South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium
FY05 Progress Report to
National Sea Grant College Program Office
"Science Serving South Carolina's Coast"
1 December 2005
South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium
287 Meeting Street
Charleston, SC 29401
South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium
FY05 PROGRESS REPORT TO
NATIONAL SEA GRANT COLLEGE PROGRAM OFFICE
INTRODUCTION
Many of the Consortium’s research projects and extension efforts indirectly address the three new Ecosystem Research Program (ERP) performance measures by which the National Sea Grant College Program plans to report the contributions of Sea Grant programs to NOAA. The Consortium incorporated a new component in its FY06-08 Sea Grant Request for Proposals that requires PIs to state the specific outcomes they expect from their work on an annual basis, and provides a basis for further modification so that the Consortium can report performance according to the three performance measures outlined in the FY2006 NSGO Program Guidance document.
CONSORTIUM FUNDING
The S.C. Sea Grant Consortium secured more than $6 million in extramural funding, including a total of $1.8 million from the National Sea Grant College Program, to support coastal and marine research, education, and extension program activities that benefit South Carolina and the region.
UPDATED PERFORMANCE RESULTS
The Consortium’s PAT results were reported in last year’s progress report document. In the major category of “Producing Significant Results,” the assessment team rated the Consortium’s “Contributions to Science and Technology” as ‘Meets Benchmark.’ The Consortium challenged the rating and successfully documented that it has indeed made significant contributions to science and technology. Upon further consideration, the National Sea Grant office upgraded the Consortium’s score in this sub-element to ‘Exceeds Benchmark.’
STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS
The Consortium's overarching goal of maximizing the potential of the state's coastal and marine resources is a broad one. The Consortium organizes its research, education, extension, and management activities in nine programmatic areas tied to nine strategic goals in order to effectively direct its day-to-day activities toward the overarching goal. They reflect the Consortium’s concern that we address the relevant and pressing coastal and marine resource management and utilization needs of South Carolina.
The S.C. Sea Grant Consortium continues to explore ways to ensure that its research, education, and outreach programs address critical coastal and marine resource needs as identified by the broad constituencies it serves. At the same time, the Consortium must make difficult decisions when allocating its limited resources on the many and diverse coastal and marine resource needs facing the state and region. This issue was recently highlighted by an external National Sea Grant Program Assessment Team evaluation of the Consortium in June 2004, which suggested that the addition of “strong program-wide policy and scientific guidance” would benefit the Consortium. Therefore, the Consortium Board of Directors endorsed the creation of a formal standing Program Advisory Board (PAB) at its meeting on January 11, 2005.
The purpose of the Consortium PAB is to:
1. Provide the Consortium with a broad perspective on South Carolina’s critical coastal and marine resource issues, needs and opportunities.
2. Review and evaluate input received from Consortium stakeholders for use in revising and focusing the agency’s strategic and implementation plans.
3. Offer strategic guidance and advice to the Consortium as it develops and implements research, education, and outreach programs and projects.
4. Advise the Consortium Executive Director regarding emerging trends in coastal and marine resource policy and management.
5. Identify potential opportunities for funding support, new partnerships, and innovative ways of “doing business.”
Membership on the Consortium PAB include representatives from a mix of academic, agency, business and public interest organizations from South Carolina and adjacent coastal states. Some 30 individuals have accepted invitations from the Consortium Board Chairman to serve on the Consortium PAB, and a first meeting was held on August 31, 2005. A one-on-one survey is now being performed by a College of Charleston faculty member to gather additional information in preparation for the next PAB meeting scheduled for early 2006.
RESULTS ACCORDING TO ERP PERFORMANCE MEASURES
Listed below are accomplishments during the reporting period, which address the three new performance measures. Currently, they are qualitative in nature, but, as stated above, we will begin a process of quantifying the contributions the South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium makes to the state’s coastal communities and resources.
Measure 1: Return on investment from the discovery and application of new sustainable coastal, ocean, and Great Lakes products.
