Using Winter Flounder Growth Rates to Assess Habitat Quality across an Anthropogenic Gradient in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island

Estuaries ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 576 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lesa Meng ◽  
J. Christopher Powell ◽  
Bryan Taplin
Keyword(s):  
Rhode Island ◽  
Habitat Quality ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
Narragansett Bay ◽  
Winter Flounder

Use of a Fish Index to Assess Habitat Quality in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island

2002 ◽  
Vol 131 (4) ◽  
pp. 731-742 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lesa Meng ◽  
Christopher D. Orphanides ◽  
J. Christopher Powell
Keyword(s):  
Rhode Island ◽  
Habitat Quality ◽  
Narragansett Bay ◽  
Fish Index

Seasonal Distributions of Bottom Fishes in the Narragansett Bay Area: Seven-Year Variations in the Abundance of Winter Flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus)

1974 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 1057-1066 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Perry Jeffries ◽  
William C. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Rhode Island ◽  
Homarus Americanus ◽  
Narragansett Bay ◽  
Winter Flounder ◽  
Pseudopleuronectes Americanus ◽  
Commercial Catch ◽  
Average Temperature ◽  
Climatic Trends ◽  
Bay Area ◽  
Time Required

Weekly bottom trawl samples taken in Narragansett Bay and Rhode Island Sound from January 1966 through December 1972 showed patterns of occurrence within a diverse assemblage of migratory and resident stocks. Relative abundance of winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus), the commonest species in the Bay, appeared to be associated with climatic trends but not with fishing pressure. Catch decreased 78% from 1968 to 1972. Average temperature during 30-mo periods, the time required for flounder to reach catchable size, explained 76% of variation in abundance through the study. Annual abundance in the Bay is also reflected 2–3 yr later in the commercial catch. A speculative explanation for control of the population in an estuarine nursery is developed, based on subtle climatic trends whose effects have been magnified many times over by competitive processes among migratory populations.The sand flounder (Scophthalmus aquosus), second in general abundance, varied far less than the winter flounder. Catches of the lobster (Homarus americanus) and winter flounder were directly related, both on a monthly as well as yearly basis. The remaining species of numerical importance appeared to avoid peak abundances of one another in the Bay and Sound; rarely did seasonal maxima of two or more species occur during the same month.

scholarly journals Comparison of Guekensia Demissa Populations Along a Nitrogen Loading Gradient in Narragansett Bay, RI

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janis Hall
Keyword(s):  
Rhode Island ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
Salt Marshes ◽  
Condition Index ◽  
Nitrogen Loading ◽  
Narragansett Bay ◽  
The Other ◽  
Nitrogen Levels ◽  
Ribbed Mussels ◽  
Ribbed Mussel

<p>Anthropogenic eutrophication of coastal estuaries impacts these vital ecosystems by increasing primary production, hypoxic conditions, pathogen concentration, and greenhouse gas emissions, all of which are leading to the degradation of shorelines, disease transmission, and hypoxia-related fish kills. Narragansett Bay is a prominent feature of Rhode Island, making up over 500 km of coastline and acting as a watershed for over 2,000 square meters of land in both Massachusetts and Rhode Island. This estuary is important to both the economy of the state of Rhode Island and its fringing ecosystems are necessary for a healthy shoreline. The beaches of Narragansett Bay revenue over $5 billion a year in tourism, stimulate more than 40,000 jobs, and are a source of many economically important marine organisms such as oysters, mussels, hard shell clams, finfish, and lobsters. The numerous fringing habitats of Narragansett Bay, including rocky intertidal zones, seagrasses, and estuarine marshes all play important roles for the coastline of Rhode Island, with salt marshes accounting for more than 600 ha of the shoreline.</p> <p>Salt marshes along Narragansett Bay serve many ecological roles including water quality maintenance, storm surge reduction, erosion control, and habitat and food to fish and wildlife. The ribbed mussel, Geukensia demissa is the biomass-dominant benthic invertebrate in coastal marshes and is a foundation species, providing habitats for other organisms. Ribbed mussels have also been found to be a useful indicator species of nitrogen levels within Narragansett Bay, exhibiting increases in nitrogen-loads with greater biomass, density, and growth rates, and the <strong>δ</strong>15N signatures of G. demissa tissues reflect anthropogenic-derived nitrogen. The purpose of my thesis was to compare ribbed mussel populations in some of the same salt marshes along the well-documented nitrogen-loading gradient, 14 years after the previous studies and following the installation of one phase of a two-part wastewater reduction program into the bay. In addition, my work is part of a larger effort to investigate changes in greenhouse gas emissions by plants, sediment microbiota, and gut microbiota in the ribbed mussels, in response nitrogen-loading and elevated temperatures. Characterizing the mussel populations is integral to understanding the effects of global change on the Narragansett Bay ecosystem.</p> <p>The density, biomass, condition index, and growth rates of ribbed mussels were all positively correlated with the nitrogen-loading gradient in Narragansett Bay. Fecundity did not follow the same pattern but was significantly greater in June at one of the marshes and was negatively correlated with shell length and condition index. These results suggest that although mussels reproduce continuously, gametogenesis and spawning may have occurred prior to sampling. Another unexpected outcome is that with greater food availability resulting from nitrogen-loading, there are both costs and benefits. At the marsh with the highest nitrogen levels, Apponaug, the recruitment, growth, and condition index of the mussels were all significantly greater than at the other two marshes, but the high density may have limited the size of the mussels or even contributed to higher rates of mortality through intraspecific competition. At the opposite end of the nitrogen-loading gradient, mussels at Fox Hill had the greatest average shell length, but the density, biomass, condition index, recruitment, and growth rates were significantly lower than the other two marshes, suggesting that this less perturbed marsh may still be nitrogen-limited despite the historical nitrogen-loading in Narragansett Bay.</p> <p>The results from this study are critical for documenting the variation among the ribbed mussel populations within differing nitrogen-loaded marshes, but will also be used as a benchmark for a longer-term study analyzing the historical responses of this species to changes in nutrient loads into Narragansett Bay.</p>

