On Wednesday, May 7th at 7:00 PM, Ellen K. Pikitch, Ph.D., Executive Director, Institute for Ocean Conservation Science, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University will present her lecture "What lies beneath: unveiling changing biodiversity in New York’s First Hope Spot during more than a decade of restoration".
This Lecture will take place in-person in Duke Lecture Hall, which is located inside Chancellor's Hall on the SBU Southampton campus.
The abstract appears below. We hope to see you there!
For more than a decade the Pikitch lab at IOCS, Stony Brook University has been assessing the fish and invertebrate population abundance and spatial distribution in Shinnecock Bay, New York. The Shinnecock Bay Restoration Program (Shirp) has been in progress during much of this time period, and has resulted in major improvements in the water quality and habitat essential for fish production. In 2022, Shinnecock Bay was named a “Hope Spot” by Mission Blue, the first water body in New York State to receive this globally significant designation. The long-term fisheries study provides both baseline conditions within Shinnecock Bay waters, as well as a time series of information that reveals the impact of direct restoration efforts on the broader ecological community. The methods used have evolved over time, in keeping with new technology developments that have improved the ability to detect species. The earliest fish assessment method used is bottom trawling. Timing and locations of the trawl survey were standardized in 2013 and have continued through 2024, and provides the longest, continuous fish investigations in Shinnecock Bay. In 2020, we began using a recently developed method called eDNA (or environmental DNA), which analyzes DNA fragments contained within water samples to produce information on species present. Since 2020, we have collected water samples for eDNA analysis at the same times and locations at which trawl collections are made, providing the opportunity to compare the results of the methods directly. In addition, water for eDNA samples has been collected from ecologically sensitive locations such as hard clam sanctuaries and oyster reefs. In 2024, we conducted a first of its kind eDNA expedition using integrated autonomous technologies which were solar-powered, self-righting, non-invasive and with silent operation. These studies provide robust evidence that the restoration of water quality and habitat have had strong, positive impacts on the diversity, abundance and trophic structure of the fish community of Shinnecock Bay. In addition, our results demonstrate that eDNA detects a broader range of species than trawling. eDNA is superior at detecting small, fast swimming and very large organisms, while also performing well at assessing common species. Finally, the September 2024 autonomous expedition was highly successful, providing proof of concept for the technologies used, and detecting spatial and day-night differences in species present for the first time.
