USGS scientists are working with partners at the Puget Sound Partnership and the State of Washington’s Department of Ecology to develop two new tools to help us understand how human disturbance affects life at the top of Puget Sound: a Marine Benthic Index and a graphical causal model.
The Science Issue and Relevance: Invertebrates that live in the sediment, or benthos, are key components of the Puget Sound (Washington) ecosystem. Many species provide important services such as nutrient processing, food for other species (including humans), and modifying the sea floor. Benthic invertebrates live in, and sometimes consume, sediments, so, they are continually exposed to stressors such as contaminated sediments, excessive nutrient input, ocean acidification, and low dissolved oxygen in the water. Due to their relatively short lifespans, the community structure and function may change in response to stressors within a year. Ecosystems are complex adaptive systems whose response to specific changes and levels of environmental factors are difficult to predict. This means that monitoring environmental factors alone, such as water quality and those driven by climate change, is insufficient to predict the effects of the ecological health of the system. Indicators of benthic invertebrate community health can serve as measures of ecosystem health, especially as climate change modifies the ecosystem. The indicators can help answer questions such as:
• What is the current condition of the benthic habitat and the associated invertebrate assemblages?
• How has benthic community condition changed over time in response to disturbances such as habitat alteration, changes to food sources, and inputs of carbon, nitrogen, and priority pollutants to the system?
Methodology for Addressing the Issue: USGS scientists are working with partners at the Puget Sound Partnership and the State of Washington’s Department of Ecology to develop two new tools to help us understand how human disturbance affects life at the top of Puget Sound: a Marine Benthic Index and a graphical causal model. The Marine Benthic Index (MBI) will assess and communicate the status and trends of benthic invertebrate community health by applying a rigorous statistical model framework to test the relationships between the benthic invertebrates and environmental factors. To develop the MBI, novel methods will be used to develop and deploy a disturbance index for the Puget Sound benthic invertebrate communities. The disturbance index will be used as a diagnostic to test patterns for assumed effects of human disturbance on the ecosystem and will inform the MBI for Puget Sound Partnership Vital Signs reporting (https://vitalsigns.pugetsoundinfo.wa.gov/). The underlying graphical causal model will be a "what-if" tool, used to assess strengths of relationships between environmental stressors and benthic community responses. The model will also be used to test hypotheses of causation, including predicted effects of management actions. Overall, this project will further our understanding, as well as adaptive management, recovery, and protection of the Puget Sound ecosystem. The study’s innovative, integrative approach is designed to address the needs and concerns of the diverse community of people and organizations who depend on or are tasked with managing the delivery of the multitude of ecosystem services the Puget Sound provides.
Future Steps: Once the MBI has been validated, the Washington State Department of Ecology Marine Monitoring Unit, in consultation with audiences for the index (e.g., Puget Sound Partnership, Puget Sound Ecosystem Monitoring Program workgroups), will develop target values and graphical displays for communication of both the quantitative and qualitative scales of the index. A manuscript and associated data release will be published at the completion of the project.
- Overview
USGS scientists are working with partners at the Puget Sound Partnership and the State of Washington’s Department of Ecology to develop two new tools to help us understand how human disturbance affects life at the top of Puget Sound: a Marine Benthic Index and a graphical causal model.
Sources/Usage: Some content may have restrictions. Visit Media to see details.The Science Issue and Relevance: Invertebrates that live in the sediment, or benthos, are key components of the Puget Sound (Washington) ecosystem. Many species provide important services such as nutrient processing, food for other species (including humans), and modifying the sea floor. Benthic invertebrates live in, and sometimes consume, sediments, so, they are continually exposed to stressors such as contaminated sediments, excessive nutrient input, ocean acidification, and low dissolved oxygen in the water. Due to their relatively short lifespans, the community structure and function may change in response to stressors within a year. Ecosystems are complex adaptive systems whose response to specific changes and levels of environmental factors are difficult to predict. This means that monitoring environmental factors alone, such as water quality and those driven by climate change, is insufficient to predict the effects of the ecological health of the system. Indicators of benthic invertebrate community health can serve as measures of ecosystem health, especially as climate change modifies the ecosystem. The indicators can help answer questions such as:
• What is the current condition of the benthic habitat and the associated invertebrate assemblages?
• How has benthic community condition changed over time in response to disturbances such as habitat alteration, changes to food sources, and inputs of carbon, nitrogen, and priority pollutants to the system?
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.This photograph is of the Puget Sound seafloor and shows a gravel area with numerous scallops, a sea star, several small anemones and colonial hydroids.
Methodology for Addressing the Issue: USGS scientists are working with partners at the Puget Sound Partnership and the State of Washington’s Department of Ecology to develop two new tools to help us understand how human disturbance affects life at the top of Puget Sound: a Marine Benthic Index and a graphical causal model. The Marine Benthic Index (MBI) will assess and communicate the status and trends of benthic invertebrate community health by applying a rigorous statistical model framework to test the relationships between the benthic invertebrates and environmental factors. To develop the MBI, novel methods will be used to develop and deploy a disturbance index for the Puget Sound benthic invertebrate communities. The disturbance index will be used as a diagnostic to test patterns for assumed effects of human disturbance on the ecosystem and will inform the MBI for Puget Sound Partnership Vital Signs reporting (https://vitalsigns.pugetsoundinfo.wa.gov/). The underlying graphical causal model will be a "what-if" tool, used to assess strengths of relationships between environmental stressors and benthic community responses. The model will also be used to test hypotheses of causation, including predicted effects of management actions. Overall, this project will further our understanding, as well as adaptive management, recovery, and protection of the Puget Sound ecosystem. The study’s innovative, integrative approach is designed to address the needs and concerns of the diverse community of people and organizations who depend on or are tasked with managing the delivery of the multitude of ecosystem services the Puget Sound provides.
Future Steps: Once the MBI has been validated, the Washington State Department of Ecology Marine Monitoring Unit, in consultation with audiences for the index (e.g., Puget Sound Partnership, Puget Sound Ecosystem Monitoring Program workgroups), will develop target values and graphical displays for communication of both the quantitative and qualitative scales of the index. A manuscript and associated data release will be published at the completion of the project.