Estimating growth and mortality of juvenile winter flounder, Pseudopleuronectes americanus, with a length-based model

2001 ◽  
Vol 58 (11) ◽  
pp. 2233-2246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison K DeLong ◽  
Jeremy S Collie ◽  
Carol J Meise ◽  
J Christopher Powell
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Rhode Island ◽  
High Growth ◽  
High Growth Rate ◽  
Narragansett Bay ◽  
Winter Flounder ◽  
Individual Growth ◽  
Pseudopleuronectes Americanus ◽  
Maximum Likelihood Methods ◽  
Decreasing Functions

This study quantifies the combined effects of density and environmental factors on young-of-the-year (YOY) winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus) in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island. We used a length-based model to estimate growth and mortality rates from June to October each year from 1988 to 1998. In this model, mortality and growth rates are decreasing functions of length and there is variability in individual growth. Maximum-likelihood methods were used to fit the model to length-frequency data collected by the Rhode Island Division of Fish and Wildlife beach-seine survey in Narragansett Bay during the study years. The monthly mortality rate was density dependent and was positively related to temperature. Growth rate was negatively related to density. There was a significant decline in YOY winter flounder abundance during the period of study. The most recent year of the study, 1998, had the lowest density, lowest mortality, low summer temperature, and high growth rate. Thus, growth and mortality during the juvenile stage do not appear to be limiting the recovery of this depleted winter flounder population.

Impact of elevated temperature on the growth, survival, and trophic dynamics of winter flounder larvae: a mesocosm study

2000 ◽  
Vol 57 (12) ◽  
pp. 2382-2392 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aimee A Keller ◽  
Grace Klein-MacPhee
Keyword(s):  
Rhode Island ◽  
Narragansett Bay ◽  
Winter Flounder ◽  
Trophic Dynamics ◽  
Zooplankton Abundance ◽  
Pseudopleuronectes Americanus ◽  
Egg Survival ◽  
Cumulative Impact ◽  
Commercial Fish ◽  
The Impact

Winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus) is a dominant commercial fish in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, and yet factors controlling its recruitment remain unclear. An experiment was conducted with six 13-m3 land-based mesocosms (5 m deep) from February to April 1997 to address the impact of increased temperature (+3°C) on growth, survival, and trophic dynamics of winter flounder larvae. Objectives were to determine if warmer winter temperatures result in lower survival of winter flounder as a result of increased predator activity or if temperature-induced alterations in the food web result in greater food availability, perhaps leading to increased survival. Analyses of variance revealed significant (P < 0.05) or near-significant (P < 0.10) differences in phytoplankton and zooplankton abundance and biomass between warm and cool mesocosms. Winter flounder egg survival, percent hatch, time to hatch, and initial size were significantly greater in cool systems (P < 0.05). Mortality rates were lower in cool systems and significantly related to the abundance of active predators (P < 0.05). The cumulative impact of decreased survival of eggs and larvae in warm systems may partially explain the decline of winter flounder in Narragansett Bay, which has experienced elevated winter water temperatures in recent years.

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