Tampa Bay Aquatic Preserves has been developing a long-term photo-based benthic monitoring program for hardbottom habitat in Tampa Bay. Most equipment, methods and protocols have been worked out, but some refinement and testing is still underway. Sampling will be done, at a minimum, once per year in the spring. Specific questions and identification of the best sampling seasonality may require more frequent initial sampling. Fixed transects are established outside the Skyway Bridge, off Rattlesnake Key, inside the Skyway, off Mariposa Key, and farther up in the bay, off the Little Manatee River. Along each transect, photoquadrats will be taken at fixed intervals for comparison over time.
Parameters
Species composition, aerial coverage. Associated abiotic parameters will include, but not be limited to, salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, and surface and bottom quantum irradiance. We hope to add acoustic doppler current measurements in the future if instrumentation allows.
Notes
Application
This effort is the first long-term, fixed station, hardbottom monitoring program for Tampa Bay. While anecdotal changes in the fauna and flora of local hardbottom have been noticed, this should help quantify those changes and distinguish between cycles and trends over time. Hardbottom monitoring will be a complement to the bay’s existing seagrass monitoring and other long-term programs.
