Summer Collaborations at Project GreenShores

Through the Pensacola and Perdido Bay Estuary Program’s Collaborative Science to Assess Restoration Success (C-STARS) project, our team has been investigating the relationship between living shorelines and seagrasses. At one site, Project GreenShores (PGS), a large-scale living shoreline site in downtown Pensacola, 2 different species of seagrasses (Halodule wrightii and Ruppia maritima) have been confirmed, but not mapped. Using our RTK device, we surveyed the entirety of PGS (Sites I and II) via snorkel and to confirm presence/absence and traced seagrass boundaries, walking the perimeters of patches to map individual “polygons,” and recording species and density within each. Our surveys also involved reviewing historical aerial imagery and “ground-truthing” in the field by investigating darker patches to confirm if seagrass was present. These mapping efforts were paired with traditional quadrat SAV sampling to determine percent cover, species composition, and canopy height. This data will help us answer questions about the spatial extent of each seagrass species, if there are specific establishment characteristics, where transitions occur, and how seagrass extent is changing overtime.
In addition to seagrass surveys, the Oyster Corps crew has been assisting at Project Greenshores to help us pickup debris and manage a nuisance plant that was blocking access to one of our Spartina collection sites and smothering the natives. It’s nice to be able to see the shoreline again and our beautiful restoration project.