Restoration of Jamaica Bay fringing habitats: post-Sandy status and new approaches for a resilient future
Steven N. Handel, Rutgers University; Christina M. K. Kaunzinger, Rutgers University; Myla F. J. Aronson, Rutgers University; Marcia S. Meixler, Rutgers University
Jamaica Bay has changed enormously over the past 300 years under human influence. Over 12,000 of the original 16,000 acres of wetlands have been lost and fill has expanded the uplands into the Bay. The landscape fringing the Bay has changed from a natural coastal gradient of expansive marshes bordered by salt shrub and maritime forest into a dense metropolitan area. The biotic community of New York City has also changed with hundreds of new species arriving from abroad, and many of the natives lost.The change is continuing, with massive climate and sea level changes projected. A reasonable question now may be, is resilience possible as the Bay water rises and knocks against the doors of Brooklyn and Queens? The future character and ecological health of Jamaica Bay may require management more active and of a different quality than in the past.
This project will lay the foundation of our knowledge of the fringing vegetation of Jamaica Bay and learn how it is responding to new ecological stresses. In this study we will assess the impact of Hurricane Sandy, as a precedent for future storms, and identify vulnerable habitat areas. We will investigate the capacity for inland migration of these habitats, and test restoration steps to increase resiliency to storms and sea level rise. The results will inform resiliency efforts in many coastal areas.
The vegetation fringing Jamaica Bay follows an elevational gradient from marsh to salt shrub to maritime forest. Disturbances can produce coastal grasslands, of great value to wildlife. We will lose the lower elevation landscapes with sea level rise; will the elements of this vegetation be able to survive by migrating away from the rising waters? Are restoration science interventions needed to facilitate this change? These are critical habitats, harboring many species of concern. Also, Jamaica Bay stands as a model for coastal urban wilds of enormous value, ecological services, as well as high recreational use, for our citizens. Resiliency at the Bay serves our society in many ways as well as our biodiversity.
This project will link many levels of data; landscape-scale spatial data, local observational data, current and future scenarios, and experimental data. Expected products from these studies will include: GIS geodatabase of Superstorm Sandy degradation impacts across the Jamaica Bay fringing vegetation, and which habitat types were resilient to the storm surge; evaluation of ecosystem services loss given Sandy’s impacts; GIS model decision-making tool for predicting damage and ecosystem services loss under varying climate change scenarios; climate change prediction results for scenarios including storms of different intensities and extents; alternate restoration prediction results for some scenarios. The product from vegetation assessment work at Penn-Fountain Landfill will be a manual of success and failure of recent habitat restoration activities under degraded conditions. Results of experimental treatments of vegetation spread and performance will show mode and speed of population movement of critical plant species.
Funding: Department of Interior, National Park Service
Project Period: November 2014 – October 2016
