Coastal Habitats in Puget Sound Active
A Pacific Northwest icon, Puget Sound is the second-largest estuary in the United States. Its unique geology, climate, and nutrient-rich waters produce and sustain biologically productive coastal habitats. These same natural characteristics also contribute to a high quality of life that has led to growth in human population and urbanization. This growth has played a role in degrading the Sound, including declines in fish and wildlife populations, water-quality issues, and changes in coastal habitats. Natural resource managers look to the USGS as a critical science resource needed to solve problems in this important ecosystem.
The deterioration of the Puget Sound nearshore is of special concern — the area extending from the top of shoreline bluffs to a depth offshore where sunlight does not reach the bottom, and upstream in estuaries to the head of tidal influence. It includes bluffs, beaches, mudflats, kelp and eelgrass beds, salt marshes, gravel spits, and estuaries. Because the nearshore is one of the most productive parts of the Sound, improved understanding of it is vital to restoration and preservation of the entire Sound.
To develop a restoration program, Federal, State, Tribal, and local governments, non-governmental organizations, universities, and private industry joined in 2001 to create the Puget Sound Nearshore Ecosystem Restoration Project (PSNERP). In December 2005, protection and restoration of Puget Sound was expanded in scope with the creation of the Puget Sound Partnership. As a task force within the Governor of Washington's Puget Sound Initiative, the Puget Sound Partnership's goal is to develop recommendations to restore the Sound by 2020.
The overall scientific goal of the CHIPS project is to provide scientific support for ecosystem recovery activities in Puget Sound. Through its diverse studies, the CHIPS project strives to demonstrate a structure and process for conducting interdisciplinary ecosystem science.
See links below for more information about USGS work in Puget Sound.
Below are data releases associated with this project.
Below are publications (USGS products, journal articles, etc.) associated with this project. See the “Data and Tools” tab for a list of Data Releases.
Comparing automated classification and digitization approaches to detect change in eelgrass bed extent during restoration of a large river delta
Suspended-sediment loads in the lower Stillaguamish River, Snohomish County, Washington, 2014–15
Geomorphic response of the North Fork Stillaguamish River to the State Route 530 landslide near Oso, Washington
Landscape context and the biophysical response of rivers to dam removal in the United States
Coastal habitat and biological community response to dam removal on the Elwha River
Evaluating land-use change scenarios for the Puget Sound Basin, Washington, within the ecosystem recovery target model-based framework
2010-2015 Juvenile fish ecology in the Nisqually River Delta and Nisqually Reach Aquatic Reserve
Is “morphodynamic equilibrium” an oxymoron?
Investigation of input reduction techniques for morphodynamic modeling of complex inlets with baroclinic forcing
Environmental and eelgrass response to dike removal: Nisqually River Delta (2010–14)
Sediment load and distribution in the lower Skagit River, Skagit County, Washington
Assessing tidal marsh vulnerability to sea-level rise in the Skagit Delta
Below are data releases associated with this project.
Below are news stories associated with this project.
- Overview
A Pacific Northwest icon, Puget Sound is the second-largest estuary in the United States. Its unique geology, climate, and nutrient-rich waters produce and sustain biologically productive coastal habitats. These same natural characteristics also contribute to a high quality of life that has led to growth in human population and urbanization. This growth has played a role in degrading the Sound, including declines in fish and wildlife populations, water-quality issues, and changes in coastal habitats. Natural resource managers look to the USGS as a critical science resource needed to solve problems in this important ecosystem.
The deterioration of the Puget Sound nearshore is of special concern — the area extending from the top of shoreline bluffs to a depth offshore where sunlight does not reach the bottom, and upstream in estuaries to the head of tidal influence. It includes bluffs, beaches, mudflats, kelp and eelgrass beds, salt marshes, gravel spits, and estuaries. Because the nearshore is one of the most productive parts of the Sound, improved understanding of it is vital to restoration and preservation of the entire Sound.
