Tidal Creek Ecosystems: Sentinel Habitats for Assessing the Consequences of Rapid Coastal Development Denise Sanger, SC Sea Grant Consortium Derk Bergquist, SC Dept of Natural Resources Fred Holland, NOAA s Hollings Marine Laboratory, retired Anne Blair, NOAA s Center for Human Health Risk Susan White, NOAA s Center for Human Health Risk George Riekerk, SC Dept of Natural Resources
Objectives Demonstrate that tidal creek networks are sentinel ecosystems that provide early warning of the consequences of uncontrolled development on the Coastal Zone. Utilize traditional and new technologies to evaluate ecosystem condition, animal health, and potential threats to public health and welfare.
Characteristics of Sentinel Habitats Important structural components (e.g., habitat builders). Key functional roles (e.g., nursery habitat, materials cycling). High exposure and sensitive to stressors of interest Response patterns to stressors understood (i.e., baseline information exists)
Charleston Urban Growth Allen & Lu Temporal Series Maps Urban Area 70 Miles 2 Urban Area 250 Miles 2 1973 1994 Tidal creeks are conduits of nonpoint source runoff and are being converted to ditches Urban Area 868 Miles 2 Urban Area 607 Miles 2 Urban 2030 Mapped at 5:1 ratio for year 2015 and 2030 2015
Tidal Creeks Sampled Low relief Sandy soils Over 50 Tidal Creeks Representing Forested, Suburban, and Urban Land Uses
Creek Gradient Creek Lengths 1A 850 m 1B 850 m 2A 6400 m A 2B 4600 m 3 5800 m A B B
Humans and Coastal Management Historical Focus of Coastal Management & Research Expanded Focus for Future Coastal Management & Research
Humans and Coastal Management Utilizing Residential Property Attributes in a Hedonic Valuation of Tidal Creek Health 60 54 DO 1 mg/l increase alters prices by $0 (%) Runoff volume 40 20 0 30 12 4 < 1 10 30 50 Impervious cover (%) NO 2 +NO 3 Depth TSS Turbidity 1 µg/l increase alters prices by $4,478.51 1 m increase alters prices by $18,713.79 1 mg/l increase alters prices by $319.89 1 NTU increase alters prices by $799.73 ml) C (log x+1 CFU/100m FC 6 4 2 Order 1 Orders 2 & 3 R2 = 0.63 Electron Transport Chain Sub Urban Industri al 0 0 20 40 60 80 Impervious Cover (%)
Water Budgets Rainfall Evapotranspiration (PET) Rainfall Evapotranspiration (PET) Stormwater Runoff Subsurface urfac flow Stormwater Runoff Subsurface flow Groundwater recharge Forested Watershed Groundwater recharge Developed Watershed
Stormwater runoff model - calibration Calibrations to USDA model to reflect southeast coastal geomorphology 1. Rainfall temporal distribution (NOAA Atlas 2004) 2. Initial abstraction to storage ratio (Hawkins et al. 2002; Lim et al. 2006) 3. CN for developed classes (Lim et al. 2006) 4. Peak rate factor (Sheridan et al. 2002; USDA, NRCS 2007) 5. Sheet flow travel time equation (Zomorodi 2005) (cfs/mi 2 ).. Runo off Discharge 400 300 200 100 0 Uncalibrated Impervious Cover Level 1% 10% 19% 31% 55% (cfs/mi 2 ).. Runo off Discharge 180 120 60 Calibrated Impervious Cover Level 0 0 10 20 30 40 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 Time (hr) 24-hour 4.5 inch storm event Time (hr) 1% 10% 19% 31% 55%
Stormwater runoff model - prediction Urbanization alters watershed hydrography Stormwater runoff from Village Creek watershed --at current development level of <1% impervious cover -- at predicted development levels of 10%, 30%, and 50% impervious cover 60 54 Runoff vo olume (%) 40 20 4 12 30 4.5 inch storm event 0 < 1 10 30 50 Impervious cover (%)
Exposure vs Impervious Cover NOx (mg/l) 0.18 0.12 0.06 0.00 R2= 0.30 R 2= 0.25 x+1 CFU/ /100mL) FC (log 6 4 2 R2= 0.63 0 0 20 40 60 80 0 20 40 60 80 Impervious Cover (%) Impervious Cover (%) log) ERMQ (l 0.0-0.5-1.0 10-1.5-2.0-2.5 25-3.0 0 10 20 R 2 = 0.54 Order 1 20 30 4 50 60 70 80 Impervious 0 cover (%) Orders 2 & 3
Area Under ROC curves for Creek Type
Electron Transport Chain Sub Urban Industrial
Differentiated tissues +0 2-0 2 Proliferative tissues +-0 2 Glucose Glucose Glucose +0 2 Pyruvate Pyruvate +0 2 Pyruvate 85% QuickTime and a TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor are needed to see this picture. CO 2 Oxidative Phosphorylation 36 moles ATP Alanine, Succinate Octopine Anaerobic Glycolysis y 2 moles ATP QuickTime and a TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor are needed to see this picture. CO 2 Alanine, Succinate Octopine Aerobic Glycolysis 4 moles ATP
Does a relationship exists between the health of a tidal creek and the property values of the homes within in the creek s watershed? Development Impervious Category Cover URBAN 38 100% Orange Grove New Market SUBURBAN 11 37% FORESTED 0 10% Bulls Shem Charleston County, SC James Island Parrot
Utilizing Residential Property Attributes in a Hedonic Valuation of Tidal Creek Health Community Data Median Household Income Commute Times of Population Housing Structural Data Year of Sale Finished Area Structural Factors (S) Neighborhood Factors (N) Environmental Factors (E) Water Quality Data Average Depth Average Dissolved Oxygen Average Turbidity Average NO2 and NO3 Total Suspended Solids P h = P h (S,N,E) Property Price (P h )
Utilizing Residential Property Attributes in a Hedonic Valuation of Tidal Creek Health DO 1 mg/l increase alters prices by $0 NO 2 +NO 3 Depth TSS 1 µg/l increase alters prices by $4,478.51 1 m increase alters prices by $18,713.79 1 mg/l increase alters prices by $319.89 Turbidity 1 NTU increase alters prices by $799.73
Tidal Creek Sentinel Habitats Important structural connection to land Strongest relationships in the headwater areas Many functional roles refuge and nurseryry pollution & materials processing Relationships exist between coastal development and the environmental quality of tidal creeks and resulting human health and welfare impacts Knowledge exists to forecast responses
Tidal Creeks as Sentinel Habitats Tidal creeks are the zone of first impact the proverbial canary in the mine for coastal ecosystems.
Next Steps Develop potential to forecast or predict potential impacts from various levels of development and changes in climate Expand results to Gulf of Mexico region and other areas
http://www.scseagrant.org/pdf_files/tidal_creeks_booklet.pdf