South Carolina/Georgia Coastal Erosion Study. Investigators from five South Carolina and Georgia research institutions and the U.S. Geological Survey, with funds provided through the USGS Coastal and Marine Geology Program, are continuing work towards the development of a conceptual model of the sediment budget for the South Carolina coast. Phase II of the Coastal Erosion Study is now in its fifth year, providing funding for six discrete research and data management projects. Development of the sediment budget has progressed significantly and the data and models being developed will have a profound effect on South Carolina coastal communities that depend upon coastal tourism. Information generated through the use of state-of-the-art mapping tools has been used in identifying potential sources of beach nourishment sand of the South Carolina coast, which has been used by S.C. DHEC-Ocean and Coastal Resource Management. In addition, geological framework studies have generated bathymetry maps that have been used by the S.C. Department of natural resources in identifying hard bottoms and other “essential fish habitat” environments. Various models have been customized by these researchers to develop a sand budget for the coast, and a large volume of information has been placed in GIS databases. Advanced mapping techniques (e.g., EDMAP) have also been refined for this study.
Improving the Red Drum Recreational Fishery. This project utilizes a multi-disciplinary approach (e.g., culturists, stock enhancement scientists, geneticists, extension specialists, resource economists) to address a research issue of considerable importance: “How to restore declining recreational fisheries and maintain coastal community health?” During 2004-2005, between 500,000 to 700,000 “marked” juvenile red drum were stocked in Murrells Inlet as part of the fourth year of this six-year study. Research to-date indicates that the stocking program is having a significant positive effect on the red drum population in the Murrells Inlet area. Based in part on the results of this program, the states of Mississippi and Georgia are both in the process of developing similar stocking experiments to test the utility of stocking in their own areas. Involvement of the community, especially its recreational anglers and business owners, will allow education of the importance of natural resource conservation and its role in community health and diversification. The documentation of stock enhancement as a fishery restoration tool may provide new marketing opportunities to the private aquaculture sector and allow various private/public partnerships to develop. The SC stocking project received national acclaim by the American Fisheries Society as the 1997 Outstanding Sport Fish Restoration Project and also received regional honors as the recipient of 2003 Palmetto Vision Award.
Measure 2. Cumulative number of coastal, marine, and Great Lakes issue-based forecast capabilities developed and used for management.
Monitoring and Predicting Harmful Algae Blooms. The S.C. Sea Grant Consortium, with support from NOAA and the Centers for Disease Control, is presently supporting HAB research in stormwater management ponds [Note: there are close to 8,000 ponds associated with residential, commercial, and golf course developments in the eight coastal counties of South Carolina.] that utilizes “Real-Time Remote Monitoring” (RTRM) technology, which allows for rapid detection of and immediate response by the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control and the S.C. Department of Natural Resources to potentially harmful algal bloom events. RTRM is now being tested as a predictive technology that could be used by these agencies to rapidly respond to potentially toxic harmful algae bloom events.
Comparing Field Measured Pressures with Wind Tunnel Model Studies of Single-Family Homes in Suburban Areas. The overriding aim of this work is develop wind pressure data from residential buildings exposed to hurricane-force winds to provide a baseline for evaluating boundary layer wind tunnel models. The specific scientific goal of the project is to generate and compare pressure coefficients from full-scale prototype houses with the results of 1:50 scale models tested in Clemson’s atmospheric boundary layer wind tunnel. Results of this study will benefit homeowners by providing information that may be used to better secure the roofs of their homes, and it will benefit the insurance industry by reducing hurricane-caused wind damage.
The Effectiveness of Vegetative Buffers in Reducing Nonpoint Source Pollution in Stormwater Detention Ponds. This study examines the use of constructed wetlands as supplemental BMPs to detention ponds. Goals of the study include retrofitting a typical BMP detention pond with a constructed wetland as a supplemental BMP, and quantifying the effectiveness of nutrient attenuation to the detention pond. Two detention ponds are being compared on Kiawah Island, SC. In one pond (treatment pond), stormwater will be diverted to pass through restored terrestrial and wetland zones (i.e. a constructed wetland) before it enters the detention pond. The other pond will not be manipulated (reference pond) but has been similarly monitored, and is being used as an unmanipulated control and for model development. The wetland construction will occur in December 2005. The two-year baseline study has led to establishment of water and nutrient budgets of the watersheds and water quality of the ponds, estimation of denitrification capacity of the watershed soils and pond sediments, design of the constructed wetland, and development of an ecosystem process model (STELLA) to estimate retention time, seepage rate, and quantity of spillover for water entering the proposed wetland, and effectiveness for nitrogen removal.
South Carolina/Georgia Coastal Erosion Study. As mentioned above, this study is providing the tools necessary to predict coastal erosion, determine best “borrow sites,” and provide managers with other modeling tools to effectively mitigate beach erosion, and as an additional benefit, identifying essential fish habitat; information that is currently being used by the S.C. DHEC-Office of Ocean and Coastal Resources Management and the S.C. Department of Natural Resources.
