National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Natural Resource Program Center Assessment of Natural Resource Conditions Fire Island National Seashore Natural Resource Report NPS/NRPC/NRR—2009/139 ON THE COVER Looking across the frozen Great South Bay from Talisman boardwalk, Fire Island National Seashore Photograph by: Diane Abell, R.L.A. Assessment of Natural Resource Conditions Fire Island National Seashore Natural Resource Report NPS/NRPC/NRR—2009/139 Anne McElroy Christine O’Connell School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences Stony Brook University Stony Brook University Stony Brook, NY 11794-5000 Stony Brook, NY 11794-5000 Mark Benotti1 Gillian Stewart United States Geological Survey Earth and Environmental Sciences Coram New York Water Science Center Queens College CUNY 2045 Route 112, Bldg. 4 65-30 Kissena Blvd. Coram, NY 11727 Flushing, NY 11367 Gregory Edinger R. Lawrence Swanson New York Natural Heritage Program School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences 625 Broadway Stony Brook University Albany, NY 122233-4757 Stony Brook, NY 11794-5000 Aissa Feldmann John Waldman New York Natural Heritage Program Biology Department 625 Broadway Queens College CUNY Albany, NY 12233-4757 65-30 Kissena Blvd. Flushing, NY 11367 1Southern Nevada Water Authority River Mountain Water Treatment Facility PO Box 99954 Las Vegas, NV 89193-9954 August 2009 U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service Natural Resource Program Center Fort Collins, Colorado The National Park Service, Natural Resource Program Center publishes a range of reports that address natural resource topics of interest and applicability to a broad audience in the National Park Service and others in natural resource management, including scientists, conservation and environmental constituencies, and the public. The Natural Resource Report Series is used to disseminate high-priority, current natural resource management information with managerial application. The series targets a general, diverse audience, and may contain NPS policy considerations or address sensitive issues of management applicability. All manuscripts in the series receive the appropriate level of peer review to ensure that the information is scientifically credible, technically accurate, appropriately written for the intended audience, and designed and published in a professional manner. This report received formal peer review by subject-matter experts who were not directly involved in the collection, analysis, or reporting of the data, and whose background and expertise put them on par technically and scientifically with the authors of the information. Views, statements, findings, conclusions, recommendations, and data in this report are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect views and policies of the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use by the National Park Service. This report was completed through the North Atlantic Coast CESU under a cooperative agreement between Stony Brook University and the National Park Service, agreement #CA4520- 99-009, task #J45060631. This report is available from the Water Resources Division website (http://www.nature.nps.gov/water/wrdpub.cfm) and the Natural Resource Publications Management website (http://www.nature.nps.gov/publications/NRPM). Please cite this publication as: McElroy, A., M. Benotti, G. Edinger, A. Feldmann, C. O’Connell, G. Stewart, R. L. Swanson, and J. Waldman. 2009. Assessment of natural resource conditions: Fire Island National Seashore. Natural Resource Report NPS/NRPC/NRR—2009/139. National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado. NPS 615/100224, August 2009 ii Contents Page Figures........................................................................................................................................... vii Tables ............................................................................................................................................. ix Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................... xi Acknowledgments and Prologue................................................................................................... xv Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Park Description.............................................................................................................................. 3 Setting ...................................................................................................................................... 3 Land Cover and Land Use ....................................................................................................... 4 History and Human Utilization ................................................................................................ 4 Hydrologic Setting ................................................................................................................... 6 Oceanography and Physical Processes ............................................................................... 6 Hydrology ......................................................................................................................... 13 Habitats and Associated Communities ......................................................................................... 17 Marine Habitats and Species ................................................................................................. 17 Marine Benthic .................................................................................................................. 17 Marine Pelagic .................................................................................................................. 18 Intertidal Habitats and Species .............................................................................................. 21 Salt Marsh ......................................................................................................................... 21 Maritime Beaches ............................................................................................................. 28 Upland and Palustrine Habitats and Species ......................................................................... 31 Maritime Dune Communities ........................................................................................... 31 Maritime Dune Wetlands .................................................................................................. 32 Maritime Shrublands ......................................................................................................... 39 iii Contents Page Maritime Forests and Woodlands ..................................................................................... 39 Forested Wetland Habitats and Species ............................................................................ 43 Threats to Natural Resources and Effects Observed..................................................................... 45 Pollution ................................................................................................................................. 45 Available Data on Water Quality ...................................................................................... 45 Nutrient Loading and Phytoplankton Biomass ................................................................. 48 Dissolved Oxygen ............................................................................................................. 50 Bacterial Contamination ................................................................................................... 54 Chemical Contaminants .................................................................................................... 55 Habitat Alteration .................................................................................................................. 61 Eelgrass Beds .................................................................................................................... 61 Shoreline Hardening ......................................................................................................... 62 Salt Marsh Ditching .......................................................................................................... 63 Human Overuse ..................................................................................................................... 66 Fishing Pressure ................................................................................................................ 66 Groundwater Withdrawal and Contamination .................................................................. 67 Destruction from Human Movement Activities ............................................................... 68 Invasive Species and Problematic Native Species ................................................................. 73 Brown Tide ....................................................................................................................... 73 Non-indigenous Fishes and Invertebrates ......................................................................... 74 Invasive and Non-native Upland Vegetation .................................................................... 74 Deer ..................................................................................................................................