Project Information

Title: Re-Assessment of Bivalve Recovery on Treated Mixed-Soft Beaches in Prince William Sound 10100574

Project Year and Number: 2010: 10100574

Other Fiscal Years and Numbers for this Project: 2004: 040574, 2003: 030574, 2002: 02574-BAA

Principal Investigator (PI): Dennis Lees (Littoral Ecological & Environmental Services)

Managing Agency: NOAA

Assisting Personnel: None

Research Location: Prince William Sound, from Eleanor Island south to Latouche Island

Restoration Category: Monitoring

Injured Resources Addressed: Clams

Abstract: Studies from 1989 through 1997 suggested that bivalve assemblages on beaches in Prince William Sound (PWS) treated with high-pressure hot-water washing remain damaged. An EVOS-funded study in 2002 confirmed this hypothesis; hardshell clams were only one-third as abundant at washed sites as at unwashed sites. Considering the importance of hardshell clams to sea otters, other nearshore predators, and humans, this finding is important. Using information from 1989, we constructed a preliminary recovery trajectory. This model predicts that clam assemblages at washed sites in PWS will require more than five decades to recover. Subsequently, a less extensive study of clam assemblages in PWS and research in other areas suggest that hardshell clams may be experiencing recruitment failures throughout the Pacific Northwest. By re-evaluating the status of clam populations at 40 sites sampled in 2002, this project will provide insights into: 1) the recovery trajectory for PWS clam assemblages by adding a third point for abundance at washed sites; and 2) the generality of the hypothesis that hardshell clams are experiencing recruitment failures throughout the Pacific Northwest.


Proposal: View (582 KB)

Reports:
Annual Report FY10: View (45 KB)
Annual Report FY11: View (1,394 KB)
Final Report: View (88,742 KB)

Publications from this Project: None Available