Seagrass Monitoring

In 1998, the Water Resources Management Section (WRMS) of the Pinellas County Department of Environmental Management began participating in a seagrass monitoring program. Staff monitor eleven permanent seagrass transects in Boca Ciega Bay and fourteen permanent transects in waters of the western side of Pinellas County from Madeira Beach north to Tarpon Springs. Annual monitoring of seagrass transects occurs from October through early November. Data collected include seagrass percent cover; short shoot density, relative epiphyte coverage, and standard water quality measurements.

The County’s seagrass monitoring program is an integral element of a regional, multi-governmental seagrass monitoring program as developed and initiated by the Tampa Bay Estuary Program (TBEP). TBEP program objectives include annual assessments of aerial seagrass extent in the estuaries and their subregions, seagrass zonation in relation to depth, and changes in seagrass growth, zonation and distribution over time. The program was also designed to characterize the general health and condition of seagrass meadows at specific transects in the bay.

A summary report covering the 1998-2007 monitoring period is available.

For more information contact Cindy Meyer or Melissa Harrison at (727) 464-4425.

The program was also designed to characterize the general health and condition of seagrass meadows at specific transects in the bay.For more information on Seagrass Projects click here.

Benthic Macroinvertebrate Monitoring

Pinellas County has made a special commitment to collaborate with local governments and agencies for long-term monitoring of Tampa Bay. These efforts were largely implemented as a Tampa Bay Estuary Program (TBEP) initiative to meet the goals of TBEP's Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP). The signing of the CCMP in 1996 delegated responsibility to monitor Tampa Bay to the counties of Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Manatee, and the cities of Clearwater, St. Petersburg, and Tampa.

In 1996, Pinellas County Environmental Management began sampling for benthic macroinvertebrates in Boca Ciega Bay and lower Tampa Bay as part of another TBEP collaborative bay-wide monitoring effort to assess sediment quality. This program is patterned after US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP), which includes sediment grain-size analysis, sediment toxicity, water chemistry, water clarity, and benthic macroinvertebrates. Station locations are assigned using a random design based on EMAP protocols. In addition, special study areas are often included in the program. These areas are added to provide data on areas where benthic communities are significantly stressed.  Special study areas have included Bayboro Harbor, the Bayside Bridge, and Riviera Bay. Sampling takes place each year in August and September.

For more information contact Melissa Harrison at: (727) 464-4425.

Phytoplankton Sampling and Taxonomy Program

Phytoplankton or algae form part of the basis of the food web in a water body. To understand the biological and chemical functioning of rivers, streams, lakes and marine systems, it is essential to investigate the phytoplankton populations within them. Phytoplankton are particularly sensitive to changes in nutrients, water clarity and other water quality parameters, responding rapidly when changes occur. Due to a short life cycle, planktonic, free-floating algae react quickly to environmental changes and are therefore a valuable indicator of water quality.

Currently, sampling programs are in place for monitoring phytoplankton in Lake Seminole and Lake Tarpon. The data will supply County scientists with valuable information including long-term trends, problem species, and the effects of remedial management measures aimed at improving water quality or restoring system health.

Fish Sampling

PCDEM personnel began sampling fish populations at a small restoration site in the Allen's Creek watershed. St. Paul's Oligohaline Restoration Project involved converting two upland residential lots in 1997 to a meandering low salinity tidal stream and wetland system to enhance habitat for recreationally and commercially important fish. Monitoring was conducted from 1996 to 2000 to determine what fishes were utilizing the area. Forty species of fish including redfish, common snook, spotted seatrout, tarpon, and three species of mullet were captured, as well as blue crab and grass shrimp. Various species of birds and marsh rabbits have also been seen at the site.

Wildlife monitoring on the Brooker Creek Preserve had not included aquatic sampling other than amphibians. Personnel from the Water Resources Management Section and the Environmental Lands Division conducted a preliminary fish survey of the main channels and associated ponds and marshes of Brooker Creek in November 2001 and August 2002.

Seines (30' or 50' x 6' 3/8" delta mesh) were used for the project. Minnow traps and a hoop net were also used but were ineffective. Water quality parameters were measured using a Hydrolab Surveyor 4 Minisonde at most sites.

Sixteen native and two introduced species from eleven families were collected from Brooker Creek Preserve. Gambusia holbrooki was the dominant species constituting 84% of specimens and was collected at all sites. The next most numerous species were Chaenobryttus gulosus (4%), Fundulus chrysotus (3.3%) and Cichlasoma cf. bimaculatum (3.2%).

The final report from this study is available.

List of Species Found in Brooker Creek Preserve

In the fall of 2002, a fisheries monitoring project began at Shell Key Preserve.  State biologists have sampled both juvenile and adult fishes in the area around Fort DeSoto and Shell Key for over a decade. Typically they collect 1-2 samples per month in the immediate preserve area. WRMS staff concentrated on sampling smaller fish species within the Shell Key Preserve. PCDEM staff collected 137 samples from September 2002 to August 2003, using a 21-m, 3-mm mesh center bag seine. Samples were collected bi-monthly at sites randomly selected within nine habitat types. Over 157,900 specimens belonging to 89 taxa were collected. The dominant taxa, in order of abundance, were Lucania parva, Leiostomus xanthurus, Eucinostomus spp., Menidia spp., Floridichthys carpio, Cyprinodon variegatus, and Lagodon rhomboides, accounting for over 90% of the total catch. A summary of these data was presented at the 2004 annual meeting of the Florida Chapter of the American Fisheries Society.

List of Species Found in Shell Key Preserve

For more information, contact Mark Flock at (727) 464-4425.

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