Record Details
Hatfield Marine Science Center Dynamic Revetment Report DSL permit #45455-FP Monitoring Report February, 2013
ScholarsArchive at Oregon State University
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Title | Hatfield Marine Science Center Dynamic Revetment Report DSL permit #45455-FP Monitoring Report February, 2013 |
| Names |
Webster, Janet G.
(creator) Nelson, Walt (creator) Allan, Jonathan (creator) Stephensen, Shawn (creator) Politano, Vincent (creator) Folger, Christina (creator) |
| Date Issued | 2013-02-10 (iso8601) |
| Abstract | Stabilization of the Yaquina Bay shoreline along the northeastern edge of the Hatfield Marine Science Center (HMSC) campus became necessary to halt erosion that threatened both HMSC critical infrastructure (seawater storage tank) and public access to the HMSC Nature Trail. A Dynamic Revetment (gravel beach) was installed in November, 2011 on 260 feet of shoreline to mitigate erosion. Shoreline topographic and biological monitoring was initiated before and has continued after the project completion. Monitoring of beach profiles indicated that as of December 2012, the 2011 Dynamic Revetment Project (DRP) has successfully stabilized the shoreline in the project area, while rapid erosion has continued in the adjacent Reference beach area. Erosion in the unprotected Reference area in the period 2009-2012 has been as great as 9 m (29.5 ft). Beach profile data also indicated that the 2007 DRP continued to be successful in stabilizing further retreat of the shoreline. There were significantly more invertebrates associated with beach wrack in the 2011 DRP area as compared with the Reference or 2007 DRP areas. Beach wrack did not tend to accumulate in the Reference area because of vertical beach scarps generated by erosion. The reason for the difference with the 2007 DRP area is unclear. Fish were significantly more abundant in the Reference area compared to the DRP. However, as with the pre-project sampling, maximum abundance was consistently observed at Reference Site 4, which has a uniquely high degree of physical habitat complexity, resulting from trees that have been eroded onto the shore. There were significantly greater vegetation coverage and significantly lesser presence of non-living substrata in the Reference area as compared to the DRP. These differences are consistent with pre-project site differences, probably resulting from a low area of the shoreline which allows increased flooding and associated disturbance in the DRP back shore area. There were no marine mammals observed in either the DRP or Reference areas over the 43 surveys conducted over the 2012 survey period. As was observed in the 2011 report, variability among observation periods for birds was extremely high, with many zero observations. Although there were about three times more birds observed in the Reference area, there were no statistically significant differences in the number of birds observed based either on tide (high vs. low) or sample area (DRP vs. Reference). The number of bird taxa observed was similar in both areas, and most abundant species were similar between the two areas. Fish, birds and wrack invertebrates, such as beach hoppers), were shown to utilize the DRP project area. Biological differences in fish, birds and vegetation observed in year 1of post-project monitoring tended to reflect differences in habitat that were present before the DRP project. |
| Genre | Technical Report |
| Topic | Yaquina Bay |
| Identifier | Webster, J. et al. 2013. Hatfield Marine Science Center Dynamic Revetment Report DSL permit #45455-FP Monitoring Report February, 2013. Newport: HMSC, OSU. 41 pp |
