Rapid Assessment Protocol Culmination of > 10 years Shoreline - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Rapid Assessment Protocol • Culmination of > 10 years Shoreline Research and Outreach • Addresses key request from end-users – “Do these work?” • Baseline for Change Assessment

Ecological and Structural Performance • Ecological – Several variables known to be linked to ecological functions in the Hudson River. • Physical – – Stability of “built” structures – Assess the physical forces on the site

Purpose • Track change over time – yearly observations, after event. • Today – Introduce / interpret variables – Put Demonstration sites in context

Protocol Applied at 5 Sites Nutten Hook Summer 2017 Sust Shore Demonstration sites All Observations Collected Coxsackie in one low tide cycle Sites are quite variable Esopus Meadows Foundry Dock Beczak CURB

Stability • Asset Displacement – • Key Elevations – • Erosion -

Forces • GIS layer of Modelled currents/waves, ice observations • Wave attenuation by sill if present • Plaster casts for erosive forces

ECOLOGICAL VARIABLES • Wrack – Indicator, Organic Matter and Habitat • Wood – Indicator, Habitat • Vegetation – Indicator, Habitat and Structural element

CONTEXT (Tie to Strayer Presentation) • Earlier Hudson Shoreline Ecology Data Sets – Multiple shore types, built and natural – Identified range in ecological variables – Found some “predictors” of ecological function • Slope • Roughness

SLOPE Gentle R2 = 55% P < 0.01 Steep

HETEROGENEITY R2 = 25% P = 0.03

SITES SITE YEAR WRACK WOOD VEG CONSTRUCTED +/- +/- # size classes Beczak 2004 2 of 8 0 2 of 3 No canopy Esopus Mead 2006 3 of 18 3 of 18 2 of 3 One canopy Coxsackie 2012 1 of 12 3 of 12 1 of 3 1 Understory No canopy Foundry Dock 2006 0 1 of 21 3 of 3 Nutten Hook Pending 2 of 23 3 of 23 2 of 3 No understory

Sustainable Shore relative to other types 16 14 SS 12 Slope (deg) 10 SS SS SS 8 6 SS 4 2 0 k k k k y p d k d n c c c c H r a a d o a o a a e R n r s R z t S u M d p x e u N e o i t o t B R p a a B F C N o N s E

Sustainable Shore relative to other types 6 Substrate Size (categorical) 5 SS SS 4 SS SS 3 SS 2 1 0 Nat Sand Bezack Coxsack Nut Hk Nat Rock Esop Mead Foundry Bedrock RipRap

Still To Do • Final Wrap up with Advisory Committee • Link to other Shoreline Research/Assessment • Long-Term Data Collection, Curation, Analysis • Continued and New Participant Training • Stuart Findlay - findlays@caryinstitute.org