Tidal Creeks as Sentinel Habitats for Ecosystem Health

Susan White
National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science
National Ocean Service

Marie Bundy
Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management
National Ocean Service

NOAA's Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, National Estuarine Research Reserve System, and the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science are working together to better understand the relationships between healthy ecosystems and healthy people, as well as provide baseline information to better understand changing environmental conditions. 

Coastal population growth brings land-use changes that can increase stress on the coastal environment. Coastal communities are often faced with complex choices about how to best develop coastal infrastructure while protecting the environment. Research aimed at evaluating and predicting impacts of development on coastal ecosystems allows managers to forecast, plan, and develop policy to protect environmental quality.

"This work is exciting because it quantifies the impacts of coastal development on tidal creeks, a habitat near and dear to the hearts of residents and visitors alike," says Guy DiDonato, an estuarine ecologist with the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science.  "Beyond that, the research provides the basis for forecasting models that will predict the impacts of coastal change due to changes in land use. The National Estuarine Research Reserves serve as laboratories for validation of the model."

Research teams from around NOAA assessed environmental conditions of tidal creeks throughout the Southeast.

Through a comprehensive assessment of physical, chemical, and biological measurement in the creeks scientists evaluated whether these creeks could provide an early warning to understand how coastal ecosystems respond to land-use changes. Prior studies suggest that the ecological health of tidal creeks provide warning of potential impairment and that this environmental signal generally occurs years before broad, system-wide impairments (e.g., dead zones, harmful algal blooms, and closed fisheries) are documented and recognized.

The latest NCCOS research shows that adverse changes in the physical and chemical environment of tidal creeks generally occur when impervious cover (the amount of roads, roof tops, and other non-porous materials) in the watershed reaches 10-20 percent of total land area. Ecological functions were generally impacted when impervious cover exceeded 20-30 percent.

These results support the idea that tidal creeks can provide an early warning of any ensuing harm to the larger coastal ecosystem, and can therefore serve as sentinel habitats for forecasting the impacts of coastal stressors.

Additional information is also available in the booklet, Tidal Creek Habitats- Sentinels of Coastal Health, on the South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium Web site.

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