Fuller 2018 tnc port susan bay final monitoring report

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Fuller 2018 tnc port susan bay final monitoring report.pdf
Fuller, Roger N. 2018. Port Susan Bay Estuary Restoration Project: Final Monitoring Report. Report prepared for The Nature Conservancy. 100pp.

Notes[edit]

  • Summarizes the findings of several research groups that monitored The Nature Conservancy's 2012 restoration project at the mouth of Hatt Slough. Groups include WWU, USGS-PCMSC, USGS-WERC, and SRSC.
  • The restoration site has less tidal marsh vegetation then predicted, due in part to a large die-back event in 2015 that may have resulted from the interaction of multiple sources of stress, including herbivorous insects, extremely low river flows during spring and summer, and pre-restoration site conditions.
  • The plant species predicted to become most common, Schoenoplectus pungens (3-square bulrush), is only present at trace levels, possibly due to soil-related sources of stress.
  • Accretion on the restoration site is substantially higher than reference marshes, and currently exceeds rates of sea level rise projected through 2100.
  • New tidal channel length substantially exceeds the predicted length. However an underlying hardpan layer may be limiting channel depth and site drainage rates.
  • The project objective of increasing sediment and freshwater delivery to the estuary north of the restoration site has not been achieved as of 2017.
  • Lessons learned are summarized in 4 categories: Restoration design elements, Design and construction process, Monitoring, and Species, habitat, and ecosystem responses.