern to oca communities. These training opportunities enabe professionas to network across discipines and deveop new coaborative reationships to sove compex environmenta probems. Stewardship efforts at each reserve integrate aspects of research, monitoring, and education in the impementation of management actions to ensure the ong-term protection of natura resources. Since resources are often affected by activities in adjacent waters and on watershed ands, effective stewardship requires cose cooperation with diverse stakehoders. In addition, stewardship programs evauate and mode responsibe management practices for coasta communities, assuring that the reserve-based programs address broader information needs. Whie each of these program components research, education, coasta training, and stewardship strengthens oca reserve sites as GBNERR 20th Anniversary Report

8 N we as the NERRS, integration across the programs provides synergies necessary to accompish the utimate goas and mission. Strong science, engaged citizens, informed managers, and active stewardship are a needed to ensure that estuaries and watersheds throughout the country support heathy ecosystems and coasta communities. By capitaizing on these synergies, the NERRS can effectivey address critica estuarine and coasta management issues at oca, regiona, and nationa scaes. Great Bay Nationa Estuarine Research Reserve When a citizens group, Save Our Shores, mobiized to prevent the deveopment of an oi refinery on Durham Point in 1973, it initiated a series of efforts to ensure the ong-term protection of Great Bay. The process of designating Great Bay as a NERR was competed in 1989, and the site is currenty managed as a partnership between the NOAA and the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department. The Reserve s boundary and aquisition zone encompass 20,172 acres of open water, wetands, and upands, incuding a of Great Bay and Litte Bay, as we as tida portions of the Winnicut, Squamscott, Lamprey, Beamy, and Oyster rivers. The Great Bay NERR s mission is to promote informed management of the Great Bay Estuary through inked programs of research, education, and stewardship. These programs enhance scientific understanding of the estuary and its watershed and communicate this information to interested citizens and decision-makers. The Reserve s programs focus on management-reevant issues aigned with four priority topics: 1. Land conservation and stewardship 2. Water quaity 3. Habitat and bioogica communities 4. Cimate change impacts and adaptation Chapter 1: Introduction The integration of research, education, and stewardship paces the Great Bay NERR in a unique position to address these important issues. Research. The Great Bay NERR impements monitoring programs to track water quaity, habitat conditions, and species popuations in the estuary and its watershed. These data provide a vauabe ong-term record of conditions that supports investigations of the factors that drive changes in the estuary as we as the ecoogica and socia impications of observed changes. Research projects of the Great Bay NERR address information needs reated to the four priority issues noted above; recent projects have focused on anadromous fish popuations, invasive species, and cimate change. Education. Education programs of the Great Bay NERR convey scientific information to schoo groups, interested aduts, pubic decisionmakers, and others. These activities are typicay conducted at the Great Bay Discovery Center in Greenand, where interpretive exhibits and interactive programs introduce visitors to the estuary and the creatures that ca it home. The adjacent Hugh Gregg Coasta Conservation Center showcases exhibits on the upand habitats. It aso serves as a training faciity, where a variety of workshops for decision-makers are hosted through the Great Bay NERR s Coasta Training Program. These training opportunities provide science-based information and skibuiding workshops to audiences that incude municipa officias, vounteer board members, citizen groups, and business eaders. Stewardship. The Great Bay NERR has a management interest in 3,740 acres of wetands and upands within the Reserve s boundary. As a founding member of the Great Bay Resource Protection Partnership, the Reserve has taken a ead in and protection to reduce the ecoogica impacts of habitat fragmentation caused by deveopment in the Great Bay watershed. Properties are managed to sustain fish and widife popuations in baance with human uses. In addition, stewardship interventions are structured experimentay when possibe so that their outcomes can be evauated and used to guide actions beyond Reserve properties. A programs at the Great Bay NERR benefit from dynamic partnerships with academic institutions, government agencies, conservation organizations, and oca businesses. The Great Bay Stewards formed in 1995 to support the Great Bay NERR and Great Bay Discovery Center. They are a key partner in the Reserve s efforts to advance education, and protection, research, and stewardship in the Great Bay Estuary. The Reserve aso benefits from the dedication of vounteers who hep with education programs, bioogica monitoring, and and stewardship. Its integrated research, education, and stewardship programs as we as coaborations with other groups have enabed the Great Bay NERR to advance scientific understanding of the Great Bay ecosystem, provide diverse educationa and outreach opportunities, and demonstrate effective and protection and stewardship approaches. This report summarizes some of these accompishments and highights future directions through which the Great Bay NERR wi continue to promote informed management of the Great Bay Estuary and its watershed. Great Bay NERR s Boundary 0 Mies 3 The Great Bay NERR s boundary (red outine) encompasses 10,235 acres of protected open water, wetands and forests as we as an acquisition zone of an additiona 9,937 acres of upands. White ines indicate boundaries of towns ocated near the Reserve.

9 rache stevens photo For centuries, Great Bay has evoked a strong sense of pace among inhabitants, and its habitats and resources have been vaued for sustenance, industry, transportation, and recreation.

10 Human Use An extensive and rich cutura history exists within the Great Bay region. For centuries, Great Bay has evoked a strong sense of pace among oca inhabitants, and its habitats and resources have been vaued for sustenance, industry, transportation, and recreation. Whie the specific uses have changed over time, it is sti through interactions with the estuary that societies and individuas estabish a connection to the ecosystem and deveop an appreciation of its utiitarian as we as intrinsic vaues. Sustaining diverse human uses within the Great Bay Estuary remains an important management goa today. Historica uses Human history of the Great Bay region extends back over 11,000 years, when Native Americans ived as hunter-gatherers on the natura resources avaiabe in and around Great Bay. By the time of the eariest European contact, severa Native American tribes of the Abenaki nation inhabited the region. Europeans expored and fished in the Great Bay Estuary in the eary 1600s, and the first permanent settements were estabished in the 1620s. Active fur, fish, waterfow, and umber trades deveoped around the pentifu and profitabe resources in the region. As settements increased in number and size, new industries deveoped in the area, incuding shipbuiding, texties, brick making, and agricuture. To sustain these industries, the gundaow a fat-bottomed saiing vesse pied the waterways of the estuary, moving suppies from the Portsmouth Harbor into the bay and transporting finished goods from towns around Great Bay out to Portsmouth and beyond. Over time, human settements and activities brought about many changes. Timbering and agricuture changed the watershed s andscape. Pumes of sawdust and sediment choked the waterways, which deterred samon from spawning in the rivers, buried eegrass, and smothered oysters. Subsistence and commercia harvesting reduced the popuations of iving resources, incuding fish, shefish, waterfow, and mammas. Large mi compexes on the tida rivers added industria waste to the estuary, and the disposa of sewage and other poutants contaminated the estuarine ecosystem. Resuting threats to human heath eventuay prompted measures to improve sanitation, and subsequent environmenta reguations further promoted recovery of water quaity and species popuations. Athough substantia ecoogica concerns remain, the Great Bay Estuary currenty supports diverse human activities. Current commercia activities As it has been since Coonia times, Portsmouth remains an active port at the mouth of the Great Bay Estuary. The New Hampshire Port Authority reports that over five miion metric tons of cargo is moved through the port each year. Imports incude fue ois, gasoine, coa, gypsum, and sat. These products are distributed to meet oca fue and road sat needs, used to run power pants aong the Piscataqua River, and manufactured into various products such as drywa. Products exported through the port incude undersea cabe, scrap meta, taow, drywa, and heavy machinery. A commercia fish pier on Pierce Isand in Portsmouth provides a base of operations for a portion of New Hampshire s fishing industry. Athough many New Hampshire fishermen target offshore species, com- Athough substantia ecoogica concerns remain, the Great Bay Estuary currenty supports diverse human activities. Fa Cutura History Program at Great Bay Discovery Center Connecting the natura resources of Great Bay to the cutura history of the region has been the goa of the Great Bay NERR s fa schoo program for over fifteen years. Since the program s inception, more than 25,000 students have traveed back in time to discover some of the ways the first inhabitants ived and worked on Great Bay. During their three-hour experience, students visit a Native American fishing encampment, compete with birch bark wigwams, smoker and dugout canoe. Inside, they earn about the fishing, hunting and agricuture practices of native inhabitants. Whie at the site, the students get to sampe smoked samon and wid turkey. Important pants used by the Native Americans, as we as the sat marsh hay used by ater coonists, are identified aong the boardwak. At the Great Bay Trading Post, students are introduced to the gundaow, the vesse used for centuries to transport goods throughout the estuary. They board a rea gundaow, the Captain Edward H. Adams (shown at right), and earn how this unique vesse was constructed and its importance to the economy of the region. The adventure ends with a simuated archaeoogica dig to uncover artifacts that represent different time periods of Great Bay s history. A program activities address New Hampshire curricuum frameworks for grade four and very successfuy hep the students picture ife on Great Bay as it was centuries ago. devin wadeigh photo Chapter 2: Human Use 7

11 Figure 1. Commercia (bue ine) and recreationa (green ine) harvest of obsters in New Hampshire waters, incuding the Great Bay Estuary, from 1989 to present. Data provided by New Hampshire Fish and Game Department. mercia fishing is aso pursued in the Great Bay Estuary. Lobsters and river herring constitute the primary target species in the estuary. Lobster andings for state waters (extending to three mies offshore) have trended upward since 1989 (Figure 1), and the Great Bay catch has risen steepy since 2006, a year in which obster abundance in the bay was anomaousy ow due to a major spring food. River herring are aso harvested as bait for obsters and striped bass. River herring catches within the Great Bay Estuary come primariy from the Squamscott River (Figure 2). Landings were high in the ate-1990s and eary-2000s; decines in andings in the mid-2000s coincide with a tightening of harvest reguations in the Squamscott River. Current recreationa activities Loca residents and visitors aike enjoy a variety of recreationa activities in and around Great Bay. Visitors seeking to earn more about the Great Bay Estuary might start at the Great Bay Discovery Center, where the Great Bay NERR offers interpretive exhibits and educationa programs about the natura and cutura resources of the area. Programs faciitate access to Great Bay through hands-on exporations of habitats near the Discovery Center and kayak trips that introduce participants to the bay. In addition, many of the ands adjacent to Great Bay are protected by the Great Bay NERR and are open for mutipe uses, ensuring Figure 2. River herring harvest by coasta netters from Great Bay, pubic access opportunities within a mosaic Litte Bay and tributary rivers from 1988 to Data provided by New Hampshire Fish and Game Department. of changing and use and popuation growth. Hiking trais traverse the diverse habitats and provide scenic vistas of the bay. Some of the most popuar trais are highighted in Your Passport to Great Bay. Birdwatching is aso common on these properties as we as in the marshes bordering the bay. During the fa, waterfow and deer hunting is pursued on these muti-use ands, and in winter, cross-country skiing and showshoeing are popuar activities. nhfg / victor young photo Boating is one of the most popuar recreationa activities on Great Bay. Power boats, saiboats, canoes, kayaks, and rowing shes can a be seen on the bay and its tributary rivers. As interest in boating has increased, mooring areas and docks in the estuary have expanded. For exampe, in 1989 approximatey 400 mooring permits were issued. This number has continuousy increased over time, and the New Hampshire Port Authority estimates that 530 moorings wi be permitted in the Great Bay Estuary in Pubic boat aunches at Adams Point, Sandy Point (high tide ony), and Hiton Park as we as on the Squamscott, Lamprey, and Oyster rivers faciitate access to Great Bay. Your Passport to Great Bay In one convenient booket, Your Passport to Great Bay, the Great Bay NERR has compied descriptions and trai guides to a dozen pubic ands surrounding Great Bay. Properties highighted in the Passport span diverse terrains, from upand forests and granite outcrops, to ponds, verna poos, freshwater and satwater marshes and mudfats. The varied habitats represented on these properties provide homes to many species of widife; birds, beavers, turtes and tadpoes might a be spotted on these ands. In addition, reminders of earier inhabitants she middens, stone was, cear hoes and graveyards are sti present on many of the properties. Passport bookets can be obtained from the Great Bay Discovery Center. GBNERR 20th Anniversary Report

