ENHANCEMENT OF RECRUITMENT AND NURSERY FUNCTION BY HABITAT CREATION IN PENSACOLA BAY, FLORIDA by Carrie Shannon Tomlinson Stevenson B.S., Samford University, 1998 A thesis submitted to the Department of Biology College of Arts and Sciences The University of West Florida In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science 2007 © 2007 Carrie Shannon Tomlinson Stevenson ii The thesis of Carrie Shannon Tomlinson Stevenson is approved: Barbara F. Ruth, M.S., Committee Member Date Philip C. Darby, Ph.D., Committee Member Date Richard A. Snyder, Ph.D., Committee Chair Date Accepted for the Department: George L. Stewart, Ph.D., Chair Date Accepted for the College: Jane S. Halonen, Ph.D., Dean Date Accepted for the University: Richard S. Podemski, Ph.D., Dean of Graduate Studies Date iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Special thanks go to all of the volunteers who assisted me with hours of seining, identifying, collecting, and net cleaning including A. MacWhinnie, S. Bowen, A. Bloaha, A. Schrift, J. DuPree, J. Liddle, C. Thompson, C. Power, B. Klein, L. Pennington, C. Seltrecht, T. Chapman, C. Cox, T. Alvarez, R. Ehlers, S. Marshall, M. Diller, N. Koch, J. McDonald, J. Cevarny, L. Cates, T. Trent, and W. Adams­Riley. Greatest thanks to my advisor and committee members for their support, advice, and patience, as well as to Dr. Patterson and Dr. Pomory for assistance with statistical analysis. To my co­workers and supervisors at the University of Florida/Escambia County Extension Service and Department of Environmental Protection, my deepest appreciation for equipment and encouragement, as well as allowing me the time to work on this project. Enormous thanks to my parents for accountability, confidence, and repeatedly asking me, “How’s your thesis going?” Most of all, this project is dedicated to my husband, son, and daughter for sharing me with UWF and for encouragement, help, and tolerance of all the odd hours and years it took to complete this undertaking. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ......................................................................................... iv LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................... vi LIST OF FIGURES.................................................................................................viii ABSTRACT............................................................................................................... x CHAPTER I. ESTUARINE HABITAT VALUE............................................. 1 A. Salt Marshes ......................................................................... 2 B. Seagrasses............................................................................. 4 C. Oyster Reefs.......................................................................... 5 D. Open Bottom ........................................................................ 6 E. Habitat Diversity and Complexity......................................... 7 F. Restoration and Ecological Engineering.............................. 11 CHAPTER II. STUDY SITE DESCRIPTION ................................................ 17 CHAPTER III. METHODS ............................................................................. 22 CHAPTER IV. RESULTS ............................................................................... 27 A. Species Abundance ............................................................ 29 B. Community Structure......................................................... 55 C. Species Richness................................................................ 58 D. Size.................................................................................... 61 E. DEP Sampling Results ....................................................... 71 CHAPTER V. DISCUSSION ......................................................................... 79 REFERENCES......................................................................................................... 88 APPENDIXES ....................................................................................................... 102 A. Map of FDEP Water Quality Sampling Locations ............ 103 B. Copyright Permission Letter............................................. 105 v LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Timeline of Construction Activity and Sampling at Study Sites ......................... 23 2. Water Quality Data Collected by FDEP ............................................................ 28 3. Water Visibility Data Collected by FDEP.......................................................... 29 4. Species Collected in This Study ........................................................................ 30 5. Rank Order Chart for Four Most Common Species of Fish and Most Common Crustacean .......................................................................................... 38 6. Comparison of Overall Abundance Data for the Frequently Occurring Species Between Sites by Paired Two Sample t Test for Means.......................... 40 7. Rank Order for Infrequently Occurring Species at Site 1.................................... 48 8. Rank Order for Infrequently Occurring Species at Site 2.................................... 50 9. Comparison of Four Infrequently Occurring Species Between the Sampling Sites by Paired Two­Sample t Test For Means ................................................... 54 10. Average Dissimilarity Between Habitats............................................................ 57 11. Species Richness and Diversity.......................................................................... 59 12. Comparison of Total L. xanthurus (Spot) by Size Class Between the Sampling Sites by Paired Two Sample t Test for Means ..................................... 62 13. Comparison of Total M. cephalus (Striped Mullet) by Size Class Between the Sampling Sites by Paired Two Sample t Test for Means ............................... 64 14. Comparison of Total L. rhomboides (Pinfish) by Size Class Between the Sampling Sites by Paired Two Sample t Test for Means..................................... 66 vi 15. Comparison of Total M. peninsulae (Tidewater Silverside) by Size Class Between the Sampling Sites by Paired Two Sample t Test for Means................ 68 16. Species Collected During DEP Sampling (February­August 2005), Abundance and Percentage of Total Designated by Site ..................................... 72 17. Summary Table of Statistical Analysis for Four Dominant Species................... 78 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Study area in relation to the greater Gulf of Mexico region ............................... 17 2. The sampling sites along the shoreline of Pensacola Bay as seen in preproject conceptual design map for Project GreenShores............................... 19 3. Aerial photo of Sites 1 and 2............................................................................. 20 4. Timeline of overall faunal abundance by site .................................................... 36 5. Comparison of total faunal abundance between sites by sampling date ............. 37 6. The total abundance of dominant fish species recovered at the sampling locations over the entire course of the study...................................................... 41 7. Difference in total abundance of all species in Site 1 as a percentage difference from total abundance at Site 2 .......................................................... 42 8. Leiostomus xanthurus (Spot) abundance comparison ........................................ 44 9. Mugil cephalus (Striped mullet) abundance comparison ................................... 44 10. Menidia peninsulae (Tidewater silverside) abundance comparison ................... 44 11. Lagodon rhomboides (Pinfish) abundance comparison...................................... 44 12. Callinectes sapidus (Blue crab) abundance comparison .................................... 46 13. Comparative abundance for all infrequently occurring species.......................... 52 14. Comparison of abundance for four infrequently occurring species .................... 53 15. 2­D Multi­dimensional scaling plot representing analysis of similarity between Site 1 and Site 2 community structure ................................................ 55 viii 16. Species richness comparison using mean number of species captured during repeated hauls ........................................................................................ 60 17. L. xanthurus abundance for Class 1 (0­4.5 cm) ................................................. 63 18. L. xanthurus abundance for Class 2 (4.5­9.5 cm) .............................................. 63 19. L. xanthurus abundance for Class 3 (9.5­20 cm) ............................................... 63 20. M. cephalus abundance for Class 1 (0­4.5 cm) ................................................. 65 21. M. cephalus abundance for Class 2 (4.5­9.5 cm) ............................................... 65 22. M. cephalus abundance for Class 3 (9.5­20 cm) ................................................ 65 23. L. rhomboides abundance for Class 1 (0­4.5 cm)............................................... 67 24. L. rhomboides abundance for Class 2 (4.5­9.5 cm) ........................................... 67 25. L. rhomboides abundance for Class 3 (9.5­14.5 cm).......................................... 67 26. M. peninsulae abundance for Class 1 (0­4.5 cm) ............................................... 70 27. M. peninsulae abundance for Class 2 (4.5­9.5