From the Field

Jeanne O'Rourke | May 14, 2021 | Magazines

Whimbrels in flight. Credit: Alan Kneidel.

Manomet Staff

Despite the continuing restrictions due to COVID, most of our research and monitoring efforts have adapted and are continuing to move forward. Read on for some updates straight from Manomet’s science staff and learn more about their current work, research methods, and goals for the coming months and years.

Shorebirds and Aquaculture in Mexico

During shrimp harvest, aquaculture ponds provide important feeding sites for thousands of shorebirds in northwestern Mexico. In mid-2020, we evaluated the management of water levels in ponds harvested from two farms in the region, covering an area of 2,421 acres. During this period, we increased the amount of time these ponds held water after being harvested and observed that shorebirds used these ponds for a longer period of time compared to the other ponds. In workshops with our partners and stakeholders, we demonstrated that with a few simple measures, farmers can support bird conservation without affecting their production system. In 2020, our work was awarded a grant from Cornell University’s Coastal Solutions Fellows program, where we will implement during 2021-2022 some management measures in several farms in the Northwest region of Mexico.

Restoring Pitch Pine in Massachusetts

Manomet and partners have studied songbird populations in Myles Standish State Forest in Plymouth, Massachusetts for many decades, and are participants in a wider initiative to restore Atlantic coastal pitch pine communities in southeastern New England. To do this, we treat pre-existing white pine/pitch pine stands with a silvicultural prescription aimed at removing white pine and regenerating pitch pine and scrub oak. We first use masticators (machines used to grind woody vegetation) to remove understory vegetation, and then all pre-existing overstory white pine and red, black, and white oak are felled (cut down), along with a proportion of the pre-existing pitch pine. Scattered pitch pine are left in the overstory to produce seeds, but also provide important habitat structures for wildlife. Scrub oak and pitch pine will regenerate from stumps when overstory density is reduced in this fashion. Scrub oak and pitch pine are both intolerant of shade, and require significant reductions in stand density in order to regenerate.

Whimbrel Monitoring

In Spring 2021, Manomet and our project partners will continue surveys of critical spring staging areas for Whimbrel. Abby Sterling, Director of the Georgia Bight Conservation Initiative, will coordinate surveys at key sites in the Georgia Bight that we identified during our 2019-2020 research, while Brad Winn, Vice President of Resilient Habitats, and Alan Kneidel, Manomet Biologist, will expand surveys into Texas and Louisiana. While in the Gulf, we will engage with local partners and hold an organizational meeting to discuss roost monitoring, document known roosts, and mobilize to locate and survey the existing roost network to bring the Gulf region into the monitoring network of spring staging areas. This is an important first step in establishing a Whimbrel population benchmark and monitoring trends over time in response to conservation action.

Expanding the Application of eDNA

Manomet’s Fisheries Division has expanded the application of environmental DNA – or eDNA for short – in its community-based research projects. This new, state-of-the-art tool allows us to work with fishermen and other stakeholders in assessing the presence and abundance of aquatic species. Because all organisms shed DNA – in the form of scales, gametes, waste products, etc. – it is possible to compare the eDNA in a water sample to known genetic markers for a broad range of species. Our research includes a river herring project in two ponds in the Bagaduce River watershed; the goal is to assess the production of juvenile river herring, an important source of forage, improve management, and gauge the impact of river herring restoration on coastal food webs. Next summer, we will be collecting water samples in Robinhood Cove, Georgetown, to see if the adult quahogs planted there two to three years ago are establishing a self-sustaining population. Our most recent grant, announced in late January, will allow us to buy an eDNA field reader, a tool that will allow us to assess eDNA levels in real-time, compare with results with local knowledge, and focus our research efforts.