12 Severa boat aunches provide pubic access to the Great Bay Estuary, incuding this New Hampshire Fish and Game Department aunch at Chapman s Landing on the Squamscott River. Finfishing and shefishing aso attract many peope to Great Bay. Angers seek striped bass, buefish, smet, river herring, founder, and a variety of other species in the estuary. In winter, smet fishermen set up bobhouses, dri hoes in the ice and wait patienty for smet to nibbe their ines. Catches in the ice fishery have fuctuated, with peaks in average catch per anger hour observed in 1989 and 1995 (Figure 3). During warmer months, angers primariy target striped bass and buefish from boats, bridges, and the shoreine of Great Bay. Recreationa angers have taken an average of 130,000 trips each year since 1989 in the inshore waters of New Hampshire, which incude the Great Bay Estuary. The number of trips has increased during the 1990s and 2000s, coinciding with a recovery of the striped bass popuation. Athough the catch of striped bass fuctuates, it has risen substantiay since the mid- 1990s, with the exception of 2008 when the popuation argey stayed south of Cape Cod, perhaps due to high prey abundance or favorabe water temperatures (Figure 4). The recreationa catch of buefish aso fuctuates, but catches were particuary high in the eary 1990s and mid-2000s (Figure 4). Lobstering and shefishing are aso important recreationa activities in Great Bay. Recreationa obstermen have caught an average of around 5,000 pounds per year of obsters in state waters since 1989 (Figure 1). Oysters are harvested recreationay in Great Bay by hand, rake, or tongs, but the number of icensees has dwinded in the past two decades as oyster abundance has decined. In 1989, oyster icenses were hed by 771 individuas; in 2008, ony 221 icenses were issued. Sustaining diverse uses of Great Bay Throughout history and sti today, Great Bay has shaped the human communities iving on its shores and in its watershed. The estuary instis a strong sense of pace among residents who ive near and recreate on Great Bay and its tributaries. Loca citizens and visitors Chapter 2: Human Use aike enjoy fishing and boating on its waters, exporing its marshes, and hiking through forests in its watershed. The bay, rivers, and watershed aso support economic activities and provide tangibe resources that are vita to oca communities. Sustaining existing and future human uses of the Great Bay Estuary requires thoughtfu decision-making by individuas and communities to baance economic growth and resource protection. Chaenges that may affect future use and enjoyment of the estuary are many. A few exampes incude: (1) water quaity degradation that may compromise the estuary s aesthetic appea; (2) habitat oss that may threaten species vaued by angers, birdwatchers, and hunters; and (3) region-wide increases in heavy metas and contaminants in fish tissue that reduce safe consumption eves. The Great Bay NERR wi continue working to sustain mutipe human uses within the Reserve. Its stewardship efforts wi ensure ong-term protection of and pubic access to a diverse range of habitats, from the waters of the estuary to forests in the watershed. In addition, the Coasta Training Program wi provide interested citizens, eected officias, and other pubic decision-makers with the information and skis they need to address chaenges that may affect human uses of the estuary. As current uses continue and new uses are proposed, the Great Bay NERR wi remain activey engaged in management to maintain heathy ecosystems and vibrant coasta communities. Figure 3. Average number of smet caught per anger hour in the Great Bay ice fishery each year since No fishing occurred in 2002 and 2006 when ice did not form on the bay. Data provided by New Hampshire Fish and Game Department. Figure 4. Estimated recreationa catch of striped bass (bue ine) and buefish (green ine) in inshore waters of New Hampshire since Data provided by New Hampshire Fish and Game Department. 9

13 nhfg / victor young photo 10 The watershed contains a variety of important habitats, ranging from evergreen and deciduous forests to freshwater and tida wetands. Forests cover over 60 percent of the Great Bay watershed and wetands span more than 9 percent of the area.

14 Land Use The Great Bay Estuary drains a watershed that extends 1,084 square mies from the New Hampshire Lakes Region to the Seacoast. The watershed contains a variety of important habitats, ranging from evergreen and deciduous forests to freshwater and tida wetands. Forests cover over 60 percent of the Great Bay watershed and wetands span more than nine percent of the area. The watershed s habitats support severa species of concern and contain rare pant communities, such as Atantic white cedar swamps. The watershed aso supports growing human communities in 55 municipaities--45 in New Hampshire and 10 in Maine. Human activities within these municipaities are refected in the and cover of the watershed. The od growth forests that were ceared as Europeans setted in this area have been repaced by secondary forests and cutivated fieds. More recenty, suburban deveopments are expanding and repacing agricutura fieds. At present, agricutura ands and deveoped areas each represent approximatey nine percent of the watershed. As deveopment increases and human activities change, the effects can be seen in the watershed s andscape as we as in the estuary itsef. Deveopment contributes to habitat oss and fragmentation. It aso resuts in more runoff from the and, which pushes nutrients and sediments from agricutura fieds, private awns, and other sources Chapter 3: Land Use eric adrich photo into tributaries and the estuary. In addition, disturbance of sois and native vegetation creates opportunities for invasive species to move into the area. Whie deveopment in the Great Bay watershed is ikey to continue, it is critica to address its impacts on habitats and water quaity. These chaenges are not unique to Great Bay. With over 53 percent of the nation s popuation iving in counties bordering the coast, many regions are striving to preserve habitats and protect water quaity in increasingy deveoped and utiized andscapes. What may be unique, however, is the commitment to meeting these chaenges in the Great Bay area. Myriad efforts are underway to minimize oca impacts of popuation growth and and use change with the goa of sustaining a heathy Great Bay watershed and estuary. Key strategies incude conserving undeveoped and, impementing ow impact deveopment approaches, and controing invasive species. This section of the report describes and use and habitat characteristics of the Great Bay area and how these have changed in the past 20 years. In doing so, it focuses on and use change, impervious surfaces, and invasive pant species. Each major topic concudes with an overview of strategies and efforts of the Great Bay NERR to conserve ands, restore habitats, and promote sustainabe deveopment practices in the watershed and estuary. rache stevens photo As deveopment increases and human activities change, the effects can be seen in the watershed s andscape as we as in the estuary itsef. 11

15 Land use change Understanding watershed-scae and use change Many individua decisions and actions regarding and use have substantia cumuative effects at a andscape and watershed scae. Since 2007, Erika Washburn a NOAA Socia Science Feow with the Great Bay NERR has been working to understand how municipaities in the Great Bay watershed approach and use decisions and whether they consider the broader impacts of their choices. Her findings suggest that most decision-makers do not consider the watershed-scae effects of their actions and that itte communication exists between towns that are facing simiar decisions. Utimatey, her research wi hep identify chaenges as we as opportunities for improving regiona coordination on and use decisions that affect Great Bay and its tributaries. Caros Neto / dreamstime.com New Hampshire is the fastest growing state in the northeast, and much of this growth has been concentrated within the Great Bay watershed. Between 1980 and 2008, the average popuation size of the 45 New Hampshire municipaities in the watershed increased by 83 percent; in comparison, the statewide popuation rose by 43 percent. In some municipaities bordering the estuary, such as Newmarket and Stratham, popuations have more than doubed. Popuation growth impacts natura ecoogica systems through the conversion of and from its origina state to more intensive human uses. Land use refects human activities within an area. Land use change is not a recent phenomenon; it has occurred throughout human history. The densey forested watershed known to Native Americans was ceared by eary European setters as they deveoped a umber industry and estabished settements around Great Bay. Over time, some of the ceared areas returned to secondary forests, whie others were used for agricuture. Later, paved roads crossed the andscape, faciitating the spraw of residentia and commercia activities. As more and more peope have moved into the Great Bay area in recent years, the prevaence of homes, roads, and commercia areas on the andscape has increased. The dominant andscape features within the Great Bay NERR are open water and mixed forests. Open water constitutes more than 7,500 acres within the Reserve, whie mixed forests cover neary 8,500 acres; together, these two important habitats represent approximatey 80 percent of the area in the Reserve. Athough the region is under substantia deveopment pressure, arge contiguous forest areas remain within the Reserve s boundary. Forest cover increased by nine percent between 1962 and 1998, due in arge part to the re-forestation of abandoned agricutura fieds. Land use within the Reserve s boundary is changing in other ways as we. As the and area devoted to agricuture and farms decined by 40 percent from 1962 to 1998, the acreage used for residentia and commercia purposes increased by 46 percent. In addition, the amount of and devoted to roads and other transportation infrastructure increased by 18 percent. These changes show that the human footprint within the Great Bay NERR is expanding, driven by the underying increase in popuation within the Great Bay watershed. The oss of agricutura and and the rise of residentia deveopment has been a common pattern of and use change in many towns within the Great Bay watershed one that has broad socia and ecoogica impications. As deveopment removes rich crop and pasture and from agricutura uses, socia and economic consequences incude reduced oca food production, a decine in the rura cutura heritage, and a oss of amenity vaue associated with open space and scenic views. Ecoogi N 1,500 Feet Mie 1 1. Top pair: Land use change in Stratham, NH showcases the conversion of agricutura ands (orange) to residentia and commercia deveopments (grey). In 1962, agricutura ands were distributed throughout this town; by 1998, many of these ands and some forested areas (green) had been deveoped. 2. Bottom pair: In addition to human activities, beavers can aso infuence habitat patterns at the andscape scae. Land use change in the Crommet Creek watershed shows the effects that beavers can have on an ecosystem. Open water (dark bue) substantiay increased from 1962 to 1998 as beaver dams fooded vegetated wetands (ight bue), forests (green), and agricutura ands (orange). N 12 GBNERR 20th Anniversary Report

16 N cay, the deveopment of agricutura and repaces porous sois with impervious surfaces, which increases the veocity of water fowing off the and, heightens the risk of fooding, and reduces groundwater recharge. To reduce these socia and ecoogica impacts associated with and use change, the Great Bay NERR works to ensure the ong-term protection of and and to encourage the adoption of smart growth management strategies in the Great Bay watershed. Land protection Recent popuation growth and deveopment pressures have created significant threats to water quaity, species diversity, and unfragmented natura habitats in the Great Bay watershed an area that contains over 18 percent of the state s known rare species and exempary natura communities. To sustain these vauabe habitats, species, and ecoogica functions, and protection has been a key priority of the Great Bay NERR since its estabishment. The Reserve achieves this goa through on-the-ground management of ands and by working with an extensive network of partners to protect new parces of and with high ecoogica vaue. Within the Great Bay NERR, 5,129 acres are conserved. Of this tota, the Reserve has a management interest in 3,740 acres distributed over 71 parces. In the upand areas of the Reserve, the protected ands incude wetand and eary successiona habitats set in a matrix of Appaachian oak-pine forest, a type of forest that is rare statewide and is found ony in the Seacoast region. Other protected parces encompass intertida habitats, incuding mudfats, rocky shores, and sat marshes. Land acquisition priorities have focused on protecting sat marshes and the upand buffer; these habitats support key species such as beaver and osprey, as we as species of concern such as the Banding s turte. The Great Bay NERR activey stewards these ands to maintain key widife species, protect natura pant communities, and provide pubic recreationa opportunities. Resource inventories of each property are used to shape regiona management pans for ecoogicay distinct areas, such as sub-watersheds. These pans incude guideines reated to the management and restoration of habitats, provision of recreationa opportunities, and suitabiity of certain uses (e.g., agricuture) on the property. Management prescriptions for Reserve ands within these areas are impemented by the Great Bay NERR s stewardship program. In addition, vounteer and stewards support management of the Reserve s protected ands by adopting properties and surveying them periodicay for unique habitat features, widife use, invasive species, and recent recreationa use. Creative partnerships with university facuty, students, and community members aso advance and stewardship goas. Such partnerships have made possibe three years of bioogica monitoring for upcoming wetand restorations, trai counters to track visitor use, construction and improvement of access trais, and monitoring of widife use on and parces. The Reserve aso works cosey with other partners through the Great Bay Resource Protection Partnership to advance and protection initiatives. The Nature Conservancy of NH serves as the ead acquisition organization for the Partnership, and other key partners in this effort incude: Ducks Unimited, Inc. New Hampshire Audubon New Hampshire Fish and Game Department Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests U.S. Environmenta Protection Agency U.S. Fish and Widife Service, Great Bay Nationa Widife Refuge U.S. Department of Agricuture, Natura Resources Conservation Service Conservation Lands Conservation ands within the Great Bay NERR s boundary (red outine). Reserve ands, shown in green, are hed either in fee or as a conservation easement and are managed through the NH Fish and Game Department. Lands shown in grey are protected by other entities. 0 Mie 1 aan briere photo Since 1995, the Partnership has invested over $65 miion in and protection within the Great Bay watershed, incuding $56 miion in funds from NOAA. Funding sources are diverse and incude federa and state grants, municipa sources, foundation grants, and private donations. Chapter 3: Land Use 13

17 Proiferation of impervious surfaces As residentia and commercia deveopments dispace agricutura uses, impervious surfaces repace natura and covers in the Great Bay watershed. Increasing impervious surfaces pose environmenta concerns because they initiate a chain of events that impacts water resources. In natura andscapes, porous sois fiter and absorb stormwater and recharge groundwater suppies. Impervious surfaces, such as buiding roofs, parking ots and roadways, do not aow water to infitrate the soi. By seaing the soi s surface, they fundamentay ater the hydroogy of an area, impeding rainwater infitration and groundwater recharge. Stormwater accumuates on and runs directy across impervious surfaces, increasing fow voumes and veocities that can cause oca fooding or stream erosion. In addition to increasing the voume and veocity of water fows, impervious surfaces aso increase the sediment, nutrient, and poutant oads carried by these waters as they transport residues from deveoped areas into surface waters. Studies indicate that one acre of a typica commercia deveopment generates 740 pounds of sediment and 20 pounds of nitrogen per year, and commercia streets can produce 4,600 pounds of sediment and 20 pounds of nitrogen. Stormwater runoff carries these poutants to the streams and rivers that fow into the Great Bay Estuary and other coasta waters. The increased sediment and nutrient oads carried by water fowing off of impervious surfaces have important ecoogica impications. Any impervious surface within a watershed can impact its hydroogy and ecoogy, but deterioration of Top: UNH Stormwater Center workshop participants observe a water infitration demonstration on pervious concrete. Bottom: Porous asphat surface showing void space that aows water infitration. water quaity and decines in sensitive species become noticeabe when the impervious surface cover in the watershed reaches five percent. Substantia impacts are noted at impervious cover eves of 12 to 15 percent, and waters can become devoid of many aquatic species when imperviousness reaches 25 percent or more. Within the Great Bay watershed, streams draining sma sub-watersheds with high impervious cover contain higher eves of bacteria, higher nutrient concentrations, and fewer macroinvertebrate species than sub-watersheds that are heaviy forested. Concerns about the potentia ecoogica impications are increasing as the amount of impervious surface in the Great Bay watershed continues to rise. An anaysis by the UNH Compex Systems Research Center and Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership determined that the area of impervious surfaces in New Hampshire towns in the Great Bay watershed increased from 29,914 acres in 1990 to 50,934 acres in Impervious cover represented over seven percent of the combined and area in these towns by 2005, the most recent year for which data are avaiabe. In 15 of the 45 towns, impervious surfaces covered more than 10 percent of the watershed, with rates exceeding 30 percent in Portsmouth and 20 percent in Newington and Somersworth. Reducing the impact of impervious surface cover Reducing the extent and impacts of impervious surface cover requires concerted efforts at many scaes, from residentia ots to watersheds. Buiding codes, stormwater ordinances, and use panning, zoning ordinances, and transportation panning a affect the amount and distribution of impervious surfaces. Moreover, these reguatory and panning toos a offer the potentia for reducing the extent and impact of impervious surface cover. With carefu panning, new deveopments may eave a smaer footprint on the andscape and have ess impact on water quaity, habitats, and aquatic species. Many of the water quaity and ecoogica impacts of impervious surface cover can be minimized in residentia, commercia, and industria settings with the use of ow impact deveopment (LID), an innovative stormwater management approach that integrates natura site features with sma-scae stormwater contros to more cosey mimic natura hydroogic patterns. LID designs promote infitration of runoff near its source, instead of managing stormwater at the end of a pipe. Some LID options incude the use of rain gardens, bioretention systems, tree fiters, and porous pavements to promote infitration of water. These fitration systems reiaby remove 90 percent of the soids, and vegetated fitration systems can remove 40 percent of the nitrogen in runoff. LID measures aso sow the rate of runoff and reduce storm voumes, thereby minimizing hydroogica changes and preventing many impacts associated with impervious surfaces. 14 GBNERR 20th Anniversary Report

