Preliminary results from the 2018 Niagara River National Coastal Condition Assessment pilot survey

Session: Connecting Management Needs and Science Information (1)

Matthew Pawlowski, EPA-Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, [email protected]
Molly Wick, EPA, Oak Ridge Institute for Science, [email protected]
David Bolgrien, US Environmental Protection Agency, [email protected]
Mari Nord, U.S. EPA Region 5, [email protected]
Anne Cotter, EPA, [email protected]
Mark Pearson, US EPA, [email protected]
Theodore Angradi, U.S. EPA Mid-Continent Ecology Division, [email protected]

Abstract

The first system-wide probabilistic survey of ecological conditions in the Niagara River was completed during summer of 2018 as part of a pilot study to incorporate Great Lakes connecting channels (GLCC) into the National Costal Condition Assessment (NCCA).  The Niagara River is part of the Niagara-Buffalo Area of Concern and previous studies have primarily focused on specific areas in the upper river thought to be particularly degraded. Past surveys of the other GLCC (Huron-Erie corridor in 2014-2015 and St. Marys River in 2015-2016) suggest that sampling designs that use random vs. hand-picked sampling locations can generate very different results for ecological conditions. Using lessons learned in past surveys, we incorporated 60 random probability sites in order to assure statistical power in condition estimates and 15 hand-picked sites at locations routinely sampled by the other interest groups to demonstrate that the survey can capture the full range of conditions in the system and to compliment work being done by other stakeholders.  Here we provide an overview of the sampling design and present preliminary results on for ecological conditions in the Niagara River in 2018.  We also share insights that may inform future surveys of this and other systems.