The South Atlantic Bight Land Use - Coastal Ecosystem Study. The Land Use-Coastal Ecosystem Study (LU-CES) is a regional, multi-year effort to determine how changing land use patterns, largely as suburban development, that is being brought about by shifting demographic trends, will affect coastal ecosystems in South Carolina and Georgia. This past year, LU-CES scientists completed a numerical hydrodynamic model of the Okatee and its tidal creeks that was verified by field observations and the creation of empirical models of hypsometry and elevation. The numerical model is now being used to generate a water quality model for the system. LU-CES scientists have completed an urban growth projection model for all eight coastal counties in South Carolina, and parcel-scale development and scenario models describing local development trends and allowing one to predict the results of alternative development strategies are nearing completion. In the future, we will also increase our interactions with potential users of LU-CES information (planners, engineers), developing specific applications for our models and data products.
Establishing the Southeast Regional Association for IOOS. The United States is embarking on a nationwide initiative, implemented on a regional basis, through the Integrated Ocean Observations System (IOOS) to improve understanding and predictive (forecast) capabilities in its coastal and ocean environments. The Consortium was selected by NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, USDOC), todevelop and manage the regional effort to develop a stakeholder-driven coastal ocean observing system for the southeastern United States. Dubbed SECOORA (SouthEast Coastal Ocean Observations Regional Association), this system is being designed to provide real-time and archived oceanographic data, information and products on marine and estuarine systems by integrating data and information being generated by the existing sub-regional observation systems in the southeast.By establishing partnerships of data providers and users from state and federal agencies, private industry and academia, SECOORA will ensure continued and routine flow of coastal ocean data and information to the wide range of coastal ocean interests.
Functional Relationships between Epiphytic Microalgae and Foodwebs in a Salt Marsh Estuarine System and their Management Implications. Salt marshes are among the most productive of earth’s ecosystems and provide shelter and food for many important coastal fisheries. However, little is known about the functional significance of the epiphytic community, and how much epiphytes on salt marsh contribute to primary production. Therefore, one of the major objectives of this work is to strengthen the scientific basis of the management strategy of protecting Spartina alterniflora marshes based on the demonstration that they play a key functional role by harboring a productive epiphytic algal community that is trophically coupled to the production of economically and recreationally important fish and shellfish species. The development of predictive models will also be an outcome of this work.
Measure 3. Percentage/number of tools, technologies, and information services that are used by NOAA partners/customers to improve ecosystem-based management.
Managing the Blue Crab Fishery in South Carolina. Carolina’s blue crab, which supports a $5-million-dollar commercial fishery, can be one of the most difficult species to manage. Now, Sea Grant researchers at Clemson University and the S.C. Department of Natural Resources are completing development of an innovative computer model to help manage the blue crab fishery in South Carolina. Their computer model is a new tool that uses a scenario-planning framework to evaluate risks to blue crab populations and make recommendations to fishery managers. Interest in this initiative has been expressed by a number of Mid-Atlantic States, and we are now exploring the development of a regional research and outreach initiative on blue crab recruitment dynamics and fisheries management. More about South Carolina Blue Crab Regional Abundance Biotic Simulation (SCBCRABS) project and the model itself can be viewed at www.clemson.edu/SCBCRABS/.
Developing Approaches and Associated Metrics for Restoration Success: Determining Intertidal Oyster Matching Goals Using Small and Large-Scale Reefs. During the reporting period, new reefs were constructed at Fort Johnson to test several reef design concepts. In addition, in 2005 seven newly constructed sites across the state were planted and are now being monitored. The evaluation of metrics for large-scale DNR-planted areas within public shellfish grounds (PSGs, total of 20) continues. The investigators have completed preliminary data processing from over 40 restoration sites last fall/winter; and samples from 27 SCECAP sites are being analyzed to evaluate potential success metrics. Specific metrics identified at the 2004 East Coast Oyster Restoration Workshop as potentially useful in determining restoration success were applied to the associated resident fauna portion of the new and existing Oyster Restoration data set. Analyses indicated that while oyster metrics (oyster density and maximum size) are still significantly different six years after reef construction, there is considerable convergence in the resident reef community (crabs, mussels and Boonea). These results indicate the return of habitat functions long before fishery-related metrics would indicate restoration success. The metrics and models which result from this research will prove useful to resource managers as they seek to restore what was once a viable industry in South Carolina, and in addition, provide insights about habitat restoration in general.