Louisiana Deltaic Estuaries MBON: Sea Level Rise Sentinels

PI: Glaspie, Cassie (Louisiana State University)
Start Year: 2022 | Duration: 5 years
Partners: LUMCON; LSU; NOAA Fisheries Southeast Regional Office; Texas A&M GCOOS;  Imagine Water Works; Jillian Tupitza (eDNA)

Project Abstract:

Estuaries are extremely diverse, but muddy, deltaic estuaries have not been represented in the US MBON until now. We are focusing on Louisiana’s coastal estuaries, a unique ecosystem that is already experiencing the most severe impacts of sea level rise and can serve as “sea level rise sentinels”- our nation’s test case for the impacts of coastal retreat on ecosystem function and services. Here in Louisiana, we have a massive array of environmental monitoring stations from state and federal agency partners, but there has been little coordination among efforts and a lack of focus on biological indices of ecosystem health. Existing monitoring will be integrated and augmented using advanced methods, including advanced algorithms for satellite remote sensing of suspended sediments and colored dissolved organic matter in coastal waters, sediment eDNA for genetic diversity of fish and invertebrates, acoustic telemetry for fish habitat use, passive acoustic data to identify species diversity of sound-producing organisms, and the development of an index of biotic integrity using benthic macroinvertebrates. Our goal is to develop indices that can assess landscape and local diversity from automated or efficient sampling techniques. This project is also a concerted effort to develop a monitoring framework that can be comparable in many different types of marine environments, from coastal to open ocean.

We are partnering with the New Orleans-based non-profit Imagine Water Works to ensure that the indices we develop and the data we produce are communicated effectively and valued by the people in this region who are also contending with sea level rise in their daily lives. The PIs will also recruit students and technicians from under-represented groups most impacted by sea level rise. As the estuaries change around us, it is important for us to learn the language of our sea level rise sentinels, and this MBON will improve science communication where it is needed most- in local communities that face tough decisions regarding their history, culture, and livelihoods due to land loss in the Gulf of Mexico.