Environment Southland Estuary Health monitoring programme

Physical and biological monitoring of estuaries within the Southland region for Environment Southland. Sampling sites are located in the New River; Jacobs River; Waikawa Estuaries, Toetoes Harbour, Haldane Estuary, Bluff Harbour, Waiau Lagoon, Waimatuku and Freshwater Estuary on Stewart Island.

Sampling frequency = 3-5 yearly for benthic and sediment sampling, 5-7yearly for habitat mapping (mid Feb).

Sampling began in 2001 (not at all sites) and is ongoing.

Number of sites = 10 estuaries (2-3 sites per estuary).

Extent of site = 1800m2 (60m x 30m).

Number of replicates = 10 infaunal cores, quadrats and sediment samples per site, 4 sediment plates per site.

Measured variables = Infaunal communities (species identified to lowest taxonomic level possible and enumerated). Epifaunal quadrat (0.25m2).

Sediment characteristics: Grain size, ash free dry weight, redox (in field), nitrogen, phosphorus, cadmium, nickel, lead, zinc, chromium and copper. Sediment erosion/deposition (cm/y): depth of sediment layer measured (using 4 sediment plates buries at most sites).

Sampling protocol & QA = Benthic and sediment sampling use similar methods to those outlined by Robertson et al. (2002).

Internal QA procedures. Larger fauna are indentified internally with small and cryptic animals sent to external taxonomic experts. Sediment analysis external (Malvern Particle Analyser).

Baseline habitat information for estuaries started 2001-2007, entire south coast mapped 2008 (Coastal Risk Assessment): Broad-scale habitat (vegetation and substrate types) mapping as per the National Estuary Monitoring Protocol (Robertson et al. 2002): combination of aerial photography, detailed ground-truthing (info gathered in the field) and GIS-based digital mapping are used to record the primary habitat features present.

Citation proposal
. Environment Southland Estuary Health monitoring programme. https://dc.niwa.co.nz:/niwa_dc/srv/api/records/432669e9-c7c3-456d-8036-12bc2566631a

Simple

Date

Collective title: Robertson, B.; Gillespie, P.; Asher, R.; Frisk, S.; Keeley, N.; Hopkins, G.; Thompson, S.J.; Tuckey, B.J. 2002. Estuarine Environmental Assessment and Monitoring, A National Protocol. Part A. Development, Part B. Appendices and Part C. Application. Prepared for supporting Councils and the Ministry for the Environment, Sustainable Management Fund Contract No.5096. Part A. 93p. Part B. 159p. Part C 40p plus field sheets.

Credit: Environment Southland

Status: On going

Point of contact

Environment Southland - Greg Larkin

Corner of North Road and Price Street, Waikiwi Invercargill 9810 New Zealand

+64 3 2115115 or 0800 768845 (within New Zealand)

+64 3 2115252

Website: Environment Southland
Link to Environment Southland website

Keywords

marine estuarine coastal benthic soft ecological chemistry physical visual observation core aerial photograph

Specific usage: MEMP

Use limitation: Restricted. Permission required (Environment Southland) to access data/reports.

Metadata language: eng

Character set: UTF8

Topic category

Environment

Description: New River; Jacobs River; Waikawa Estuaries, Toetoes Harbour, Haldane Estuary, Bluff Harbour, Waiau Lagoon, Waimatuku and Freshwater Estuary on Stewart Island.

OnLine resource: Point of truth URL of this metadata record
Point of truth URL of this metadata record

OnLine resource: Link to the report in Water 2010 Our Ecosystems State of Environment Report
Link to the report in Water 2010 Our Ecosystems State of Environment Report

Hierarchy level: Dataset

Statement

No QA procedure mentioned. Geographic data displayed in ArcGIS. Temporal data were in NZST.

Data collection information: Infaunal core = 150mm tall x 130mm diameter, intertidal quadrat = 0.5m x 0.5m, sediment sample = top 20mm surface sediment collected, metal sediment plates, arial photographs (approx 0.75m/pixel resolution, colour)The origin from which the maximum and minimum values are measured: mean sea level.