Habitat Use by Wading Birds in a Subtropical Estuary: Implications of Hydrography

The Auk ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 104 (4) ◽  
pp. 740-749 ◽  
Author(s):  
George V. N. Powell

Abstract The dynamics of foraging habitat use by long-legged wading birds was analyzed with respect to water-level fluctuation patterns in Florida Bay. Wading-bird presence at four sites situated to sample the heterogeneity of the bay was quantified by repeated surveys collected throughout the day and year. Models for habitat availability were generated using water-level data collected from continuous recorders, staff guages, and habitat profile maps. These models were tested against the survey data. Roseate Spoonbills (Ajaia ajaja) foraged on the study areas primarily at night. Great Blue Herons (Ardea herodias) fed both day and night, but primarily at night where the tidal range was small. Great Egrets (Casmerodius albus), Snowy (Egretta thula) and Reddish (E. rufescens) egrets, Little Blue (E. caerulea) and Tricolored (E. tricolor) herons, and White Ibis (Eudocimus albus) fed during daylight. Where tidal range was small (<5 cm) diurnal species fed throughout the day. Florida Bay has a pronounced annual water-level cycle that causes monthly mean water levels to vary by as much as 30 cm between October (high) and May (low). Models derived from hydrology data predicted that this seasonal variation in water level would have a major impact on habitat availability, particularly where tidal flux was small. The predictions were supported by survey data. At sites with minor tides, most wading-bird species had a cycle in seasonal abundance that correlated with seasonal changes in water level; only the tallest species, Ardea herodias, was uniformly present throughout the year. The large daily range in tide (x̄ = 80 cm) afforded year-round access to foraging habitat, and these abundance patterns did not exist. The seasonal variability in habitat availability has major management implications because the maintenance of stable wading-bird populations depends on the availability of alternative foraging sites when water levels are high. Historically, these sites have tended to be targeted for human development.

The Auk ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 124 (3) ◽  
pp. 1075-1082 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dale E. Gawlik ◽  
Gaea E. Crozier

Abstract We examined foraging-habitat selection by free-ranging wading birds presented with different social and environmental cues by conducting two experiments in eight replicate ponds adjacent to the northern border of the Florida Everglades. The first experiment examined the relative influence of a social (presence of a flock of decoys) and environmental (water depth) cue on the selection of ponds. The second experiment examined the influence of two environmental cues (water depth and fluctuating water level) on the selection of ponds. In the first experiment, wading birds were most attracted to ponds with both the presence of a flock of decoys and shallow water. The social and environmental cues both had the same attractive potential to wading birds. In the second experiment, birds were again attracted to ponds with shallow water; however, fluctuating water level had no significant influence on foraging-habitat selection. If birds do not perceive fluctuating water levels as a cue to habitat quality, then the well-documented relationship between nesting success and fluctuating water levels likely stems from birds responding to factors that covary with water-level changes. Una Prueba de las Señales que Afectan la Selección de Hábitat por Aves Vadeadoras


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Maskell

&lt;p&gt;Two case studies are considered in the UK, where uncertainty and drivers of coastal flood risk are explored through modelling and visualisations. Visualising the impact of uncertainty is a useful way of explaining the potential range of predicted or simulated flood risk to both expert and non-expert stakeholders.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Significant flooding occurred in December 2013 and January 2017 at Hornsea on the UK East Coast, where storm surge levels and waves overtopped the town&amp;#8217;s coastal defences. Uncertainty in the potential coastal flooding is visualised at Hornsea due to the range of uncertainty in the 100-year return period water level and in the calculated overtopping due to 3 m waves at the defences. The range of uncertainty in the simulated flooding is visualised through flood maps, where various combinations of the uncertainties decrease or increase the simulated inundated area by 58% and 82% respectively.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Located at the mouth of the Mersey Estuary and facing the Irish Sea, New Brighton is affected by a large tidal range with potential storm surge and large waves. Uncertainty in the coastal flooding at the 100-year return period due to the combination of water levels and waves is explored through Monte-Carlo analysis and hydrodynamic modelling. Visualisation through flood maps shows that the inundation extent at New Brighton varies significantly for combined wave and surge events with a joint probability of 100 years, where the total flooded area ranges from 0 m&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt; to 10,300 m&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;. Waves are an important flood mechanism at New Brighton but are dependent on high water levels to impact the coastal defences and reduce the effective freeboard. The combination of waves and high-water levels at this return level not only determine the magnitude of the flood extent but also the spatial characteristics of the risk, whereby flooding of residential properties is dominated by overflow from high water levels, and commercial and leisure properties are affected by large waves that occur when the water level is relatively high at the defences.&lt;/p&gt;


2021 ◽  
Vol 925 (1) ◽  
pp. 012060
Author(s):  
N R Prasetiawan ◽  
D Novianto ◽  
A Setiawan ◽  
S Husrin ◽  
R Bramawanto ◽  
...  

Abstract PUMMA is a real-time tide gauge that has been operating in several locations in Indonesia. One of them was installed in a mangrove area of Pangandaran that supports both the fisheries and tourism sectors. Tidal dynamics is one of the factors that can affect fish abundance in the mangrove ecosystem. PUMMA Pangandaran monitors the water levels of the mangrove ecosystem in real-time 24/7 and produces CCTV images. This paper aims to analyze the performance of the PUMMA in Pangandaran based on data from water level measurements and image quality from CCTV. The results show that the tidal range in the waters of the mangrove ecosystem in Pangandaran is 1.3 m, with the maximum and minimum high tides being 0.79 m and -0.53 m. The tidal type in the mangrove ecosystem in Pangandaran is semidiurnal and affected by geometry of the estuary. The water level in the mangrove area was influenced by sediments that form a sandbar at the mouth of the Ciputrapinggan River, which controls the fluxes of seawater. There is a data gap of 368 hours during the operation period of PUMMA, and mostly due to technical problems that often occurred at the beginning of the installation. However, after March and April, its performance was improved with only three hours data gap. For the quality of CCTV images, good quality contributed to about 76.67% and only 5.06% on bad quality. Overall, PUMMA’s performance showed excellent reliability in monitoring the water levels and the conditions of the mangrove ecosystem.


2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (32) ◽  
pp. 42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Errol J. McLean ◽  
Jon B. Hinwood

Tidal inlets which link a tidal basin to the sea via a constricted entrance are common on the south-east Australian coast. Closure, or even significant constriction, raises water levels but restricts tidal range within the basin, while open entrances provide regular and significant tidal exchange with the ocean. A rapid assessment procedure with minimal data requirements has been shown to be informative for monitoring and a useful component of any Decision Support System set up as part of a management structure. Such a system is presented in this paper. It is based on one permanent water level gauge inside the inlet plus the use of a simple, first-order hydrodynamic model to relate the tide range, mean water level and river flow to the inlet cross sectional area. The method is tested against data from the Snowy River Estuary in south-eastern Australia but would be suitable over a range of estuaries. In addition, the framework presented can also provide a mechanism to explore conditions over the range of expected data, thus allowing better selection of model schematization and runs in estuarine systems where the use of 2 or 3D modeling can be justified.


Author(s):  
Krum Videnov ◽  
Vanya Stoykova

Monitoring water levels of lakes, streams, rivers and other water basins is of essential importance and is a popular measurement for a number of different industries and organisations. Remote water level monitoring helps to provide an early warning feature by sending advance alerts when the water level is increased (reaches a certain threshold). The purpose of this report is to present an affordable solution for measuring water levels in water sources using IoT and LPWAN. The assembled system enables recording of water level fluctuations in real time and storing the collected data on a remote database through LoRaWAN for further processing and analysis.


1997 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 288-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew P. Barrett ◽  
David N. Collins

Combined measurements of meltwater discharge from the portal and of water level in a borehole drilled to the bed of Findelengletscher, Switzerland, were obtained during the later part of the 1993 ablation season. A severe storm, lasting from 22 through 24 September, produced at least 130 mm of precipitation over the glacier, largely as rain. The combined hydrological records indicate periods during which the basal drainage system became constricted and water storage in the glacier increased, as well as phases of channel growth. During the storm, water pressure generally increased as water backed up in the drainage network. Abrupt, temporary falls in borehole water level were accompanied by pulses in portal discharge. On 24 September, whilst borehole water level continued to rise, water started to escape under pressure with a resultant increase in discharge. As the drainage network expanded, a large amount of debris was flushed from a wide area of the bed. Progressive growth in channel capacity as discharge increased enabled stored water to drain and borehole water level to fall rapidly. Possible relationships between observed borehole water levels and water pressures in subglacial channels are influenced by hydraulic conditions at the base of the hole, distance between the hole and a channel, and the nature of the substrate.


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