18 Porous Asphat Pervious Concrete Rain Garden Robert Roseen photo Commercia and residentia exampes highight the ecoogica and economic effectiveness of LID options. Commercia impementation of LID. Because of its ocation next to waters that were considered impaired under the Cean Water Act, a commercia project in Greenand that wi be home to two big-box stores and a grocery store was required to meet advanced stormwater standards. To satisfy this requirement, the 38-acre deveopment with 76 percent impervious cover empoyed porous pavements, rooftop infitration, and grave wetands that remove more than 90 percent of the nitrogen. The LID contros on this site wi prevent 12,000 pounds of sediment and 440 pounds of nitrogen from entering nearby waters each year. Further, these LID options met the site s stormwater standards at a ower cost than a typica pipe-and-treat approach. Residentia appication of LID. A Portsmouth City Counseor recenty instaed a porous asphat driveway at his residence to prevent his garage from fooding during arge storms. His home is ocated in a dense urban neighborhood, downhi from a massive parking ot. Typica approaches to soving his fooding probems woud invove using reguar pavement and catch basins with drainage. Instead, he chose to insta pervious pavement with a stone subbase, an option that proved more LID options demonstrated at the Great Bay Discovery Center The Great Bay Discovery Center and Hugh Gregg Coasta Conservation Center now serve as a LID stormwater management demonstration site. The UNH Stormwater Center designed an integrated stormwater management strategy for the Reserve as part of a parking ot paving project. A comprehensive approach to reducing stormwater at the site reied on severa LID technoogies, a of which are avaiabe for visitors to view. In addition, the site is used for training purposes so that homeowners, decision-makers, and deveopers can see the LID options in practice. The parking ot and sidewaks use a combination of porous asphat and pervious concrete. Both of these porous pavements infitrate rain water into a stone sub-base, quicky eiminating the standing water on the surface after a major storm. In addition, the porous asphat has reduced the amount of sat needed to keep the ot free of ice in the winter by 75%, and the porous concrete refects ight to keep the area cooer in the summer. An eco-paver wakway and a rain garden are aso present on the site. cost effective than the standard approach. His sma effort transates to a reduction of 34,000 gaons of runoff per year, thereby reducing the oad to the municipa storm sewer system. Left: Aeria view of the Great Bay NERR LID stormwater management demonstration site with porous asphat, pervious concrete, and rain garden highighted. Right: Great Bay NERR rain garden workshop participants put the finishing touches to the rain garden instaed at the Great Bay Discovery Center. Chapter 3: Land Use 15

19 Great Bay NERR s contribution to a regiona invasive pant database Invasive pant species In addition to changes in the major and uses, invasive species can aso substantiay affect the structure and quaity of habitats in the Great Bay watershed. Invasive species are not native to the region, and they can be introduced through a variety of activities. Cearing and or manipuating habitats creates disturbed conditions under which invasive species thrive. Once invasive species are introduced, they can trigger a series of ecoogica impacts by outcompeting and eventuay repacing native pants. This oss of native species has direct impications for widife species that depend on them for food or habitat. Since 2005, the Great Bay NERR has mapped twenty of the most ecoogicay damaging those that spread rapidy and are the most persistent invasive pant species on a Reserve properties. More than 4,000 N stands of these species have been documented within 0 Mies 3 the Reserve boundary. The most prevaent invasive species incude Japanese barberry, common barberry, bush honeysucke, gossy and common buckthorn, mutifora rose, and autumn oive. Phragmites, or common reed, is the major invasive species in sat marshes, athough both native and invasive forms of this pant are present in marshes around Great Bay. Popuations of invasive pants that have been mapped within the Great Bay NERR (red outine). Green dots indicate popuations that have been mapped by the Great Bay NERR, and bue dots show popuations that have been mapped by other NH CWIPP partners. In addition to documenting the ocation and size of invasive pant stands, the mapping effort documents ecoogica characteristics of each stand and the proximity to other natura and manmade features. Together this information points towards reasons for the spread of certain invasives around the andscape. First, invasive species are most commony found aong edges between distinct habitat types. The environmenta changes that occur at habitat edges put species native to each habitat type at a competitive disadvantage and enabe invasive species to thrive. Edge habitats are aso trave corridors for humans and widife, and these movements can spread invasive species to new areas. In addition, invasive popuations tend to be concentrated near disturbances and manmade features in the andscape. For exampe, cear hoes are the epicenter of many honeysucke popuations, indicating that eary setters panted these shrubs intentionay near their homes; unfortunatey, they have subsequenty spread throughout the andscape. Controing invasive species through oca and regiona efforts Within the Great Bay NERR, mapping invasive popuations has supported strategic prioritization of areas to focus contro efforts. By overaying ocations of the most ecoogicay damaging invasive species and the most ecoogicay sensitive natura areas (e.g., NH Natura Heritage Program sites), priority areas for removing invasives can be identified. In addition, monitoring and mapping invasive popuations enabes their eary detection before they become prevaent throughout the andscape. In 2008, the Great Bay NERR began contro of Norway mape, purpe oosestrife, and back swaowwort. These species were seected for initia contro efforts because mapping efforts had determined that ony sma popuations had recenty become estabished within the Reserve. Thus, it was more ikey these species coud be eradicated without becoming re-estabished from other nearby popuations, thereby increasing the chance they coud be removed from within the Reserve for the ong term. In most cases, though, invasive species cannot be controed through isoated efforts. Their aggressive coonization and growth potentia requires a management approach that extends across property ines, as eradication on one property does not prevent re-estabishment from a popuation on a neighboring property. For this reason, the Great Bay NERR works cosey with oca and regiona partners to more effectivey mitigate the spread of invasive species in the area. The Great Bay NERR is a key partner in the New Hampshire Coasta Watershed Invasive Pant Partnership (NH CWIPP), which brings together eeven agencies and organizations to assess the extent 16 GBNERR 20th Anniversary Report

20 nhfg / victor young photo rache stevens photo rache stevens photo and contro the spread of invasive species in New Hampshire s coasta watershed. Partners in the NH CWIPP work coaborativey to inventory, monitor, and prevent the spread of invasive pants across jurisdictiona boundaries. It aso works with municipaities, private andowners, and state and federa and managers to contro native species and restore native habitats. In addition, the Reserve promotes and faciitates cooperative invasive species contro efforts within its boundary. As an exampe, the Crommet Creek sub-watershed contains a mix of conservation ands and private properties. Within this watershed, the Great Bay NERR has worked cosey with oca andowners to document invasive species and buid awareness of contro options. Through hands-on workshops and demonstration projects, homeowners have earned to identify invasive species and practiced effective ways of removing them. As the Great Bay NERR s efforts to contro invasive species proceed, treatments are being appied using experimenta designs that wi aow for statistica comparisons of the effectiveness of different contro options. By rigorousy evauating the effectiveness of contro techniques and tracking conditions that may infuence treatment outcomes, efforts by the Great Bay NERR to contro invasive species on Reserve properties wi provide essons that are usefu beyond its boundary. Utimatey, these experiences wi be shared with andowners and management agencies to guide their future decisions about controing invasive species on private and pubic ands. Phragmites, or the common reed (eft), and purpe oosestrife (right) are prevaent invasive species within the Great Bay NERR. In the center photo, a Great Bay NERR vounteer cuts Japanese knotweed at the Chapman s Landing boat aunch. After cearing the Japanese knotweed, the area was restored with a native species, Impatiens canadensis, and natura vegetation now dominates this site. Chapter 3: Land Use 17

21 Tracking water quaity can hep us better understand the Great Bay Estuary and manage activities to ensure that they do not impair bioogica communities or human enjoyment of the estuary. kee oughin photo 18

22 Water Quaity The Great Bay Estuary contains more than 60 biion gaons of water at high tide and more than 40 biion gaons at ow tide. The physica dynamics and chemica properties of this vast voume of water contro the ecoogica processes of the estuary. The sainity of the water, the amount of oxygen it contains, and its sediment and nutrient oads a infuence the distribution of pants and animas in the estuary, as we as their abiity to survive and thrive in its waters. Changes in water quaity are driven by natura dynamics and by the direct and secondary effects of human activities. By monitoring a variety of water quaity parameters, short-term variabiity and ong-term changes in estuarine processes can be detected, and the factors that infuence these processes can be understood. Such baseine data provides important contextua information on the physica and chemica dynamics of an estuary, and monitoring changes from that baseine can guide management of estuarine ecosystems. The Great Bay NERR tracks water quaity in Great Bay and its tributaries as part of the NERRS s System-Wide Monitoring Program (SWMP). Through the SWMP, nationay consistent monitoring programs are impemented in mutipe estuaries around the United States. The standardization of samping protocos and data management procedures faciitates comparisons among the sites that comprise the NERRS. By participating in this program, the Great Bay NERR is abe to deveop and maintain a record of water quaity conditions in the Great Bay Estuary, as we as compare these changes to those observed in other estuaries. The Great Bay NERR estabished its first water quaity monitoring station in the midde of Great Bay in Since that time, stations have been added in the Squamscott River (1997), Lamprey River (1998), and Oyster River (2002). At each station, a muti-parameter monitoring device caed a datasonde measures temperature, depth, sainity, turbidity, ph, and dissoved oxygen every 15 minutes. In addition to the measurements coected with the datasondes, water sampes have been coected monthy at each site since Concentrations of dissoved inorganic nutrients, particuate organic matter, suspended sediments, and chorophy in each sampe are anayzed. To compement the monthy sampes, high-frequency water sampes are coected over a fu unar cyce at the Lamprey River ocation to track the tiday-driven tempora variabiity in nutrient concentrations. The SWMP aso supports a meteoroogica station that coects data on weather conditions at 15-minute intervas; this contextua information aids interpretation of the water quaity data. The Great Bay NERR s water quaity monitoring program benefits from partnerships with other oca groups. The SWMP is coaborativey impemented with the Jackson Estuarine Laboratory (JEL) at the University of New Hampshire. This arrangement has heped ensure that data from the current monitoring program are comparabe to those coected decades ago by university scientists. The Cooperative Institute for Coasta and Estuarine Environmenta Technoogy (CICEET) supports sensor testing and upgrades to enhance data coection as we as data distribution infrastructure to ensure that Great Bay water quaity observations are accessibe to users. In addition, the New Hampshire Department of Environmenta Services has compied and anayzed the data to set water quaity critera and track compiance with those standards. Both the Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership and CICEET have supported oca and regiona syntheses of the data, respectivey. This report highights some of the water quaity data gathered by the Great Bay NERR since the inception of its monitoring program. The parameters presented in this section were chosen to demonstrate how water quaity conditions provide insights into natura dynamics and anthropogenic changes in the estuary. Tracking water quaity can hep us better understand the Great Bay Estuary and manage activities to ensure that they do not impair bioogica communities or human enjoyment of the estuary. Great Bay NERR Monitoring Stations gbnerr staff photo N 0 Mies 3 A research technician depoys a datasonde to coect water quaity data in the Great Bay NERR. Locations of water quaity (circes) and weather (triange) stations monitored by the Great Bay NERR as part of the System-Wide Monitoring Program. Chapter 4: Water Quaity 19

