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Stewardship at the Waquoit Bay NERR, MA
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Mission
The Waquoit Bay Reserve’s Stewardship Program provides long-term protection of natural resources associated with the Reserve and serves to model responsible management practices to other organizations and individuals in nearby coastal communities. This involves a wide range of activities including land acquisition, habitat mapping, ecological restoration, resource inventories, biological monitoring, watershed management projects, endangered species protection, forest and vegetation management, prescribed fire management, recreation management, regional planning, policy development and more.
Priority Topics
Land-use Change and Land Acquisition
Research at the Reserve has shown that land use change, particularly residential development, in the Waquoit Bay watershed has resulted in drastic impacts to estuarine resources. A key component of the Reserve's efforts to protect the quality of the land and water ecosystems within the Reserve is the preservation of undeveloped land in and around the Waquoit Bay watershed. Land acquisition by the Reserve provides increased opportunities for research and education activities. Such protection of undeveloped land also provides many associated benefits to coastal communities in the form of aesthetic values, controlled recreational access, limitations to increases in traffic, and protection of drinking water resources. Land acquisition activities are implemented in conjunction with the Reserve’s participation in the Mashpee National Wildlife Refuge Conservation Partnership.
Waquoit Bay and some surrounding uplands were designated as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) in 1979. ACECs are places in Massachusetts that receive special recognition because of the quality, uniqueness, and significance of their natural and cultural resources. The State Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) administers the ACEC Program and closely coordinates with the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (MCZM) regarding coastal ACECs.
Protected Species Management
There are two species of concern on Reserve property; the piping plover and the least tern. The Federal government lists the piping plover as a threatened species of shore bird. Piping plovers presently nest in limited numbers on South Cape Beach and the beach at the southern end of Washburn Island. Because their eggs are laid on the ground and are well camouflaged, they are often accidentally damaged or destroyed by human actions. Nests on the ground also make the eggs easily accessible to predators. The Reserve’s Seasonal Shorebird Manager works in cooperation with the Massachusetts Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Environmental Law Enforcement (DFWELE) and the Massachusetts Audubon Society. The Reserve trains volunteers to 1) recognize signs of mating and nesting activity and 2) to erect predator exclusion fences to protect eggs and hatchlings. Volunteers inform beach-goers about risks to the birds’ nests and chicks from dogs, flying kites, and other human activities on the beach. The seasonal shorebird manager tallies adult bird pairs and egg and fledgling numbers.
The Reserve contains several small areas of remnant coastal sandplain grassland. This once common natural community is now rare because it has been replaced by coastal development. The Reserve uses mechanical methods of prescribed fire to control natural succession and restore sandplain grassland habitat on Washburn Island and at the headquarters site. These activities promote the rare natural community and species that compromise it, including Agalinis acuta (sandplain gerardia) and Liatris borealis (New Engalnd blazing star). Agalinis is on the Federal endangered species list and Liatris is a state-listed plant of special concern.
Habitat Restoration
The Waquoit Bay watershed, like most coastal areas in the Northeast U.S., has a long history of human alteration. Even the lands and waters that are now protected within the Reserve and appear “natural” have been altered from their pre-colonial condition and may not be providing the full ecological functions that they once did (or could). Several projects have been implemented and/or are currently underway to restore ecological function to disturbed areas.
- Estuarine Eelgrass and Benthic Communities: Eutrophication is the most significant issue affecting the Waquoit Bay ecosystem. Continually increasing nitrogen loads from wastewater, fertilizer and atmospheric sources have led to drastic shifts in estuarine habitats. Eelgrass habitat, critical to fish and shellfish communities, was once plentiful. It is now completely missing from the main Bay and is disappearing from the few subembayments where it remains. In addition to eelgrass loss, eutrophication has led to a variety of other changes that affect benthic communities throughout the estuary by changing dissolved oxygen conditions and bottom substrate. The solution to eutrophication is to reduce the amount of nutrients getting to the Bay from its watershed and airshed. Success will require changes at the local, regional and even national level. Despite the daunting scale of the task, WBNERR is actively engaged in activities to restore the health of Waquoit Bay's eelgrass and benthic communities.
- Quashnet River: The Quashnet River is the largest tributary stream of Waquoit Bay and an example of the coastal cold-water, low-gradient streams unique to glacial outwash plains of the region. Historically, it was famous for its anadromous fish runs of river herring and native sea-run brook trout. It also supports a catadromous run of American eels. A combination of human impacts—including dam construction, overfishing and intense agricultural practices—had degraded the physical habitat in the Quashnet River. For more than 30 years, Trout Unlimited and the MA DFW have worked to reclaim the Quashnet as a trout stream and, coincidentally, improve habitat for a diverse community of fish, invertebrates, birds and other native animals and plants. WBNERR has contributed to the restoration effort by planting and monitoring experimental plots for different types of revegetation, providing technical advice about revegetation and habitat structures, coordinating AmeriCorp group project days, and assisting with restoration monitoring. The Reserve intends to continue to work with Trout Unlimited and the DFW to improve the habitat to restore the intertwined river-bay ecosystem.
- South Cape Beach Saltmarsh: The South Cape Beach Salt Marsh is an approximately 15-acre marsh of the Waquoit Bay estuary, located within the Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve and the Town of Mashpee, MA. The associated undersized and failing culverts, which have been removed and replaced with a small bridge and box culvert respectively, convey tidal exchange between the bay and Sage Lot Pond through the South Cape Beach Salt Marsh, upstream toward Flat Pond. Tidal exchange to this marsh was restricted by these two crossings and had resulted in degraded ecological functioning including reduced quality fish and wildlife habitat, susceptibility to invasion by Phragmites australis, and diminished ability to attenuate pollution.The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) / Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (WBNERR) in partnership with the Town of Mashpee, the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management – Wetlands Restoration Program (CZM-WRP), and the Corporate Wetlands Restoration Partnership (CWRP) sought assistance from NOAA’s Community-based Restoration Program (CRP) to restore the South Cape Beach Salt Marsh. All aspects of the project are now complete.
- Coastal Sandplain: The Reserve contains several small areas of remnant coastal sandplain grassland. This once common natural community is now rare because it has been replaced by coastal development, or because the wildfire disturbances that once maintained it are now arrested. The Reserve uses mechanical methods and prescribed fire to control natural succession and restore sandplain grassland habitat on Washburn Island and at the headquarters site. These activities promote the rare natural community and species that comprise it, including Agalinis acuta (sandplain gerardia) and Liatris borealis (New England blazing star). Agalinis is on the Federal endangered species list and Liatris is a state-listed plant of special concern.
- Abigail Brook: Abigail Brook is a small, wetland-fringed tributary on the east side of Waquoit Bay. The Cape Cod Atlas of Tidally Restricted Saltmarshes, prepared by the Cape Cod Commission, describes the culvert under Great Hay Road as a tidal restriction. Replacement of this culvert with a larger structure will allow natural tidal flows to return to this altered wetland with positive effects on the plant and animal community. This project is currently being considered for future implementation by the Reserve with partner organizations: MA CZM Wetland Restoration Program, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
- Sand Dunes: Foot passage through the dune areas of South Cape Beach State Park has damaged the dune grasses and the dunes. Dune restoration will be accomplished through a combination of boardwalk construction, fencing, dune planting, signage, and outreach.
Last Updated on: Friday, October 16, 2009
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