To develop a restoration program, Federal, State, Tribal, and local governments, non-governmental organizations, universities, and private industry joined in 2001 to create the Puget Sound Nearshore Ecosystem Restoration Project (PSNERP). In December 2005, protection and restoration of Puget Sound was expanded in scope with the creation of the Puget Sound Partnership. As a task force within the Governor of Washington's Puget Sound Initiative, the Puget Sound Partnership's goal is to develop recommendations to restore the Sound by 2020.
The overall scientific goal of the CHIPS project is to provide scientific support for ecosystem recovery activities in Puget Sound. Through its diverse studies, the CHIPS project strives to demonstrate a structure and process for conducting interdisciplinary ecosystem science.
- Science
See links below for more information about USGS work in Puget Sound.
- Data
Below are data releases associated with this project.
Filter Total Items: 16No Result Found - Publications
Below are publications (USGS products, journal articles, etc.) associated with this project. See the “Data and Tools” tab for a list of Data Releases.
Filter Total Items: 91Comparing automated classification and digitization approaches to detect change in eelgrass bed extent during restoration of a large river delta
Native eelgrass (Zostera marina) is an important contributor to ecosystem services that supplies cover for juvenile fish, supports a variety of invertebrate prey resources for fish and waterbirds, provides substrate for herring roe consumed by numerous fish and birds, helps stabilize sediment, and sequesters organic carbon. Seagrasses are in decline globally, and monitoring changes in their growthAuthorsAnna Elizabeth Davenport, Jerry D. Davis, Isa Woo, Eric E. Grossman, Jesse B. Barham, Christopher S. Ellings, John Y. TakekawaSuspended-sediment loads in the lower Stillaguamish River, Snohomish County, Washington, 2014–15
Continuous records of discharge and turbidity at a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) streamgage in the lower Stillaguamish River were paired with discrete measurements of suspended-sediment concentration (SSC) in order to estimate suspended-sediment loads over the water years 2014 and 2015. First, relations between turbidity and SSC were developed and used to translate the continuous turbidity recordAuthorsScott A. Anderson, Christopher A. Curran, Eric E. GrossmanGeomorphic response of the North Fork Stillaguamish River to the State Route 530 landslide near Oso, Washington
On March 22, 2014, the State Route 530 Landslide near Oso, Washington mobilized 8 million cubic meters of unconsolidated Pleistocene material, creating a valley‑spanning deposit that fully impounded the North Fork Stillaguamish River. The river overtopped the 8-meter high debris impoundment within 25 hours and began steadily incising a new channel through the center of the deposit. Repeat topograpAuthorsScott W. Anderson, Mackenzie K. Keith, Christopher S. Magirl, J. Rose Wallick, Mark C. Mastin, James R. ForemanLandscape context and the biophysical response of rivers to dam removal in the United States
Dams have been a fundamental part of the U.S. national agenda over the past two hundred years. Recently, however, dam removal has emerged as a strategy for addressing aging, obsolete infrastructure and more than 1,100 dams have been removed since the 1970s. However, only 130 of these removals had any ecological or geomorphic assessments, and fewer than half of those included before- and after-remoAuthorsMelissa M. Foley, Francis J. Magilligan, Christian E. Torgersen, Jon J. Major, Chauncey W. Anderson, Patrick J. Connolly, Daniel J. Wieferich, Patrick B. Shafroth, James E. Evans, Dana M. Infante, Laura CraigByEcosystems Mission Area, Water Resources Mission Area, Science Synthesis, Analysis and Research Program, Science Analytics and Synthesis (SAS) Program, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis, Oregon Water Science Center, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science CenterCoastal habitat and biological community response to dam removal on the Elwha River
