Marine Protected Areas - Su24 Strategies for Sustainability

 Exploring the Details and Effectiveness of Marine Protected Areas

R. Westerman Pew (Wes)

Virginia Tech Summer 2024 Strategies for Sustainability

Research Question: What are Marine Protected Areas, how well do they work, and what is their future outlook? 

Abstract:

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are an environmental conservation strategy entailing the protection of a defined oceanic region, large or small, to ensure the long term sustainability of its ecosystems, their resources, and services.1 Since the first MPAs throughout the 20th century we have collected enough data to assess their effectiveness, strengths, weaknesses, recommendations for improvement, and areas that need more research. While there are many conclusions that have been drawn, overall there are mixed opinions on MPAs as a concept as well as their execution. This paper will attempt to distill the wide variety of available information on them in somewhat of a meta-analysis styled study, to summarize the above aspects of MPAs, find out what alternative MPA management techniques should be replicated, and how the threat of certain pitfalls can be avoided or minimized. The hypothesis going into the research is that, similar to just about anything, there are strengths and weaknesses. There are over 18,000 MPAs in the world;2 many of them are managed in different ways, by different overseeing authorities, with different levels of protection, and seek to preserve different types of marine areas. Therefore, results vary, different issues are faced, and different levels of success are achieved. Despite this, the benefits of MPAs outweigh the criticisms, particularly if they are supplemented through parallel marine conservation methods. This analysis highlights criticisms and beneficial features of MPAs, so that they can thrive and function as close to optimally as possible moving forward. Doing so will help to enable the preservation of crucial marine ecosystems, the fortification of the many natural and atmospheric cycles they contribute to, as well as food stability, cultural heritage, and other ecosystem services that they provide.

Dendrology of Saunders Woods Preserve - Parts 1 & 2

Flood Plains of the Lower Schuylkill Watershed

Using ArcGIS and US Soil Survey's online mapping tools, I was able to obtain some visuals depicting the Lower Schuylkill River's flood plains and high risk flooding areas. The filter I used on ArcGIS is called "USA Flood Hazard Areas." It was created by FEMA and displays the data from their Flood Insurance Rate Map. The flood plains are primarily the land immediately next to the Schuylkill River and some but not all of its tributaries. As can be seen in the legend on the left, the light purple areas represent a 0.2% chance of annual flooding, while the darker purple areas represent a 5x higher rate at a 1% chance. 

One curious aspect, that could simply be an error of some sort as a result of a technical issue, data entry issue, or due to different counties' data conflicting, is the very large chunk of light purple area seen just to the right of the center of the map above. This area measures out to be 37 square kilometers or 14.3 square miles, covering multiple entire towns including Narberth, Penn Valley, and Bala Cynwood. There are some tributaries that run through this area, but I don't think they are enough to cause the entirety of such a large area to be at risk of flooding. Furthermore, I don't think flood plains could have such straight lines that coincide exactly with the county borders for Montgomery county. It also seems to be a clear outlier in terms of shape when further zooming out and comparing to other flood plains across the country and in the greater Lower Schuylkill Watershed, as can be seen in the above image. With this in mind it is a safe assumption to disregard that section of data. That is not to say there is no flood plain within that area, as near the tributaries within the area there most likely is, just not the entirety of the highlighted zone. Considering that this ArcGIS map layer spans across every acre of the USA it's not unrealistic that an error could exist.

The tributary I have been focusing on (seen above in the center of the image) that runs through Saunders Woods Preserve, according to this data does not have land classified as flood plains surrounding it. To verify this, I examined US Soil Survey's online soil map. The soils of flood plains, also called alluvial soils, are typically made up of high proportions of small particle matter such as silt, sand, and clays, eroded down and deposited by the flood waters. There are many different soil types listed in the area, however most of the ones in immediate proximity to the tributary are classified as a type of loam, which is composed of a relatively equal mixture of particle sizes including the larger sized gravel. This likely confirms the data from ArcGIS that the Saunders Tributary's surrounding banks and land does not experience flooding often. From firsthand experience I know that it is a relatively small and slow flowing tributary with steep banks in some areas, so this information does not come as a total surprise.

Be sure to check out the other watershed blogs from this course!

Watershed Stewardship - Fall 2023

Ceci-Briar/ Little Sugar Creek (NC)
Chris-Poverty Cr.-Tom’s Cr. (VA)
Emma-Tug Fork (VA)
Ilayda-French Broad (NC/TN)
Jim- Course Blog )
Kimberly-Occoquan River (VA)
Kirstin-Lower Chesapeake (VA)
Marco-Olentangy River (OH)
Mika-Edmonds Marsh (WA)
Shelby-Nisqually River (WA)
Tim G.-Klamath Rive (CA/OR)
Tim K.-Weber Rive UT)
Wes-Saunder’s Woods (PA)

Biodiversity Stewardship - Summer 2022 "HTML/Javascript".

