Long-term monitoring of ecological communities in Kachemak Bay
Project Description
This project is part of the larger Gulf Watch Alaska long-term monitoring program. Within Kachemak Bay, we annually evaluate abundance and distribution of rocky intertidal plants and invertebrates, the abundance and size frequency of clams and mussels on gravel beaches, and selected environmental parameters. In collaboration with the Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, we also monitor sea otter abundance, diet and carcasses, and seabird carcasses. We use established sampling procedures that allow us to compare our data with those collected in other regions of the Gulf Watch Alaska Program, such as Prince William Sound, Kenai Fjords, and Katmai. Our overall goal is to determine the important environmental drivers structuring biological communities and assess the impact of external drivers against natural variability in these dynamic systems. Kachemak Bay may be able to act as a control if an oil spill were to occur in the Sound again.
Project Funding
Exxon Valdex Oil Spill Trustee Council
Start Date: 2011-00-00
End Date: 2016-00-00
Konar B, K Iken, H Coletti, T Dean and D Monson. (2015). S"tatic habitat attributes influence biological variability in intertidal communities in the central Gulf of Alaska". Poster presentation at the Alaska Marine Science Symposium in Anchorage Alaska January 2015.
Iken K and B Konar. (2014). "Strong local dynamics of intertidal communities in Kachemak Bay – a Gulf Watch program". Poster presentation at the Alaska Marine Science Symposium in Anchorage Alaska January 2014.
Konar B and K Iken. (2013). "Long-term monitoring of coastal rocky beaches in Kachemak Bay". Poster Presentation at the Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage Alaska, January 2013.
Bellachy B and many others, including B Konar. (2013). "Monitoring Nearshore Marine Ecosystems in the Gulf of Alaska: Detecting change and understanding cause". Poster Presentation at the Alaska Marine Science Symposium, Anchorage Alaska, January 2013.
Konar B, K Iken. (2012). "Monitoring of rocky coastal communities as part of the Gulf Watch Alaska Program." Oral presentation at the Western Society of Naturalists meeting in Ventura California. Nov 7-10 2012.
Research Team
Brenda Konar
Principal Investigator
Associate Dean of Research and Administration; Director of Institute of Marine Science; Director of Coastal Marine Institute; Professor
Specialties:
- ADD CONTENT
Katrin Iken
Co-Principal Investigator
Professor
Specialties:
- Trophic interactions and food web analysis
- Benthic diversity and communities
- Stable isotope analysis
- Phycology and invertebrate ecology
- Shallow water ecology and deep-sea biology
- Polar marine biology
Angela Doroff
Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve