Current ProjectsDr. Julie Bailey-Brock is one of the principle investigators studying the benthic invertebrate fauna of several locations around Hawai'i, as well as throughout the Pacific. The lab is made up of a diverse group of people including technicians, undergraduates, M.S., and Ph.D. students who all share an interest in studying benthic invertebrate assemblages. The following are current and recent projects in the wormlab: National Coastal Assessment EMAP Program: Continuing Assessment of Hawai'i's Estuaries and Coastal Waters: Phase 2.mid-2004 through 2006 (University of Hawai'i Sea Grant College Program)The Hawai'i EMAP program Phase 2 is an effort to continue the assessment of the physical, biological, and chemical condition of Hawai'i's estuaried and nearshore coastal waters using standardized methods and a suite of environmental indicators. A number of key coastal environmental issues will be addressed, including;
Community Structure of Infauna Residing in Reef Sediments from Guam, Mariana Islands.August 2005 to March 2006 The benthic invertebrate community structure will be characterized at EPA designated sites around the coasts of Guam. This provides a unique opportunity to further study the benthic invertebrates around Guam, adding to our current knowledge of the infauna in Guam, the Marianas, Fiji Tonga, and New Caledonia. An index of biodiversity will be assembled and any indicator species that are present will be noted. The motility, feeding and reproductive modes of the native fauna and any potential indicator species will be compared to those identified from other tropical locations. Coastal 2000/EMAP 2002 - Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP) for Hawai'i Regional Sampling: An initial assessment of Hawai'i's estuarine and coastal waters.ONGOING (EPA/WRRC) Coastal 2000 represents a large-scale, five-year effort led by the EPA's office of Research and Development to assess the environmental condition of the estuaries and offshore waters of the 24 US coastal states and Puerto Rico. This project is organized at the national level by the Gulf Ecology Division (GED) of the US EPA's Gulf Breeze Environmental Effects Research Laboratory. The overall goals of the project address two primary questions: 1) What is the condition of ecological resources in my state? and 2) What stressors are associated with degradation of ecological resources in my state? In 2002 Hawai'i launched field operations to simultaneously examine environmental quality parameters of near shore waters, sediments, and biota at 50 stations among six of the main Hawaiian Islands.
Hawaiian Open-Ocean Aquaculture Research Project (HOARP- Phase III) - "The impacts of Polydactylus sexfilis mariculture on the benthos."ONGOING (Sea-Grant College Program) An open ocean enclosure has successfully produced several commercially viable harvests of the Pacific Threadfin, Polydactylus sexfilis, off the south shore of O'ahu, Hawai'i. The mariculture enclosure is suspended 10m above native carbonaceous sediments in 38-40m deep water. Granulometric and infaunal analyses were conducted on sediment cores collected from six stations at approximately the same depth were sampled along an east to west gradient. Ten reports have been submitted quarterly since the beginning of the third phase in 2001.
Ocean Sewage Outfall Biomonitoring - "A five-year biological and sediment monitoring program on the marine communities near the city's ocean sewer outfalls."ONGOING (WRRC January 2002 - December 2007) Ocean fauna in the vicinity of several of the City of Honolulu's ocean sewage outfalls have been monitored for more than ten years under this ongoing program. Organisms monitored include those living on and in the sediment - worms, mollusks, crustaceans; plus corals, and fish. The study is designed to identify any changes in the composition and dynamics of these communities that might signal negative impacts from the sewage discharge. Outfall sites monitored are Barber's Point, Sand Island, Wai'anae, and Mokapu as well as a biannual Mamala Bay Regional sampling.
Benthic Community Structure of Reef Sediments in the Vicinity of Sewage Outfalls at Tanguisson and Agana, Guam, Marina Islands.April 2005 - December 2006 The benthic invertebrate community structure was characterized at outfall sites in the zone of initial dilution and at control sites away from the outfalls at Tanguisson Point and Agana on Guam. The purpose was to characterize the species present and their abundance at these sites to satisfy EPA requirements of 301h waiver permits. |
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