Habitat diversity and heterogeneity play a fundamental role in structuring ecological communities. Dam emplacement and removal can fundamentally alter habitat characteristics, which in turn can affect associated biological communities. Beginning in the early 1900s, the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams in Washington, USA, withheld an estimated 30 million tonnes of sediment from river, coastal, and nearAuthorsMelissa M. Foley, Jonathan A. Warrick, Andrew C. Ritchie, Andrew W. Stevens, Patrick B. Shafroth, Jeffrey J. Duda, Matthew M. Beirne, Rebecca Paradis, Guy R. Gelfenbaum, Randall McCoy, Erin S. CubleyEvaluating land-use change scenarios for the Puget Sound Basin, Washington, within the ecosystem recovery target model-based framework
The Puget Sound Basin, Washington, has experienced rapid urban growth in recent decades, with varying impacts to local ecosystems and natural resources. To plan for future growth, land managers often use scenarios to assess how the pattern and volume of growth may affect natural resources. Using three different land-management scenarios for the years 2000–2060, we assessed various spatial patternsAuthorsMiguel L. Villarreal, Danielle Aiello, Bill Labiosa2010-2015 Juvenile fish ecology in the Nisqually River Delta and Nisqually Reach Aquatic Reserve
The return of tidal inundation to over 750 acres of the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge (NNWR) in fall of 2009 was the crowning moment in the effort to protect and restore the Nisqually Delta. The Nisqually NWR project complemented three earlier restoration projects completed by the Nisqually Indian Tribe (Tribe) on tribal property to restore overAuthorsSayre Hodgson, Christopher S. Ellings, Steve P. Rubin, Michael C. Hayes, Walker Duval, Eric E. GrossmanIs “morphodynamic equilibrium” an oxymoron?
Morphodynamic equilibrium is a widely adopted yet elusive concept in the field of geomorphology of coasts, rivers and estuaries. Based on the Exner equation, an expression of mass conservation of sediment, we distinguish three types of equilibrium defined as static and dynamic, of which two different types exist. Other expressions such as statistical and quasi-equilibrium which do not strictly satAuthorsZeng Zhou, Giovanni Coco, Ian Townend, Maitane Olabarrieta, Mick van der Wegen, Zheng Gong, Andrea D'Alpaos, Shu Gao, Bruce E. Jaffe, Guy R. Gelfenbaum, Qing He, Yaping Wang, Stefano Lanzoni, Zhengbing Wang, Han Winterwerp, Changkuan ZhangInvestigation of input reduction techniques for morphodynamic modeling of complex inlets with baroclinic forcing
The Mouth of the Columbia River (MCR) is a complex estuary inlet system characterized by a buoyant plume created by high freshwater flows from the Columbia River into the Pacific Ocean. Data obtained during two major field campaigns have resulted in a comprehensive dataset of hydrodynamics and sediment transport under high (2013) and low (2005) river flow conditions. Through the analysis of this dAuthorsGuy R. Gelfenbaum, Edwin Elias, Andrew W. StevensEnvironmental and eelgrass response to dike removal: Nisqually River Delta (2010–14)
Restoration of tidal flows to formerly diked marshland can alter land-to-sea fluxes and patterns of accumulation of terrestrial sediment and organic matter, and these tidal flows can also affect existing nearshore habitats. Dikes were removed from 308 hectares (ha) of the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge on the Nisqually River Delta in south Puget Sound, Washington, in fall 2009 to improve habitAuthorsRenee K. TakesueSediment load and distribution in the lower Skagit River, Skagit County, Washington
The Skagit River delivers about 40 percent of all fluvial sediment that enters Puget Sound, influencing flood hazards in the Skagit lowlands, critically important estuarine habitat in the delta, and some of the most diverse and productive agriculture in western Washington. A total of 175 measurements of suspended-sediment load, made routinely from 1974 to 1993, and sporadically from 2006 to 2009,AuthorsChristopher A. Curran, Eric E. Grossman, Mark C. Mastin, Raegan L. HuffmanAssessing tidal marsh vulnerability to sea-level rise in the Skagit Delta
Historical aerial photographs, from 1937 to the present, show Skagit Delta tidal marshes prograding into Skagit Bay for most of the record, but the progradation rates have been steadily declining and the marshes have begun to erode in recent decades despite the large suspended sediment load provided by the Skagit River. In an area of the delta isolated from direct riverine sediment supply by anthrAuthorsW. Gregory Hood, Eric E. Grossman, Curt Veldhuisen - Web Tools
Below are data releases associated with this project.
- News
Below are news stories associated with this project.