23 20 Sainity Figure 5. Average annua sainity at four monitoring sites in Great Bay and three tributary rivers. Figure 6. Daiy average sainity at mid-great Bay monitoring station during The inset shows one week of sainity measurements taken at 30-minute intervas to show changes that occur during each tida cyce. The effects of severa major rain events are noted in May (Mother s Day food), June, and November. In connecting Great Bay to the Guf of Maine, tides move saty ocean water up the estuary and back out to the sea twice a day. The higher sainity seawater mixes with fresh water entering from tributaries, resuting in an intermediate sainity in the estuarine waters. Compared to seawater s sainity of around 35 parts per thousand (ppt), sainity in Great Bay averages approximatey 23 ppt. The sainity is ower at the monitoring stations in the Squamscott, Lamprey, and Oyster rivers due to a stronger freshwater infuence in these tributaries (Figure 5). Whie an average sainity can be computed for different ocations, sainity in the estuary is dynamic and ever-changing. It rises and fas over the course of each tida cyce (Figure 6, inset) as seawater enters and eaves the estuary. Sainity aso changes with the seasons; it is generay ower in the spring when snowmet and rainfa increase freshwater runoff, and highest during dry summer months when freshwater inputs are minima (Figure 6). The fuctuating sainity poses physioogica chaenges to organisms iving in the Great Bay Estuary, as they must reguate the baance of water and sats in their bodies. Estuarine organisms need to toerate a wider range of sainities than stricty freshwater or marine species, and they must be physioogicay capabe of enduring frequent sainity changes. The species that thrive in the Great Bay Estuary have adapted to the routine sainity dynamics that occur on tida, daiy, and seasona schedues. Occasionay, sainity fuctuations in the estuary exceed those experienced on a routine basis. The 2006 Mother s Day food deuged Great Bay with fresh water from upand rivers and streams, and sainity in the bay pummeted to beow five ppt for a week (Figure 6). The ong duration of these near-freshwater conditions imposed severe stresses on organisms in the estuary. Some organisms have mechanisms for enduring such dramatic and sustained changes; for exampe, oysters cose their shes and isoate themseves from externa environmenta conditions. However, other organisms cannot toerate rapid shifts in sainity. Foowing the Mother s Day food, surveys in the Great Bay Estuary found many dead obsters, crabs, and cams that did not survive the infux of ow-sainity water. Sainity substantiay infuences the ecoogy of the Great Bay Estuary. As sainity varies in space and time, it affects the distribution and heath of species in the estuary. Within the estuary, changes in sainity are argey driven by tida cyces and riverine fows, which shift the baance of seawater and fresh water in the estuary. In the freshwater tributaries of the watershed, though, human activities such as road sating can ater sainity concentrations, a situation that has important impications for ecoogica conditions and human use of the water. Rising sainity in freshwater streams Sat concentrations in freshwater streams are becoming a persistent year-round probem in many areas of New Hampshire. Road sat and de-icer use in the winter introduces sat to freshwater ecosystems, thereby degrading habitats for aquatic organisms and impacting drinking water suppies. Data from a 2007 study by the NH Department of Environmenta Services in areas aong the I-93 corridor showed that 50% of the sat entering freshwater streams comes from parking ots, and an additiona 36% runs off from municipa and state roadways. Sat dissoves in water and traves through the watershed; once it is dissoved, there is no easy way to remove it from the water. Hence, reducing impervious surface cover and the amount of sat used to de-ice parking ots and roads are critica steps to curbing sat inputs to freshwater systems. Recent studies in the northeast United States show that if sainity in streams continues increasing at its present rate, many surface waters wi not be potabe for human consumption and wi become toxic to aquatic organisms within the next century. bronwyn8 / dreamstime.com GBNERR 20th Anniversary Report

24 Turbidity Just as the merging of seawater and fresh water affects sainity throughout the Great Bay Estuary, turbidity is infuenced by the estuary s position at the confuence of and and water. Turbidity is a measure of the coudiness of water due to partices suspended in it; cear waters have ow turbidity, whie turbidity is high in murky waters. In the Great Bay Estuary, the water s turbidity varies with natura processes, such as rainfa, that affect the oad of suspended partices washed off the and and carried by tributaries to the estuary. In addition, wind and tida action resuspends sediments on Great Bay s extensive mudfats, and wind-driven waves and boat wakes can erode shoreine sediments. Further, human activities on and can cause soi erosion, nonpoint source runoff and in-stream sediment suspension a of which can increase turbidity in the estuary. In Great Bay and its tributaries, the average annua turbidity has increased in recent years, but ong-term changes in turbidity are highy variabe (Figure 7). Spatia distinctions are noted in turbidity eves within the estuary. Conditions at the Squamscott River monitoring station are consistenty more turbid than those observed in other tributaries or in Great Bay. The Oyster River site typicay shows intermediate eves of turbidity, whie the Lamprey River and mid-great Bay monitoring stations track each other cosey at ower turbidity vaues during most years. These spatia patterns are consistent with resuts observed by scientists at Jackson Estuarine Laboratory from 1988 to 1996, indicating persistent turbidity patterns in different portions of the estuary. Major rainfa events aso strongy infuence turbidity in the Great Bay Estuary. A portion of the rain that fas on and in the Great Bay watershed runs off into the estuary. This runoff sweeps soi partices, decaying pant matter and other materias into the estuary, and the suspension of these partices increases turbidity in the water coumn. Observations during May and June 2006 show how turbidity responds after rain events (Figure 8). During the Mother s Day food on May RELATIONAL TRENDS OF FRESH WATER FISH ACTIVITY VALUES AND TIME TURBIDITY (NTUs) 100,000 10,000 REDUCED GROWTH RATES DETECTED FISH ABANDON COVER 1,000 AVOIDANCE BEHAVIOR DETECTED INCREASED RESPIRATION FISH START TO SHOW SIGNS OF STRESS DELAYED HATCHING RATES REDUCED FEEDING RATES INCREASES COUGHING RATES DEATH LONG-TERM REDUCTION IN FEEDING SUCCESS HOURS days WEEKS months TIME Figure 9. Generaized reationship of fish activity to turbidity eves and exposure time. Based on Newcombe & Jensen, 1996: under/waterquaity/turbidity.htm 13 and 14, heavy rains produced spikes in turbidity in Great Bay as runoff from the and washed oose partices into the estuary. Turbidity shapes physica conditions and infuences bioogica processes that occur in the Great Bay Estuary. High concentrations of suspended partices reduce ight penetration, which hinders the growth of phytopankton, benthic macroagae and seagrass, thereby impacting organisms that depend on these aquatic pants for food and sheter. Fine partices in the water coumn can aso damage fish gis and interfere with fiter feeding by shefish. Bioogica processes observed in fish change in reation to the eve of turbidity and its persistence over time (Figure 9). As suspended partices sette out of the water coumn, they can smother fish eggs before they hatch, or cover important habitats. Sedimentation has contributed to the oss of oyster beds in the Great Bay Estuary, such as one at the mouth of the Lamprey River. In addition to its potentia ecoogica consequences, turbidity has severa impications for human use and enjoyment of the Great Bay Estuary. Aestheticay, some peope associate murky water with dirty water. Athough this association is not aways accurate, the appearance of murky water may deter some peope from pursuing activities in Great Bay. Suspended partices can aso transport microbes, nutrients, heavy metas and toxic contaminants into the estuary, and these poutants create further aesthetic and human heath concerns. Minimizing turbidity impacts from human activities in the watershed and in tributary river systems is important for sustaining ecoogica functions and human uses of the Great Bay Estuary. Many steps may be taken to hep to capture partices that run off into the estuary, incuding: maintaining vegetated buffers adjacent to waterbodies; ceaning out stormwater catchments; minimizing and carefuy timing dredging activities; and using sit fences and sediment basins at construction sites. Actions such as these reduce the potentia for turbidity to increase within the estuary, resuting in ecoogica as we as socia benefits. Figure 7. Annua average turbidity vaues for four monitoring stations in the Great Bay Estuary. Figure 8. Turbidity vaues in mid-great Bay during May and June 2006 overaid on precipitation during each day. Chapter 4: Water Quaity 21

25 DIN (mg/l) DIN (mg/l) DIN (mg/l) DIN (mg/l) Great Bay Year Lamprey River Year Squamscott River Year Oyster River Year Nutrients Nutrients fue the abundant ife in estuaries. Nitrogen and phosphorus are essentia for the growth of a pants from tiny phytopankton to eegrass that form the base of the food chain and provide important habitats within the Great Bay Estuary. Whie nutrients are vita for sustaining the Great Bay estuarine ecosystem, excessive nutrient eves can be harmfu. Nutrient oading of estuaries around the country has increased substantiay in the past few decades, argey due to increasing deveopment, a proiferation of impervious surfaces, and human activities in surrounding watersheds. Nitrogen is the nutrient of greatest concern in estuarine waters. Anayses by the Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership show that nonpoint source runoff from major tributaries and the watershed contributes 63 percent of the nitrogen entering the Great Bay Estuary. This nitrogen comes from sources as diverse as agricutura and awn fertiizers, septic systems, anima wastes, and atmospheric deposition. In addition, 18 wastewater treatment faciities discharge into the Great Bay Estuary or its tributaries, contributing 34 percent of the estuary s nitrogen oad. The Great Bay NERR has monitored concentrations of nitrogen in the estuary since Couped with data coected by scientists at the JEL as eary as 1973, a vauabe time series exists for evauating changes in nutrients in the Great Bay Estuary. Data from the Great Bay NERR s monitoring program indicates that the median concentrations of dissoved inorganic nitrogen, the form most avaiabe to pants, have generay been higher in the Oyster and Squamscott rivers than in Great Bay or the Lamprey River (Figure 10). However, substantia variabiity in the data makes it difficut to discern trends since Comparing recent data ( ) to historica data ( ) gathered at Adams Point by scientists at the JEL indicates a 44 percent increase in median nitrogen concentrations. This arge increase over a 35-year time period has substantia ecoogica impications. High nutrient eves can trigger sudden booms of phytopankton and nuisance macroagae, which have a variety of adverse impacts on water quaity and aquatic ife. When agae in a dense boom die, they consume oxygen in the water as they decompose, thereby owering the dissoved oxygen avaiabe to other organisms. Aga booms and partices that transport nutrients in the water coumn aso increase the turbidity of the water, which reduces the ight that can penetrate Figure 10. Concentrations of dissoved inorganic nitrogen at four monitoring sites in the Great Bay Estuary. The back dots show a data points. The red ine shows the median, or midpoint, of the observations recorded in each year. The bue ines encapsuate 50% of the data points coected in each year. jeremy netteton photo Ecosystem impacts of nutrients in Great Bay To better understand the impacts of nutrients on the Great Bay ecosystem, Jeremy Netteton a Graduate Research Feow with the Great Bay NERR has been assessing the abundance of green macroagae, Uva, in the estuary. The genus Uva, more commony caed sea ettuce (above), incudes species that increase in abundance in nutrient-rich waters. Netteton s comparisons of historica and present-day surveys of Uva percent cover and biomass show that these boom-forming species have increased dramaticay in southern portions of Great Bay. In November 2008, Uva cover exceeded 90% near the mouth of Lubberand Creek, more than 90 times greater than the abundance observed by researchers in Simiary, an Uva boom near the mouth of the Winnicut River resuted in greater than 65% cover. These high abundances of Uva and the dramatic change from historica conditions provide further evidence that nutrient oading may substantiay affect the ecoogy of the Great Bay Estuary. to pants such as eegrass. These diverse impacts of excessive nutrient inputs reduce habitat quaity, destabiize food webs, and impair human uses of estuarine waters. As a step towards ensuring that the Great Bay Estuary continues to support bioogica communities and human uses, nutrient data coected by the Great Bay NERR, the University of New Hampshire, and the US Environmenta Protection Agency s Nationa Coasta Assessment have recenty been used by the NH Department of Environmenta Services as a basis for deveoping quantitative water quaity criteria for nitrogen, chorophy-a, and water carity. The water quaity criteria were based on the habitat requirements for eegrass surviva and the prevention of ow dissoved oxygen concentrations. Assessing the abiity of the estuary s waters to support aquatic ife against these criteria indicates that the majority of the estuary, particuary its tributary rivers, is impaired due to excess nutrient oading. Mitigating these impairments and restoring the Great Bay Estuary s capacity to fuy support aquatic ife wi require concerted pubic and private efforts to reduce the amount of nitrogen entering the estuary and its tributaries. 22 GBNERR 20th Anniversary Report

