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2008 Annual Monitoring Report (pdf 10.9MB) - Bolsa Chica ...

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<strong>Bolsa</strong> <strong>Chica</strong> Lowlands Restoration <strong>Monitoring</strong><br />

<strong>2008</strong> <strong>Annual</strong> <strong>Report</strong><br />

As the system continues to evolve it is expected that soil conditions may become more interesting and<br />

useful in understanding controls on vegetation structure or gaps within particular locations of interest.<br />

However, to adequately study the linkage between the development of new or restored marsh<br />

communities and the soil conditions, a much more focused study would be needed. While many<br />

interesting questions on the subject could be answered by more intensive studies, the present<br />

monitoring program does not substantially contribute to the larger objective of the present monitoring<br />

program, which is to document the habitat improvements achieved for wildlife by the restoration, to<br />

document the success of revegetation efforts, and to identify management needs to correct observed<br />

shortcomings in desired habitat development.<br />

Based on this circumstance, continued collection of soils data in Year 5, following the same<br />

monitoring structure, is not expected to yield substantial additional data for meeting the fundamental<br />

project goals. Therefore it is recommended that the collected soils data from <strong>2008</strong> serve as a baseline<br />

data set that can be revisited if future vegetation monitoring reveals any areas of concern, and that the<br />

Year 5 monitoring be removed from the program. If, after further vegetation development, particular<br />

areas of concerns exist regarding the absence of vegetation or undesirable vegetation conditions<br />

develop, a more focused soils investigation may be appropriate at that time.<br />

Recommendations<br />

• Use collected soil data from <strong>2008</strong> as a baseline data set.<br />

• Remove Year 5 monitoring from the program.<br />

1.3. FISH COMMUNITY MONITORING<br />

Introduction<br />

The <strong>Monitoring</strong> Plan calls for fisheries monitoring to be conducted in Years 2, 5, and 10 following the<br />

opening of the FTB to the ocean. The <strong>Bolsa</strong> <strong>Chica</strong> Steering Committee decided to collect an additional<br />

year of data in Year 3 as well. The first sampling event of Year 2 was conducted during the prior<br />

reporting period, in October 2007. The remainder of the Year 2 monitoring and the first quarter of the<br />

Year 3 monitoring were conducted during the present reporting period (January to December <strong>2008</strong>).<br />

Methodology<br />

Fisheries sampling was conducted over a two-day period each quarter to obtain the appropriate tidal<br />

elevations for each gear type. During <strong>2008</strong> surveys were conducted during daylight hours on January<br />

17 and 24, April 2 and 7, July 7 and 17, and October 15 and 27. Additional sampling in the MTBs was<br />

conducted on July 7 and November 24. Each quarter, sampling was done at Stations 1 and 2 in the<br />

FTB and in the Muted Pocket Marsh (MPM) (Figure 1-1). Limited sampling was done in the west<br />

MTB in April, July, and October after tidal waters had been introduced into the basin.<br />

Sampling equipment included an otter trawl, purse seine, and large beach seine at Stations 1 and 2 and<br />

a large beach seine only in the MPM. A variety of depth, current, substrate, and exposure conditions<br />

exist within each station, each of which encompass large areas. To characterize the fish communities<br />

that utilize the large sampling stations, three replicates hauls were made across each station, using gear<br />

as indicated in Figure 1-7. A small beach seine was used in the MTBs.<br />

Merkel & Associates, Inc. 37

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