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The Coastal America Foundation was formed by a group of nationally recognized marine scientists to provide a tax-deductible vehicle that funds local communities participating in national programs for ecological restoration, marine scientific research and education. This is accomplished by supporting the local communities cost sharing in projects being implemented by the highly successful Coastal America partnership. The partnership leverages the funding authorities and staff capabilities of numerous federal and state agencies. The Coastal America Foundation supports restoration, research, education and outreach in the coastal environments and their watersheds.

Removal of abandoned dams and the restoration of tidally restricted salt marshes are only two examples of the types of projects that the Coastal America Foundation will support. These and other projects will actively improve the coastal environments of North America and directly improve our fisheries habitats and that of many threatened and endangered species.

The volunteer scientists of the foundation, however, have identified that more projects can be implemented if additional local cost sharing funds were available to encourage state and local participation in federal programs. Since the projects meet the stringent criteria of the national Coastal America partnership agencies, the investment of Foundation funds are assured to be in regionally important and nationally significant projects.

The Coastal America Foundation provides challenge match funding through a Standing Committee entitled the Corporate Wetlands Restoration Partnership. to allow non-federal entities to cost share with federal programs that restore coastal ecosystems, condusct scientific research or encourages education that leads to the betterment of the environment. By relying on federal programs to implement projects and provide the predominance of the funding, we are assured that the projects are of the highest quality and meet government standards.

The Foundation supports semi-annual Student Ocean Art Contests and Student Ocean Summits conducted by the international Coastal America Partnership. (www.CoastalAmerica.Gov).

Current research activities include climate change baselines, benthic community studies and water quality monitoring. For Example: Temperature and Benthic Studies in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts Executive Summary: The annual maximum temperature of Buzzards Bay in southeastern Massachusetts has increased and resulted in a biotic signal of lobster migration to cooler waters in August/September. Comprehensive benthic community studies of Buzzards Bay have not been conducted in over 50 years. The temporal change in lobster forage has prompted the New England Fisheries Management Council to consider drastic stock management options (NEFMS, 2010). The quantification of this seasonal temperature maximum will be documented. The temperature affect identified by lobster fishery catch exhibits at the benthic boundary layer will be reviewed. The 1956 benthic stations sampled by Sanders (Sanders, 1958) will be re-occupied to examine any benthic community differences discernable. Ecological Issues: The warming of southeastern New England waters has produced several affects in biological communities. While these warming trends are anecdotal, the harvest of lobsters experiences lows in the warmer summer months. The long term benthic community structure may be stable, but those motile species such as lobsters may migrate into cooler waters of higher dissolved oxygen. This temporal event has prompted public hearings (NEFMS, 2010) and speculation by the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF, 2010) that drastic harvest restriction in Buzzards Bay and Southern New England may be necessary. Materials and Methods Five stations will be occupied with Onset data loggers for Temperature (to 0.01 C) in upper Buzzards Bay from mid- May through mid-October. The 1956 Sanders upper Buzzards Bay benthic community structure stations will be re-sampled with a 0.04 meter square Van Veen Grab. One shallow benthic station will also be occupied for community comparison. Temperature will be sampled every 15 minutes at 0.5 meters above the sediment at 5 stations in upper Buzzards Bay. Each station will have paired deployments of Onset Model UA-002-64 data loggers. The loggers will record from mid-May through mid-October to document the temperature rise and subsidence. Each data logger will be downloaded monthly to ensure data integrity. Each benthic community structure will be sampled with 3 replicates using a 1/25 square meter Van Veen grab. Samples will be screened through a 0.5 micron sieve and preserved in formalin with a rose Bengal vital stain. Sorted samples will be identified to species and a reference collection will be established. Results Anticipated: Benthic species dominance will be compared between the 1956 and 2011 samples. Temperature results will be compared to all existing data discernable for detection of any trends. Data collected by the EPA Buzzards Bay program and other ancillary studies will be reviewed for relevance. The difference in species dominance between 1956 and 2011 benthic community structure will be examined. The temperature profile will be established for future monitoring. It is assumed that dissolved oxygen will be saturated and related to temperature. Data loggers will take dissolve oxygen at the benthic bioundary layer every 15 minutes during July, August, September and into October. Monthly dissolved oxygen, temperature and salinity profiles will also be taken with an YSI-85 Meter. Water grabs will be taken at surface, mid depth and bottom for pH analysis with a Milwaukee MW102 pH/Temperature meter. Secchi depth will also be recorded. Video of all stations and of Buzzards Bay hard substrate epi-fauna will be obtained with a Sea Viewer Sea-Drop 950 video recorder system.

Data Management All data and field notes will be maintained digitally and backed up weekly online. Final data will be maintained in the Coastal America Foundation archives and donated to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute library to complement the archives of Dr. Howard Sanders seminal benthic work in the 1950’s.

Outcomes Narrative This activity will establish a climate change benchmark for a particularly sensitive estuary in the Northeast US. Specific water quality data, at 15 minute intervals, will be obtained and related to ecological health. The Coastal America Foundation has their research vessel deployed in Buzzards Bay and the current scientific staff are well skilled at benthic ecology. Hard science will be available to increase public awareness of impending climate change adaptation needs. References DMF, 2010 – Division of Marine Fisheries News, Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, Volume 3: 4th Quarter 2010. NEFMS, 2010 – New England Fisheries Management Council, Public Hearings on propose lobster management in southern New England. Saunders 1958 – Benthic Studies in Buzzards Bay: I. Animal-Sediment Relationships, Howard L. Sanders, Limnology and Oceanography; Volume III, No. 3 - 1958.

www.CoastalAmericaFoundation.org

"Papers of Howard L. Sanders, 1956-1996. MC-42, "Buzzards Bay, 1956." Data Library and Archives, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution." Here's a link to the finding aid for the collection in case you need to refer to it: file:///C:/eadcb/EADFiles/completed%20EAD/MC-42brief_Sanders.html