26 Dissoved oxygen Dissoved Oxygen Criteria Miigrams of Oxygen per Liter of Water Minimum Amount of Oxygen (mg/l of water) Needed by Species to Survive. Striped Bass: 5-6 White Perch: 5 Hard Cam: 5 Horseshoe crab: 3 Mummichog: 2 Worms: 1 American Shad: 5 Yeow Perch: 5 Aewife: 3.6 Threespine sticeback: 3 Just ike humans, organisms that ive in the waters of the Great Bay Estuary need oxygen to survive. As humans, we use our ungs to extract oxygen from the air we breathe. Simiary, fish, crabs, and many other aquatic organisms use gis to extract oxygen from the water. As water moves past their gis, oxygen gas in the water caed dissoved oxygen (DO) is transferred to their bood. This process is ony efficient if sufficient eves of oxygen are present in the water, so DO concentrations above certain threshods are necessary to sustain aquatic ife. Oxygen enters Great Bay s waters in severa ways. Physica mixing at the air-water interface moves oxygen from the atmosphere into surface waters. In addition, water entering the bay from the ocean or from fastermoving rivers tends to contain higher concentrations of DO. Bioogica processes aso contribute oxygen to Great Bay s water; pants such as agae and seagrasses reease oxygen as they photosynthesize. Oxygen concentrations are affected by a combination of natura and human-infuenced factors, the most important of which are the water s temperature, organic oad, and nutrient oad. The temperature of the water contros the amount of oxygen that can dissove in it. Cod water can hod more oxygen than warm water, so ow DO events tend to occur during the summer. As noted above, pants can contribute oxygen to the estuary s waters during photosynthesis, but as they respire and decompose, these same pants take up oxygen from the water. High oads of organic materia can steadiy depete DO during nighttime hours when respiration is not counter-baanced by photosynthesis. Further, nutrient oading to the estuary can promote the growth of agae, thereby increasing the overa demand for oxygen and raising the risk of oxygen depetion in bottom waters. Species vary in their DO requirements based on their habitat, evoutionary adaptations, and ife history stage. Worms and cams that ive in the mud, where DO eves are naturay ow, can survive in waters that contain very itte oxygen. Fish, crabs, and oysters that ive or feed near the bottom need higher concentrations of DO. Migratory fish that enter the estuary for short periods of time have even higher DO requirements, particuary during their sensitive egg and arva ife history stages. Generay, DO concentrations of 5 mg/l and greater are sufficient to aow aquatic organisms to ive and thrive; concentrations beow 3 mg/l pose threats to many aquatic species, a condition termed hypoxia. To ensure that water bodies can continue to support aquatic ife, the state of New Hampshire estabishes water quaity standards for DO concentrations. The standard requires that two conditions be satisfied: (1) the daiy average concentration of DO remains above 75 percent saturation and (2) the instantaneous DO concentration remains above 5 mg/l. Evauating summer oxygen observations against both standards shows that DO eves rarey fa beow desired eves in Great Bay proper, but high rates of non-compiance occur in the tida rivers (Figures 11 and 12). The Lamprey River shows the highest portion of vioations of both the daiy average saturation and instantaneous concentration standards. In mutipe years, the Lamprey River fais to meet the DO standards for more than 50 percent of the days in the summer. The Squamscott and Oyster River monitoring stations aso show instantaneous DO concentrations faing beow 5 mg/l during most years. In severa years, the daiy average saturation fas beow 75 percent in the Oyster River, and occasiona vioations are noticed in the Squamscott River. The strong tida fushing within the main portion of the Great Bay Estuary appears to hep maintain we-oxygenated waters in the arge embayments of the estuary. However, DO concentrations in many of the tida rivers that fow into the estuary fa beow eves that are necessary to support certain organisms. Both anthropogenic stressors and natura phenomena may contribute to these impairments, and steps to reduce nutrient inputs to the estuary shoud aso reduce the number of ow DO events that occur in the tida rivers. Figure 11. The percent of summer days (June, Juy, August) during which the average dissoved oxygen concentration fas beow 75% saturation at four monitoring stations. Figure 12. The percent of summer days (June, Juy, August) during which instantaneous dissoved oxygen concentrations fa beow 5 mg/l at four monitoring stations. Chapter 4: Water Quaity 23

27 Good water quaity ensures that ight can penetrate through Great Bay s water to promote the growth of eegrass. Protecting water quaity is critica for sustaining eegrass habitats and the species they support. Protecting water quaity in the Great Bay Estuary Whie the Great Bay Estuary is a resiient ecosystem, protecting its water quaity is essentia to retaining habitats and species within the estuary and sustaining our abiity to enjoy activities on its water. Tides and rainfa cause water quaity conditions in the Great Bay Estuary to fuctuate on short-term time scaes, but onger-term changes in turbidity, nutrients, and dissoved oxygen are driven by human activities. The choices we make as individuas and as a society substantiay infuence water quaity in the estuary. Conserving the natura state of and and improving stormwater management are important steps towards protecting water quaity in the Great Bay Estuary. Vegetation hods soi in pace on the and and promotes sow infitration of water into the ground. As forests and wetands are ceared and repaced by residentia and commercia deveopments, impervious surfaces cause water to fow quicky and dramaticay increase in voume. At these higher veocities and voumes, it picks up sediment partices, poutants, and nutrients from sources as diverse as parking ots, awns, and farms. Some of this runoff fows directy into streams and rivers, but much of it enters storm drains which are directed to the nearest surface waters. Utimatey, runoff from any ocation in the Learn about water quaity at Great Bay Discovery Center At the Great Bay Discovery Center, visitors can earn about the Great Bay NERR s water quaity monitoring program through an interactive exhibit caed A Measure of Change. A timeine of and use change since the eary 1600s highights the effects of different human activities on water quaity in the estuary. The exhibit aso expains why scientists measure water quaity today and what they do with the data they coect. Visitors can navigate their way through a computer touch screen to earn how changes in water quaity affect species that ive in the Great Bay Estuary, such as obsters, eegrass, musses, and river herring. With this knowedge, visitors gain a better understanding of the chaenges faced by a variety of pants and animas in the estuary, as we as some of the things the Reserve is doing to combat those chaenges. kee oughin photo 24 GBNERR 20th Anniversary Report

28 Great Bay watershed wi make its way to the estuary, where it increases turbidity, nutrient concentrations, and poutant oads. Private and pubic actions are necessary to enhance the infitration capacity of ands and reduce runoff to the Great Bay Estuary. Private andowners can take a variety of steps on their own property that wi protect water quaity in the estuary. Some exampes incude: Avoiding use of awn, garden, and agricutura chemicas, especiay within 100 feet of a surface waters Using permeabe pavement materias, such as grave or moduar pavers Instaing rain gardens and using rain barres Panting trees and shrubs and using muches to sow water movement Protecting vegetated buffers adjacent to a surface waters, incuding streams and wetands Composting yard wastes and using the compost in pace of chemica fertiizers Keeping yard waste away from rivers, streams, and storm drains Propery siting and maintaining septic systems to avoid eaching bacteria or nutrients Compying with a aspects of the NH Comprehensive Shoreand Protection Act Pubic organizations shoud aso pursue a variety of efforts that benefit water quaity in the Great Bay Estuary. The work of pubic agencies and non-profit organizations to preserve ecoogicay vauabe and parces in the watershed wi hep enhance the estuary s water quaity, as these natura areas maintain the natura water cyce and promote infitration of rainwater. In addition, municipa buiding reguations that protect wetands, maintain vegetated buffers, require setbacks, and promote the use of ow impact deveopment techniques a hep protect water quaity. Finay, steps to upgrade wastewater treatment faciities from primary to higher eves of treatment wi reduce nutrient and turbidity inputs and improve dissoved oxygen eves in the Great Bay Estuary. Concerted pubic and private actions wi be needed to protect and improve water quaity in Great Bay, and expediting these actions is critica. The estuary is aready showing signs of stress that appear to be triggered by water quaity conditions. Noted decines in eegrass, increases in macroagae, and dissoved oxygen impairments in tida rivers may be just the first warnings that the ecosystem is approaching a tipping point, which once crossed woud negativey impact species and human activities in the estuary. Taking actions now to improve water quaity is imperative for sustaining heathy bioogica communities and recreationa opportunities in the estuary. nhfg / victor young photo Advancing stormwater management in the Great Bay watershed Stormwater management is a key issue of concern in the Great Bay watershed. As such, this topic has been a training priority for the Great Bay NERR s Coasta Training Program (CTP). Since 2004, the CTP has offered workshops and science-based training sessions on natura resource panning, wetand buffers, nutrient poution, ow impact deveopment, watershed management, and stormwater issues. These training opportunities enabe municipa board members in towns throughout the watershed to gain new knowedge and skis that they wi be abe to appy to enhance stormwater management approaches in their own towns. In 2008, the 29 trainings that were offered through the CTP reached 873 decision-makers. Participating decision-makers have used these new skis and insights to conduct assessments, improve panning, and update reguations as needed to address municipa chaenges reated to growth and stormwater management. kacpura / dreamstime.com Chapter 4: Water Quaity 25

29 The diverse habitats found in the estuary and its watershed sustain an impressive range of species... ike horseshoe crabs... iconic symbos of the estuary itsef. nhfg / victor young photo 26

30 Bioogica Communities robert chin / dreamstime.com The Great Bay Estuary and its watershed contain a wide array of habitats, from seagrass beds where the pants fow genty back and forth with the tides to oak-pine forests where sturdy trees tower above the forest foor. The smooth surfaces of the estuary s expansive mudfats contrast with the rough edges of its rocky beaches. Upand forests concea distinct habitats, such as verna poos that appear in ow-ying areas for a short time in the spring. These varied habitats support rich communities of pants and animas, which are integra parts of the Great Bay ecosystem. The diverse habitats found in the estuary and its watershed sustain an impressive range of species from oysters that sit firmy attached to the underwater substrate, to fish that swim through the tida waters, to migratory birds that arrive to feed for the winter. Some species may rarey be seen or noticed, ike the sma invertebrates that burrow in the mudfats, but others ike horseshoe crabs are iconic symbos of the estuary itsef. Whether inconspicuous or eye-catching, rare or common, each species pays an important roe within the Great Bay ecosystem. So many species thrive in the Great Bay Estuary because they use it in different ways and at different times. Some birds nest hidden in the ow-ying vegetation of sat marshes, whie others perch atop the taest trees in the forest. Some fish can ony ive in the freshwater tributaries, but others can ony survive in the most saine waters of the harbor. Some species ive in the estuary for their entire ives, others migrate seasonay, and sti others enter the estuary ony for short periods of time to spawn or feed. Athough the many fish and widife species partition their use of the estuary in space and time, they are not isoated; in fact, the interactions among species are as important as the physica conditions to which a of the species adapt and respond. Interactions among species can take many forms, but feeding reationships may be the most widey recognized. Ospreys (eft) time their spring return to Great Bay to coincide with strong runs of river herring entering the estuary to spawn. During the summer, predatory fish move into the estuary to feast on abundant prey. In winter, waterfow descend upon the estuary to feed, and the caories they consume from eegrass roots and mudfat invertebrates provide energy they need for reproduction and migration. These feeding interactions not ony drive the rhythms of ife in the estuary, but aso ensure that famiiar species continue to thrive in Great Bay. This section of the report describes some of the key habitats and species within the Great Bay Estuary and the changes that have been noted over the past twenty years. Whie the pages of this report can ony highight a few representative species, it is important to recognize that many other species are part of the Great Bay ecosystem, and a of them rey on cean water and heathy habitats. The ast part of this section discusses actions that are being pursued to improve and maintain the conditions that support diverse bioogica communities in Great Bay. kevin D. Arvin photo / bugwood.org Spicebush swaowtai Ospreys time their spring return to Great Bay to coincide with strong runs of river herring entering the estuary to spawn. Chapter 5: Bioogica Communities 27

31 nhdf photo Habitats Many different types of habitats are found within the boundary of the Great Bay NERR. This rich habitat mosaic supports numerous species, making the estuary and its watershed one of the most bioogicay diverse areas in the state. The dominant estuarine habitats incude eegrass beds, mudfats, rocky intertida shores, and sat marshes. These habitats are structured aong an eevation gradient that contros the frequency and extent of tida inundation. Eegrass beds grow in shaow subtida and soft-bottom portions of the estuary. In intertida zones, mudfats and rocky shores provide distinct habitats. Sat marshes sit sighty higher in the eevation gradient; whie the ow marsh is fooded by every high tide, the high marsh is submerged ony during extreme tides. Landward of the sat marshes, upand habitats incude hardwood forests, shrub-scrub wetands, cattai marshes, verna poos, and agricutura fieds. Whie a variety of habitats support the diversity of aquatic and terrestria species in the Great Bay Estuary and its watershed, this report focuses on two of the key habitats seagrass beds and sat marshes to expain their ecoogica functions and current status. Seagrass beds Seagrasses are fowering pants that grow submerged or partiay foating in marine and estuarine environments. In the Great Bay Estuary, eegrass (Zostera marina) is the dominant seagrass species. Another species, widgeon grass (Ruppia maritima), is found to a imited extent in some of the tributaries and shaow sat marsh pannes. These two species create different habitat conditions, as the ong ribbon-ike eaves of eegrass provide more canopy cover than the short, thin widgeon grass eaves. N Eegrass beds serve important bioogica and physica functions within the Great Bay Estuary. They offer protective spawning and nursery habitats for fish and shefish, incuding many commerciay, recreationay, and ecoogicay important species. They aso provide feeding areas for arger fish and wading birds, which are attracted to the sma fish concentrated within the eegrass beds. In addition, some wintering waterfow, such as geese and ducks, feed directy on the pants. Beyond their habitat vaue, eegrass beds remove nutrients and trap suspended sediments in the water coumn, which improves water carity within the estuary. Further, their dense network of roots and rhizomes stabiizes sediments and prevents erosion due to tida currents or severe storms. The distribution and biomass of eegrass in the Great Bay Estuary has decined substantiay in the past decade. Mapping conducted by the UNH Seagrass Ecoogy Lab shows that foowing a severe crash due to wasting disease that reduced eegrass coverage to ony 300 acres in 1989, the beds recovered and reached a maximum observed extent of 2,954 acres in Since then, the distribution of eegrass in the estuary has been contracting, and wasting disease is not the cuprit. From 1996 through 2008, the spatia coverage of eegrass shrank by 45 percent within the estuary (maps beow). The most severe decines have been observed in the Piscataqua River and Litte Bay, where a of the eegrass has died. Eegrass beds have aso been ost in some of the tributaries, such as the Oyster and Winnicut rivers. Eegrass area has decined in Great Bay as we, but it sti contains the argest eegrass beds in the estuary as the bay s tida range ensures that these pants receive a surge of sunight at ow tide to boost their photosynthesis. Athough eegrass N 0 Mies 3 0 Mies 3 The distribution of eegrass (shown in green) in the Great Bay Estuary decined by 45% between 1996 and Losses in the Piscataqua River and Litte Bay were particuary severe, with a eegrass beds disappearing from those areas. Data provided by Fred Short, UNH Seagrass Ecoogy Lab. LITTLE BAY Piscataqua River 1996 LITTLE BAY Piscataqua River GBNERR 20th Anniversary Report

