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Freshwater and anchaialine pool habitats, Pacific Islands

Project Number: 9716C5S
Project Chief: Anne Brasher, USGS Salt Lake City, Utah
Cooperator:
Period of Project: July 2005 to September 2010

PROBLEM

Freshwater and anchialine biological habitats are a finite resource in the Pacific Island Network (PACN). These areas have often been modified or obliterated through land use practices, including agricultural, residential and commercial development. Inland aquatic habitats are extremely valuable for their natural ecosystem services as well as their support of traditional agricultural and gathering practices. Documentation of historic and contemporary spatial extents of these habitats and basic biotic inventories are needed to help resource managers understand the degree of habitat loss and establish priorities for conservation of remaining habitats.

OBJECTIVES

1. Develop and test a rigorous set of protocols for long-term monitoring of fish, shrimp, and snail communities found in National parks of the Pacific Island Network (Hawaii, Samoa, Guam)./li>
2. Document changes in the distribution, abundance or diversity of invasive species./li>
3. Document the nature of the distribution, abundance, or diversity of native species, including both natural fluctuations as well as those caused by external influences such as habitat alteration and introduced species.
4. Conduct pilot implementation of proposed methods of aquatic study sites selected to represent a broad range of hydrogeomorphic settings found in PACN parks./li>

APPROACH

Project will conduct a literature review of Pacific Island macro invertebrate literature and from this build a conceptual model. Sampling and analysis protocols will be developed to monitor invertebrates with the conceptual model. These protocols will be field tested and then published.