Two recently approved monitoring activities will provide the Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group new tools to evaluate Deepwater Horizon restoration across the Gulf. One activity models restoration outcomes at the ecosystem scale, while the other demonstrates how coastal habitat restoration supports open ocean fish and water column invertebrates through the food web. These activities address the priorities identified in the Open Ocean Trustees’ Monitoring and Adaptive Management (MAM) Strategy (PDF, 23 pages).
Open Ocean Ecosystem Modeling MAM Activity
This activity has an estimated cost of $3.3 million to evaluate progress towards addressing the ecosystem-level injury to the Gulf caused by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, focusing on the cumulative restoration outcomes for the Fish and Water Column Invertebrates Restoration Type. Over four years, Gulf natural resource and ecosystem modeling experts will develop and implement an ecosystem model to evaluate the effects of the Deepwater Horizon restoration on fish and water column invertebrate communities across the Gulf. This activity will directly incorporate and build upon the outputs of the Conceptual Model to Inform Open Ocean Ecosystem Indicators MAM Activity.
The ecosystem model will predict how restoration activities influence open ocean productivity which may work its way through the food web to benefit large fishes. To do this, it will compare conditions before and after restoration activities. These comparisons will provide a case-wide line of evidence—beyond project-level monitoring—to evaluate restoration progress across multiple projects. This ecosystem modeling activity will also provide valuable insights for restoration planning.
Trophic Connectivity Between Coastal and Open Ocean Ecosystem MAM Activity
This three-year activity has an estimated cost of $660,000 to quantify how biological material or biomass from restored coastal habitats contributes to productivity of open ocean fish and water column invertebrates injured by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. A better understanding of the food-web that links nearshore primary production to open ocean species will help the Trustees quantify the indirect benefits of coastal habitat restoration to open ocean resources.
The activity will also develop a regional trophic connectivity monitoring plan, focusing on locations where substantial coastal restoration is occurring. It will pilot this monitoring approach with the Chandeleur Islands restoration project. The activity team will work with local scientists and managers to analyze stable isotopes in existing samples of fish and invertebrates collected around the Chandeleur Islands. Stable isotope analysis measures the ratios of non-radioactive forms of atoms such as carbon and nitrogen within organic and inorganic materials. By examining how these atomic ratios change through natural physical and biological processes, the project team can track diets of focal species, including contributions from restored habitats.
Together, these monitoring and adaptive management activities will help the Trustees monitor and evaluate our progress in restoring the ecosystem-level linkages and resources that were impacted by the spill.
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