32 Graduate Research Highights The Great Bay NERR has supported four graduate students studying the ecoogy and restoration of habitats in Great Bay. Student Year Project Tite Jordan Mora 2009 Berm impacts on sat marsh dynamics in New Engand David Rivers 2004 Comparing water quaity data and maximum depth of eegrass, Zostera marina, beds: Can eegrass depth be used as a water quaity indicator? Cathy Bozek 2002 The effects of seawas and berms on sat marshes: Impications for marsh persistence and restoration of sef-maintenance Pamea Morgan 1997 Functions and vaues of sat marshes in Northern New Engand: A comparison of fringing marshes and back barrier marshes Gregg Moore photo gbnerr staff photo restoration projects in the Piscataqua River, Portsmouth Harbor, and Litte Bay were successfu in the eary 1990s, these transpanted beds have now experienced the same decines as natura eegrass. The eegrass decine has severe ecoogica impications for the Great Bay Estuary. The compete oss of eegrass beds in the Piscataqua River and Litte Bay eiminates a vita corridor of sheter for estuarine species as they move between the Atantic Ocean and Great Bay. Further, the contraction of eegrass beds in Great Bay reduces their habitat vaue and their abiity to provide ecoogica services, such as water fitration and sediment stabiization. These changes affect the surviva and growth of many species that rey on the beds for feeding and nursery habitats. As such, they may have ong-term ramifications for fish, invertebrate, and waterfow popuations in the estuary. Recent osses of eegrass are reated to decining water carity within the estuary due to nutrient oading and sedimentation. Reduced water carity prevents ight from penetrating the water coumn, which decreases photosynthesis in the eegrass pants. Comprehensive actions to mitigate nutrient oading and reduce turbidity in the estuary are necessary to restore water carity and reverse eegrass osses. Sat marshes Sat marshes in the Great Bay Estuary exist both as expansive meadow marshes and narrow fringing marshes. Meadow marshes are concentrated in the mouths of tributary rivers and embayments aong the shoreine, whie fringing marshes ine the edges of the bays and rivers. Smooth cordgrass (Spartina aternifora) dominates the intertida ow marsh. In the high marsh, which ies above the extent of mean high tide, satmeadow cordgrass (Spartina patens), spikegrass (Distichis spicata), and back grass (Juncus gerardii) are the most common pant species. Sat marshes provide habitat for a variety of species. They offer important breeding, refuge and forage habitats for fish, invertebrates and birds. Sma prey fish such as mummichogs, siversides, stickebacks, and juvenie white perch are particuary common in sat marshes. As these organisms move between sat marshes and other estuarine habitats, they hep export energy to support coasta food webs. Sat marshes are aso utiized by terrestria species, incuding deer, mink, and otter. Sat marshes in the Great Bay Estuary have been heaviy atered and some have been destroyed by human actions. Historicay, sat marshes were ditched and drained to farm hay and contro mosquitoes; these ditches sti remain common features of marshes within the estuary. More recenty, coasta deveopment activities have resuted in dredging and fiing of sat marshes. As understanding of sat marsh functions has improved, reguations to prevent harm to these habitats have aso advanced, but sat marshes continue to be directy and indirecty impacted by deveopment. Protecting the remaining sat marshes is important not ony because of the habitat benefits they offer, but aso because of other ecosystem functions they provide. Sat marshes stabiize shoreines and protect them against storm damage, a benefit that wi become increasingy important as cimate change impacts such as sea eve rise and intense precipitation events increase the erosive potentia of storms. In addition, sat marshes fiter nutrients and poutants, binding them in soi and pant materia and breaking them down through chemica processes before they reach the tida waters of the estuary. Left: Jordan Mora heps pant Spartina pectinata for a sat marsh restoration project. Right: Fringing and meadow sat marshes within the Great Bay NERR. Chapter 5: Bioogica Communities 29

33 nhfg / victor young photo Figure 13. Number of horseshoe crabs observed per foot of shoreine at five spawning sites in Great Bay during May and June of 2001 to Data provided by the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department. Invertebrates A diverse array of species is represented among the invertebrates that ive in the Great Bay Estuary. Cam worms, gem cams, mud snais, and ribbed musses inhabit the mudfats. Snais, barnaces, and oysters are found on rocky shores and hard bottoms. Crustaceans, such as obster and sand shrimp, swim in the water coumn or move aong the bottom. These invertebrates fi a variety of ecoogica niches and showcase a range of adaptations to ife in the estuary. The diversity of invertebrates in the Great Bay Estuary is impressive, and this report focuses on three species that are routiney monitored and of particuar interest horseshoe crabs, oysters, and obsters. Horseshoe crabs Horseshoe crabs are most visibe in Great Bay during their spawning season in ate spring and eary summer. During the highest tides, maes and femaes move onto the shores of the bay, where femaes ay up to 90,000 tiny eggs before returning to the water. Their behavior during other times of the year is ess we understood. Recent studies have shown that horseshoe crabs remain in the shaow waters of Great Bay through the fa, where they forage in the muddy substrates. As they dig for shefish and worms to eat, horseshoe crabs infuence sediment characteristics and invertebrate species composition. These changes have important ecoogica impications that are being investigated in the Great Bay Estuary. In 1998, the Great Bay NERR initiated a monitoring program to track horseshoe crab abundance and spawning habitat use. This effort identified shoreine spawning habitats and documented the abundance of horseshoe crabs in each ocation. Since 2001, the Marine Fisheries Division of the NH Fish and Game Department has continued this monitoring program, focusing on five highy-utiized spawning sites. The highest concentrations of horseshoe crabs have been found in the southern portion of Great Bay at Greenand Bay and Sandy Point, with intermittent years of high spawning densities at Chapman s Landing. In recent years, the average number of horseshoe crabs observed per foot of shoreine at these sites has decined by more than 60 percent from peaks between 2001 and 2004 (Figure 13). The greatest human threat to horseshoe crabs in Great Bay is coasta deveopment, which can eiminate or restrict access to spawning sites and nursery areas. Protecting genty soping beaches aong the Great Bay shoreine can hep ensure that horseshoe crabs continue spawning in the estuary. In other portions of their range, commercia harvesting of horseshoe crabs is a major concern, but harvest in Great Bay is minima. Oysters Historica records indicate extensive beds of oysters in neary a of the rivers and many channes in the Great Bay Estuary. Substantia reductions in the distribution of oysters and decines in their abundance Figure 14. Density (a) and standing stock abundance (b) of oysters over 60 mm in she ength at five sites in Great Bay from 1995 to Standing stock combines measures of the size of each bed with the observed density of oysters recorded on each bed. Note that monitoring was not conducted at Adams Point in 1995 and 1999 or in the Piscataqua River in 1995 and GBNERR 20th Anniversary Report

34 were documented in Jackson s 1944 survey of bioogica resources in Great Bay. Centuries of poution, harvesting, and sitation had reduced oyster beds to a fraction of their historica size. The current status of oysters can be evauated based on changes in their spatia coverage, density, and standing stock. The spatia extent of oyster beds in Great Bay decined sighty overa between 1997 and The argest bed in Great Bay, which is ocated at Nannie Isand, decined in area by 33 percent. In contrast, a much smaer bed at Adams Point expanded by over 200 percent during the same period. The bioogica status of oysters in Great Bay has been monitored consistenty by the NH Fish and Game Department since Foowing the initiation of this monitoring program, the density of spawning size oysters (>60 mm) decined in the eary 2000s but has increased in more recent years (Figure 14a). An exceent spat set (young oysters) in 2006 contributed to high oyster densities in Scaing the densities up to the fu spatia extent of each bed provides an indication of the standing stock of spawning oysters in Great Bay (Figure 14b). Whie densities peaked in 2008, the standing stock remains ower than in 1995 and 1996 due to the fact that many of the oyster beds are now smaer. The spatia coverage and abundance of oysters in Great Bay have been affected by a variety of factors, incuding sitation and disease. In the mid-1990s, two parasitic protozoans, MSX and Dermo, infected and kied many adut oysters. MSX infection rates exceeded 40 percent in 1997 and 1998; in 2008, 27 percent of the oysters tested were infected with MSX. The prevaence of Dermo increased substantiay in 2004, and since that time, infection rates have ranged between 63 percent and 76 percent. The recovery of oysters has substantia ecoogica impications for the Great Bay Estuary. As oysters fiter the water to feed on agae and other partices, they remove poutants and nutrients, thereby improving water carity. Assuming that adut oysters can each fiter 20 gaons per day, the estimated oyster popuation in 1970 coud fiter the estuary s water in four days; today this feat is accompished ony every 100 days or so. A variety of management measures and research efforts strive to sustain and restore oysters in Great Bay. Harvest reguations promote use of the resource whie aso protecting oyster popuations. In addition, research and conservation programs ed by the Jackson Estuarine Lab and The Nature Conservancy focus on improving oyster restoration techniques and deveoping hard-bottom sites suitabe for settement and growth of oysters in Great Bay. Some of these projects have been supported by the Great Bay NERR through research feowships to graduate students. Lobsters The American obster is the argest crustacean found in New Hampshire s coasta waters, where it is an important commercia and recreationa species. In addition to their vaue to fisheries, obsters pay important ecoogica roes as intermediate inks in marine food chains. Lobsters feed on bivave shefish, crabs, and other invertebrates; in turn, they are preyed upon by arge predatory fish, such as cod and striped bass. Since 1992, the Marine Fisheries Division has monitored the reative abundance of juvenie obsters in the Great Bay Estuary. This survey is conducted by divers from Apri to November. The annua trends in juvenie obster abundance observed in this survey are reativey stabe unti 2006 (Figure 15). In May of 2006, 11.5 inches of rain fe in three consecutive days, owering the sainities in the estuary to 1.6 ppt. Many obsters in the estuary died during this freshet, and others ikey moved out to the harbor and coast. A simiar storm in Apri 2007 may have kept obsters from entering the estuary in typica numbers as we. Continuing the survey into future years wi be critica for determining whether obster abundance returns to eves observed before Figure 15. Catch per unit effort (number per dive hour) of obsters observed in the upper Piscataqua River from 1992 to Data provided by New Hampshire Fish and Game Department. A Chance to Discover even pairs of chidren s hands are hed over the Discovery Tank as if to receive a bow of soup. A creature with wrigging egs and a pointy tai is genty passed and eagery received by a but one pair of hands. Not sure of what to expect, the youngster steps back as the horseshoe crab nears her. Encouraging words from cassmates bring her forward again, and everyone can see her smie as she baances the anima on her fingertips. This scene pays out often at the Discovery Tank during Spring Natura History fied trips for eementary students at the Great Bay Discovery Center. Hoding a horseshoe crab is a rare opportunity to appreciate and admire up cose an anima that has ived on earth since before the age of the dinosaurs. Each spring over 2,000 chidren have a chance to touch an estuarine anima, expore the mudfats, and earn how the sat marsh keeps the estuary cean. These discoveries aow for a better understanding of ife in the estuary and an increased ikeihood of a stewardship connection to Great Bay in the future. kee oughin photo Chapter 5: Bioogica Communities 31

35 nhfg / victor young iustration 32 River herring Fish Figure 16. Numbers of river herring returning to fishways on rivers within the Great Bay Estuary from 1978 to No monitoring was conducted on the Exeter River fish adder in 1984, 1985, and In 1994, the Exeter fishway was operated as a swim-through system, and returning fish were not counted. The Winnicut River fish adder did not effectivey pass fish unti 1998, so no vaues are reported for this river in earier years. Data provided by the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department. Many commerciay and recreationay vaued fish rey on estuaries during a portion of their ife history. Estuaries provide shetered habitats and rich food sources, serving as vita feeding grounds, spawning areas, and nursery habitats for a variety of species. The fish that use the Great Bay Estuary can be cassified into five major categories: Resident fish ive in the estuary year round. Many are sma prey species, such as Atantic siverside, kiifishes, and stickebacks. Larger resident species in the estuary incude winter founder, Atantic tomcod, and cunner. Anadromous fish spend most of their ives in the ocean but migrate into freshwater rivers to spawn. River herring (aewife and bueback herring) and rainbow smet are representative species. Catadromous fish ive in fresh and brackish waters for most of their ives and then migrate to the ocean to spawn. The American ee is the ony catadromous species common in the Great Bay Estuary. Ocean migrants use the estuary as a nursery area for juvenies and feeding ground for aduts. Species such as Atantic cod, Atantic herring, and poock spawn offshore, but juvenies come into estuaries to take advantage of the protected habitats offered by seagrass beds and shaow tida creeks. Other species such as striped bass and buefish migrate into estuaries as aduts in search of abundant forage. Freshwater fish, typicay found in the freshwater tributaries to the estuary, are aso a component of the estuarine fish community. Some species can ive at the ow sainity interface where the tributaries meet the brackish water of the estuary. Since the estabishment of the Great Bay NERR, research and monitoring efforts have focused on anadromous species in the Great Bay Estuary. Therefore, they are emphasized in the remainder of this section. Anadromous fish For centuries, anadromous fish surged into the rivers of the Great Bay Estuary each spring. Their predictabe arriva provided a reiabe food source for the Native Americans and eary setters. However, as eary as the 1640s, European setters began constructing obstaces that impeded the upstream migration of anadromous species, incuding weirs to catch the fish and industria dams in towns around Great Bay. By the ate 1800s, Atantic samon reportedy had become rare visitors to Great Bay s rivers. In more recent years, popuations of American shad, river herring, and rainbow smet have experienced decines ocay and throughout their range. River herring Since the advent of fish adder construction in the eary 1970s, the NH Fish and Fish adder at Game Department s Marine Division has monitored returns of river herring to five rivers in the Great Bay Estuary. A steady increase in the number of returning fish was observed unti Graduate Research Highights The Great Bay NERR has supported seven graduate students studying the ecoogy and restoration of species and bioogica communities in Great Bay. Student Year Project Tite Wan-Jean Lee 2007 Engineering through disturbance: Roe of horseshoe crabs on soft-sediment communities in Great Bay Erica Westerman 2006 The effect of increasing primary production and artificia substrates on the success of invasive ascidians in the Great Bay Estuary Mark Capone 2005 The effects of natura and restored oyster reefs on water quaity Jennifer Greene 2003 Oyster restoration studies in the Great Bay Estuary Aaren Freeman 2002 The ecoogica significance of phenotypic pasticity in bue musses Gregory Shriver 2000 Distribution and abundance of sat marsh birds breeding in New Engand Pamea Morgan 1998 Impacts of two introduced intertida crab species in northern New Engand gbnerr staff photo GBNERR 20th Anniversary Report gbnerr staff photo

36 the eary 1990s as fish adder construction or modifications and other restoration efforts proceeded (Figure 16). Returns pateaued in the ate 1990s and eary 2000s, when popuations stabiized near the carrying capacity in certain rivers, particuary the Oyster and Cocheco. Decines of river herring have been noted since 2005 (Figure 16). This downturn can be associated with a variety of conditions: natura popuation fuctuations, food events, water quaity, or habitat degradation. Over the entire time period, average river herring returns have been the highest on the Oyster River. Peaks in counts of fish returning to the estuary from 1990 to 1992 were argey Oyster River. attributabe to exceptiona runs on the Oyster River aone. Substantia returns have aso been documented on the Lamprey and Cocheco rivers, with markedy fewer fish returning to the Exeter system. Modifications to the Winnicut River adder in 1997 and 2002 have improved the returns to this river system. River herring are harvested as bait for commercia and recreationa fisheries, but fishing activities are not considered primary threats due to harvest reguations. The ack of access to upstream spawning habitats, downstream migration pathways, and water quaity impairments constitute the greatest threats to these popuations. Aowing river herring upriver to spawning habitats is ony one part of restoration efforts pathways for out-migration Chapter 5: Bioogica Communities Wan-Jean Lee coects a sediment core to investigate how infauna invertebrates are affected by horseshoe crab digging activities. after spawning or as juvenies are aso necessary in some impoundments. Water quaity conditions, particuary oxygen concentrations, fa beow eves that are needed for the surviva of juvenies. Improving water quaity in impoundments, maintaining or improving fishways, constructing new upstream and downstream fishways, and removing dams on coasta rivers are critica activities to improve riverine connectivity and habitat. Rainbow smet Rainbow smet move into the Great Bay Estuary and its tributaries during the winter to feed. In the eary spring, smet move to head of tide areas of the tributaries on nighttime high tides to ay eggs over grave substrate. Migration of rainbow smet is restricted competey by dams; due to their sma size, they cannot pass through fishways. Instead, they spawn at the base of the dams in Great Bay, athough habitat conditions beow the dams may be ess than idea for spawning and egg deveopment. Surveys conducted during the winter ice fishery in Great Bay indicate that the reative abundance of smet in the estuary foows a cycica pattern with a downward trend since Simiar decines have been noted throughout the range of the species. As a resut, the Nationa Marine Fisheries Service isted rainbow smet as a species of concern in 2004, indicating a need for conservation attention. Dams are often cited as a key factor in decines of anadromous species, such as smet. But the recent decines in smet spawning popuations are not ikey due to habitat restrictions aone. Instead, water quaity and habitat degradation may affect smet spawning success. In addition, smet are important prey for a variety of arger fish and birds, and increasing predator popuations may infuence smet abundance. Overfishing is not a primary concern in New Hampshire, as fishing effort has decreased in tandem with popuation decines and is controed through reguations. Rainbow smet nhfg / victor young iustration Working regionay to investigate potentia causes of rainbow smet decines Since 2007, the Great Bay NERR and NH Fish and Game Department have participated in a research initiative with agencies from Maine and Massachusetts to evauate factors that may contribute to decines in rainbow smet. The five-year project wi provide state and regiona baseine data on smet distribution and abundance, habitat quaity, and threats. Fied surveys document smet spawning in rivers of the Great Bay Estuary, incuding their genetic distinctness and the contaminant and pathogen oads in their body tissues. Smet abundance, sex ratios, and size distributions are more directed evauated in the Winnicut and Squamscott rivers. Habitat conditions in each river are assessed by monitoring water quaity, aga growth rates, and in-stream habitat parameters. The resuts wi identify conditions that support smet spawning, threats to spawning habitats and popuations, and strategies for protecting smet in Great Bay and other Northeast rivers. 33

37 Figure 17. Average number of five most common species of wintering waterfow observed during aeria surveys of the Great Bay Estuary and coasta New Hampshire. Data provided by the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department. richard thomas / dreamstime.com Birds A diverse community of birds exists within the Great Bay Estuary, where over 100 bird species (excuding upand birds) have been observed. Seabirds, shorebirds, wading birds, diving birds, waterfow, predatory birds, and sat marsh birds are found throughout the estuary during the course of a year. The estuary is aso an important migratory stopover aong the Atantic fyway as we as a wintering area for waterfow and eages. Due to its significant habitats and diverse bird community, Great Bay has been recognized as an Important Bird Area by N.H. Audubon. Seabirds, such as gus and cormorants, are yearround residents of Great Bay. The great bue heron is the most common wading bird, but snowy egrets, green herons, gossy ibis and a variety of other species can a be seen foraging on the mudfats and in shaow waters of the estuary. Sandpipers, povers, yeowegs, and kideer are found aong the shores of the Great Bay Estuary, whie the Virginia rai, red-winged backbird, sora, and sharp-taied sparrow ive in the marshes. Wintering waterfow The Great Bay Estuary is particuary important as a wintering area for waterfow. Aeria surveys indicate that approximatey 5,000 birds winter in New Hampshire s coasta waters. Of these birds, 75 percent gather on Great Bay, incuding amost a of the Canada geese and greater scaup. The tota abundance of the five most common species of waterfow observed in the Great Bay Estuary has increased sighty over the past five decades, but different trends are noted for individua species (Figure 17). Whie more Canada geese, greater scaup, and maards have been wintering on Great Bay, the numbers of godeneye and back ducks have decined. In addition to these five species, at east ten others are typicay sighted in sma numbers. The Great Bay Estuary provides a variety of food options to hep these birds buid energy for reproduction and ong migratory fights. Canada geese feed on grain in fieds bordering the estuary and on eegrass when it is exposed at ow tide. Diving ducks, such as scaup and godeneye, consume severa species of cams. Dabbing ducks, such as back ducks and maards, forage for seeds, stems, and eaves in sat marshes as we as for snais, cams, and crustaceans on the mudfats. Protecting eegrass, sat marsh, and mudfat habitats is important for ensuring that the Great Bay Estuary can continue to support waterfow wintering in the region. Protected species Severa endangered and threatened bird species, incuding bad eages, common terns, upand sandpipers, Northern harriers, and common oons utiize habitats in the Great Bay Estuary. The estuary supports one of the argest winter popuations of bad eages in New Engand, and properties managed by the Great Bay NERR provide critica roosting habitat. Ospreys are aso thriving in the Great Bay Estuary and statewide, and they represent a conservation success story. In 1981, ony three pairs of ospreys were observed nesting in New Hampshire, a near Lake Umbagog. The construction of nesting patforms and protection of breeding pairs and young offspring enabed ospreys to reproduce successfuy and expand their distribution throughout the state. In the Great Bay Estuary and coasta New Hampshire, breeding pairs and young have steadiy increased since the ate 1980s (Figure 18). In 2008, a record 30 young fedged from nests in this area. Simiar successes have been noted throughout the state, with 87 tota young fedged in The scope and speed of the osprey s recovery aowed the NH Fish and Game Department to remove it from the state s ist of threatened species in Figure 18. Number of osprey observed in the Great Bay Estuary and coasta New Hampshire since Data provided by NH Audubon. nhfg staff photo 34 GBNERR 20th Anniversary Report

38 Protecting bioogica communities in the Great Bay Estuary Maintaining the diverse and productive bioogica communities in the Great Bay Estuary is a key goa of the Great Bay NERR. In partnership with other agencies and organizations, the Reserve heps advance mutifaceted efforts to protect and restore habitats and species within the estuary and throughout its watershed. Protecting and restoring habitats The diverse habitats in the Great Bay Estuary provide the foundation that supports aquatic and terrestria communities. Fish and widife need heathy paces to ive, feed, and reproduce. They aso need corridors of suitabe habitat so that they can move from pace to pace. Further, many habitats offer services that humans vaue from water fitration provided by sat marshes to the recreationa enjoyment of exporing Partnering with Project Osprey From 2000 to 2005, the NH Fish and Game Department joined forces with Pubic Service of New Hampshire (PSNH) and New Hampshire Audubon to promote recovery of osprey. Through this effort termed Project Osprey PSNH estabished nesting patforms in potentia osprey habitats, incuding one in the Great Bay NERR on the Squamscott River. The Squamscott patform was constructed in 1992 and has been activey used by breeding pairs of ospreys since The Great Bay NERR was invoved in Project Osprey in a variety of ways. Staff members assisted in deveoping a teaching curricuum focused on osprey bioogy and ecoogy: The Return of the Fish Hawk. A traveing trunk of materias is avaiabe from the Great Bay Discovery Center for teachers interested in impementing this curricuum. In addition, Great Bay NERR staff created and trained the Great Bay Osprey Stewards, a team of vounteers who monitor osprey nesting sites and behavior. Data coected by the Osprey Stewards is critica for tracking osprey abundance in the Great Bay Estuary. Since 2005, the Great Bay Osprey Stewards have been coordinated by New Hampshire Audubon, and their diigent work of observing and reporting on osprey popuations continues today. riparian forests. The Great Bay NERR strives to protect critica habitats primariy through its and conservation efforts, which are focused on sat marshes and upand habitats. In addition, the Great Bay NERR works with other organizations to hep advance understanding, protection, and restoration of estuarine habitats, such as seagrass beds and sat marshes. Ensuring habitat access Whie protecting habitats is important for sustaining species in Great Bay, ensuring that species can access the habitats they need is aso critica. Species that migrate through waterways or the andscape are threatened by barriers that impede their movements. Anadromous fish encounter dams in a of the major tributary rivers of the Great Bay Estuary. The construction and maintenance of fish adders is essentia to ensure that these fish can get above the dams to spawning habitats in freshwater portions of rivers. In addition, removing dams wi further support migrations of anadromous fish. Remova of a head-of-tide dam in the Beamy River aowed fish access to one-haf mie of freshwater spawning habitat before the next mi dam. The remova of the head-of-tide dam in the Winnicut River is underway (fa 2009) and wi aow anadromous fish access to over 30 additiona mies of river habitat. For terrestria species, the construction of roads and deveopments that fragment habitats can impede their movement through the andscape. Connecting fragmented habitats to one another enhances migration and movement pathways for these species. To hep accompish this goa, the Great Bay NERR and its partner conservation organizations prioritize the acquisition and protection of and parces that fi gaps between other conserved ands and improve habitat connectivity. mike marchand photo Managing harvest Hunting and fishing are important recreationa and commercia activities within the Great Bay Estuary and its watershed. The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department reguates these activities to ensure that species popuations and their harvest can be sustained. Harvest of upand game birds, waterfow, and mammas is controed by season ength and bag imits. Fisheries are managed through simiar methods, with the additiona use of size imits to ensure that fish survive to reproductive ages. Managing harvest of fish and game species is critica for supporting on-going commercia and recreationa uses whie ensuring that the harvested species are sustained over the ong term. Land conservation protects endangered species Conserving and near Great Bay has important impications for rare and endangered species. The Banding s turte (above), an endangered species in New Hampshire, needs arge undeveoped andscapes with a diversity of habitat types, incuding freshwater wetands and verna poos. In the Great Bay area, arge swaths of suitabe habitat for Banding s turtes are concentrated on ands protected and managed by the Great Bay NERR. Active management of certain protected properties aso benefits other species. Severa protected areas within the Great Bay NERR are managed to protect and create eary successiona habitat, which is required by another endangered species in the state the New Engand cottontai. Post-agricutura forest regeneration has resuted in this habitat type becoming reativey rare. Efforts to protect and restore eary successiona conditions have direct benefits for New Engand cottontais as we as for a wide variety of other species that use this habitat. Chapter 5: Bioogica Communities 35

39 The future directions of the Great Bay NERR wi hep sustain a heathy Great Bay ecosystem and thriving human communities. gbnerr staff photo 36

40 Future Directions In the 20 years since its inception, the Great Bay NERR has estabished research, education, and stewardship programs to advance understanding and protection of the Great Bay Estuary and its watershed. During those same 20 years, the Great Bay ecosystem has experienced many changes in its and use, water quaity, habitats, and bioogica communities. In the face of these changes and new concerns about how cimate change may affect oca ecosystems and communities, the mutifaceted efforts of the Great Bay NERR wi become even more important. As the Reserve ooks toward the future, it is buiding and expanding programs that wi anticipate the impications of these chaenges and effectivey respond to them. By integrating research, education, and stewardship eements, these programs wi deveop, appy, and disseminate information needed to address pressing issues facing the ecosystem. These efforts wi be strengthened and their reevance broadened through coaborations with other partners and the invovement of committed citizens. As a whoe, the future directions of the Great Bay NERR wi hep sustain a heathy Great Bay ecosystem and thriving human communities. Focus themes Moving forward, the Great Bay NERR wi continue to focus on four themes (1) and conservation and stewardship, (2) water quaity, (3) habitats and bioogica communities, and (4) cimate change impacts and adaptation. Within each of these themes, the Reserve s research, stewardship, and education programs wi work together to deveop scientific information needed to understand an issue and its impications, appy this information to guide stewardship within the Reserve, and transmit this information to oca citizens and pubic decision-makers who shape management directions affecting the estuary. Some exampes of the Reserve s pans associated with each theme are provided beow. Land Conservation and Stewardship As the human popuation around Great Bay continues to grow, the deveopment and expansion of residentia areas, transportation corridors, and other infrastructure wi continue to change the andscape of the Great Bay watershed. Protecting ands in the watershed offers one mechanism for mitigating some of the impacts of deveopment. Other impacts can be minimized through effective panning and the use of ow impact deveopment approaches. Land protection and stewardship efforts provide a range of benefits to the ecosystem and human communities, incuding: (1) supporting habitats for diverse species, (2) preserving water quaity, (3) enhancing resiience to the impacts of cimate change, and (4) ensuring pubic access to muti-use areas. Chapter 6: Future Directions In the coming years, the Reserve wi continue to pay a key roe in protecting and stewarding ands around Great Bay. In addition, the Great Bay NERR wi work with oca communities to assess how and use changes may affect them and how they can effectivey address some of the impacts associated with deveopment. Stewardship efforts on Reserve-managed ands wi be structured to provide essons and insights that may be usefu to other and managers in the Great Bay watershed and beyond. Some specific efforts that the Great Bay NERR wi pursue reated to and conservation and stewardship incude: Continuing conservation efforts and management of ands within the Great Bay NERR boundary. Impementing the New Hampshire Widife Action Pan through protection and restoration of critica habitats on Reserve-managed ands and outreach to private andowners. Monitoring and treating invasive species, using experimenta designs so that the effectiveness of mutipe approaches can be compared and appied to guide future contro efforts within and beyond the Reserve. Expanding the types of ow impact deveopment approaches demonstrated at the Great Bay Discovery Center and continue providing training opportunities for homeowners and decision-makers who want to impement ow impact deveopment options. Assisting towns in the Great Bay watershed seeking to protect natura resources through and use ordinances and panning. rache stevens photo In the coming years, the Reserve wi continue to pay a key roe in protecting and stewarding ands around Great Bay. 37

41 Water Quaity Rising nutrient concentrations and turbidity eves, couped with more frequent incidents of ow dissoved oxygen, signa concerns about decining water quaity in the Great Bay Estuary. In addition, ecoogica impacts associated with these changes in water quaity are being noted; perhaps the most compeing exampe is seen in recent decines of eegrass in the estuary. Improving water quaity in the Great Bay Estuary is not a simpe or straightforward chaenge, and accompishing this goa wi require concerted pubic and private initiatives. However, negecting this chaenge coud have significant ecoogica and socia consequences. The Great Bay NERR wi remain centray invoved in efforts to better understand and address water quaity in the estuary. The Reserve wi continue monitoring the estuary s water quaity as part of the NERRS System-Wide Monitoring Program and working with the Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership and NH Department of Environmenta Services to use the data to assess water quaity trends and standards compiance in the Great Bay Estuary. Additiona future initiatives focused on water quaity wi incude: we as effective management approaches to protect habitats and species. The Great Bay NERR s future efforts wi buid on current programs and deveop new initiatives to better understand, manage, and enhance pubic awareness of bioogica communities in the Great Bay ecosystem. Its and conservation efforts wi directy protect key habitats and indirecty benefit a wide range of species. In addition, other efforts wi entai: Expanding monitoring of seagrass and sat marsh habitats as part of the NERRS System-Wide Monitoring Program. Competing and periodicay updating habitat cassification and mapping within the Great Bay NERR. Monitoring popuations of key species within the Great Bay Estuary, in conjunction with the NH Fish and Game Department s Marine Fisheries Division when appropriate. gbnerr staff photo gbnerr staff photo Advancing scientific research to understand and quantify the ecoogica impications of water quaity degradation. Working regionay within the Guf of Maine in conjunction with the Northeastern Regiona Association of Coasta Ocean Observing Systems to understand inks between inshore and offshore water quaity conditions. Enhancing citizens awareness of the hydroogic cyce, the effects of runoff, and actions they can take to improve water quaity. Buiding awareness of stormwater management issues and providing decision-reevant scientific information needed by towns to improve stormwater management approaches. Supporting regiona watershed approaches that wi advance coaborative earning and coordinated municipa actions to improve water quaity. Habitats and Bioogica Communities Diverse habitats support rich bioogica communities in the Great Bay Estuary and its watershed. Heathy habitats and species not ony are fundamenta for sustaining the Great Bay ecosystem, but they aso enhance peope s appreciation and enjoyment of it from birdwatching in the marshes to hiking in the forests. Stewarding Great Bay s bioogica communities requires good information about their status and changes as Advancing restoration science by monitoring and assessing the outcomes of different types of habitat restoration approaches. Conducting research on anadromous fish species and factors associated with recent popuation decines and using the information gained to deveop conservation strategies to protect these species. Educating schoo groups and the pubic about the bioogy and ecoogy of Great Bay. Cimate Change Throughout the Northeast, signs of a rapidy changing cimate are becoming more pronounced each year. As cimate change proceeds, coasta New Hampshire is ikey to experience increasing temperatures, rising sea eves, and more storms. These changes have substantia impications for the Great Bay ecosystem, as species and habitats may shift in response to changes in temperature and sea eve rise. In addition, human communities in the Great Bay watershed wi be affected by increases in the magnitude and frequency of food events due both to sea eve rise and increased precipitation. Future efforts of the Great Bay NERR reated to cimate change wi focus on anticipating and assessing oca ecoogica and socio-economic impacts and providing decision-reevant information to resource managers and community decision-makers. In addition, the Reserve wi activey work with oca communities to ensure that they can appy this information to support effective adaptation panning. Specific activities wi incude: nhfg / victor young photo 38 GBNERR 20th Anniversary Report

42 Estabishing vertica contro points and tide gauges within the Reserve and acquiring LIDAR data (topographic data coected with remote sensing equipment) for the region to deveop the high-resoution eevation data sets necessary to understand the impacts of sea eve rise and freshwater fooding on natura habitats and human communities. Impementing ong-term programs to monitor changes in key habitats and species in response to cimate change. Exampes incude seagrass beds, sat marshes, juvenie fish and marsh birds, as we as invasive species such as the wooy adegid and Asian onghorn beete. Working with communities through the Coasta Training Program to identify and address their needs for cimate-reated information, then supporting their efforts to use this information for infrastructure decisions, cimate change adaptation panning, and coasta hazard mitigation. Coaborating with university scientists to assess the risk of 100- year foods in the context of changes in cimate and and use and providing decision-reevant products to enabe oca communities to understand how future fooding may affect them. With support from the Cooperative Institute for Coasta and Estuarine Environmenta Technoogy, this assessment wi be conducted in the Lamprey watershed from 2009 to 2011; ater efforts wi expand to other parts of the Great Bay watershed. Deveoping partnerships to assess how cimate change impacts, particuary changes in precipitation patterns, may affect water quaity in the Great Bay Estuary. Addressing these four priorities has substantia impications for the Great Bay ecosystem and oca communities. Whie the chaenges of effectivey addressing each issue are substantia, so too are the capacities brought to bear on them by the Great Bay NERR. Its combined focus on research, education, and stewardship enabes the Reserve to approach and address key issues in an integrated, site-based manner. In addition, the Reserve s partners and many dedicated citizens contribute additiona resources and capacities needed to comprehensivey address these issues. These individua and organizationa partners wi remain critica as the Reserve seeks to advance watershed-scae approaches to address important issues facing Great Bay in coming years. Heathy habitats and species not ony are fundamenta for sustaining the Great Bay ecosystem, but they aso enhance peope s appreciation and enjoyment of it. Chapter 6: Future Directions 39

43 References Adams, J. P Drowned Vaey: The Piscataqua River Basin. The University Press of New Engand, Hanover, NH. 274 pp. Beem, N. T. and F. T. Short Subtida eegrass decines in the Great Bay Estuary, New Hampshire and Maine, USA. Estuaries and Coasts 32: Boster, W. J., ed Cross-Grained and Wiy Waters: A Guide to the Piscataqua Maritime Region. Peter E. Randa Pubisher, Portsmouth, NH. 214 pp. Deacon, J. R., S. A. Soue, and T. E. Smith Effects of urbanization on stream quaity at seected sites in the Seacoast region in New Hampshire, U. S. Geoogica Survey Scientific Investigations Report Great Bay Nationa Estuarine Research Reserve Great Bay Nationa Estuarine Research Reserve Management Pan: Great Bay Nationa Estuarine Research Reserve, Durham, NH. 163 pp. Jackson, C. F A Bioogica Survey of Great Bay New Hampshire by the Marine Fisheries Commission. No. 1 Physica and Bioogica Features of Great Bay and the Present Status of its Marine Resources. Marine Fisheries Commission, Durham, NH. 61 pp. Jones, S. H., ed A Technica Characterization of Estuarine and Coasta New Hampshire. New Hampshire Estuaries Project, Portsmouth, NH. 273 pp. Kausha, S. S., P. M. Groffman, G. E. Likens, K. T. Bet, W. P. Stack, V. R. Key, L. E. Band, and G. T. Fisher Increased sainization of fresh water in the northeastern United States. Proceedings of the Nationa Academy of Sciences 102(38): Kennish, M. J NERRS research and monitoring. Journa of Coasta Research 45: 1-8. Martin, C Raptors rising: birds of prey are once again soaring across the New Hampshire andscape. NH Widife Journa (May/June): Morgan, P. A., D. M. Burdick, F. T. Short The functions and vaues of fringing sat marshes in Northern New Engand, USA. Estuaries and Coasts 32: Neson, J. I Inventory of the Natura Resources of the Great Bay Estuarine System, Vo. 1. New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, Concord, NH. 254 pp. Newcombe, C. P. and J. O. T. Jensen Channe suspended sediment and fisheries: a synthesis for quantitative assessment of risk and impact. North American Journa of Fisheries Management 16(4): New Hampshire Department of Environmenta Services Tota Maximum Daiy Loads for Choride for Waterbodies in the Vicinity of I-93 Corridor form Massachusetts to Manchester, NH: Data Report. NHDES-R-WD NHDES, Watershed Management Bureau, Concord, NH. New Hampshire Department of Environmenta Services New Hampshire Stormwater Manua: Stormwater and Antidegredation. NHDES, Concord, NH. 109 pp. New Hampshire Department of Environmenta Services Numeric Nutrient Criteria for the Great Bay Estuary NHDES-R-WD NHDES, Concord, NH. 84 pp. New Hampshire Estuaries Project State of the Estuaries. New Hampshire Estuaries Project, Durham, NH. 30 pp. Ode, J., A. Eberhardt, D. Burdick, and P. Ingraham Great Bay Estuary Restoration Compendium. The Nature Conservancy, Concord, NH. 65pp. Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership Environmenta Indicators Report. Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership, Durham, NH. Satonsta, K., D. Burdick, S. Mier, and B. Smith Native and Introduced Phragmites: Chaenges in Identification, Research, and Management of the Common Reed. Nationa Estuarine Research Reserve Technica Report Series. NOAA, Siver Spring, MD. 43 pp. Short, F. T., ed The Ecoogy of the Great Bay Estuary, New Hampshire and Maine: An Estuarine Profie and Bibiography. NOAA, Coasta Ocean Program, Durham, NH. 222 pp. Smith, B What s good for the goose: waterfow find refuge on Great Bay in winter. Widife Journa (Nov/Dec): Voge, L Wintering Waterfow on Great Bay. Great Bay Nationa Estuarine Research Reserve and New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, Durham, NH. 25 pp. 40 GBNERR 20th Anniversary Report

44 Whie the chaenges of effectivey addressing each issue are substantia, so too are the capacities brought to bear on them by the Great Bay NERR. rache stevens photo GBNERR 20th Anniversary Report 41

45 42 Notes:

46 GREAT BAY NATIONAL ESTUARINE RESEARCH RESERVE 89 Depot Road, Greenand, NH