Ceci-Briar/ Little Sugar Creek (NC)
Chris-Poverty Cr.-Tom’s Cr. (VA)
Emma-Tug Fork (VA)
Ilayda-French Broad (NC/TN)
Jim- Course Blog )
Kimberly-Occoquan River (VA)
Kirstin-Lower Chesapeake (VA)
Marco-Olentangy River (OH)
Mika-Edmonds Marsh (WA)
Shelby-Nisqually River (WA)
Tim G.-Klamath Rive (CA/OR)
Tim K.-Weber Rive UT)
Wes-Saunder’s Woods (PA)

Invasive Species of Southeastern PA & The Schuylkill Watershed

Watershed Research & Equipment: Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Collection

The Schuylkill Action Network

 

Flood Events of the Schuylkill Watershed

Floods are very serious and deadly environmental phenomena. They can have devastating effects on buildings, infrastructure, personal property, agriculture, natural wildlife habitat, and more. Mostly everywhere in the world that receives rain is susceptible to flooding, but particularly densely populated areas, areas in close proximity to rivers or the coast, and areas low in elevation. Densely populated areas such as cities have minimal trees and soil to absorb the water. Instead, it flows off of rooftops, streets, parking lots, etc., and into storm drains, then bodies of water. In severe instances, the storm drains and pipes become full, which can result in much more damage to the surrounding area. It can be caused by heavy rains or hurricanes, large ocean waves, rapid snow melt, or in the event of a dam or levee breaking. They become particularly bad when the ground becomes saturated and is unable to absorb more water, and flash floods occurring at a rapid pace can be the most dangerous as people have a limited amount of time to get to safety. According to the NOAA, floods kill more people each year than hurricanes, tornadoes, or lightning. 

The Schuylkill watershed, and the Schuylkill river specifically, is no exception and has been enduring floods for as long as the records show, the earliest recorded dating back to the 1700's. According to the NOAA's Schuylkill River gauge located in Philadelphia, the water level is normally around 6-7 feet. The following graph depicts this data.

The Schuylkill Watershed: Characteristics, History, Ecology, Quality, Recreation, Water Supply, Challenges, Solutions, and more

As the Saunders Micro-watershed has little data available due to its size, for this assignment I've broadened my scope to the greater Schuylkill watershed, which the Saunders micro-watershed is a very small part of. These slides cover some general information, history, ecology, recreation, drinking water information, and some of the challenges faced by this watershed and watersheds in general, as well as examples of organizations implementing solutions used to address these challenges.

Mapping the Saunders Micro-Watershed (Schuylkill Tributary Stream)

Reintroduction: Watershed Stewardship

Welcome to the reopening of my Saunders Woods Preserve Blog documenting the work I am conducting on the area for my Virginia Tech Graduate School classes. In summer of 2022 I created this blog for my Biodiversity Stewardship course which was a very successful endeavor, and the posts from that time can be seen below. This fall (2023), I am continuing this blog for my Watershed Stewardship course. For this class, as the name implies, I will be shifting my focus to some extent to the watershed as opposed to the biodiversity and ecology of the preserve. There will be some minor overlap and references to previous work in certain posts between the two classes but I will try to keep that to a minimum. Saunders Woods Preserve is home to a small stream, a part of a micro watershed, that is unnamed. A little research, however, revealed it has been labeled as Schuylkill Tributary 00920. I will likely be referring to it as the Saunders Stream and Saunders Watershed. The headwaters of the stream is located in Saunders but a majority of its length on the way to the Schuylkill is actually not in Saunders, however. It is only a little over two miles long and leads to the larger 135 mile Schuylkill River, which flows from Pottsville through Philadelphia and then meets the Delaware River which leads to the Delaware Bay and then the Atlantic Ocean. While the watershed of the tributary stream I am focusing upon is likely only one or two square miles and lacking basically any data, the Schuylkill’s watershed is around 2,000 sq mi. Looking forward to discovering some more knowledge on this watershed and publishing it right here throughout the semester.

How to Start a Non Profit Conservation Organization in Pennsylvania

This guide was created using Harbor Compliance’s “How to Start a Nonprofit in Pennsylvania” webpage [A], my professor Dr. Jim Egenrieder’s example document on how to establish a 501(c)(3) [D],  information provided by federal and state government websites, the IRS website, and various other resources. All references are listed below each step and correspond to a list of sources at the bottom.

 

How to Start a Non Profit Conservation Organization in Pennsylvania

 

1.     Name your organization & create its mission statement

o   The name sets the tone and identity of the organization while the mission statement clarifies in a concise but compelling manner what it is that the organization seeks to do or accomplish. Ensure that the name is original and available using the PA Department of State’s corporation name search engine (https://www.corporations.pa.gov/search/corpsearch). For profit organizations are required to have words like “corporation,” “company,” or “fund,” but non-profits are exempt from this requirement.

o   References: [A, B, C, D]

Natural Lands NPO Summary

Natural Lands is the non profit conservation organization that manages Saunders Woods Preserve and many other natural areas around Eastern Pennsylvania and South New Jersey. Enjoy this brief overview of a great organization that has provided hundreds of thousands of people an opportunity to connect with nature as well as fostering biodiversity, healthy ecosystems and preserving our natural areas for years to come.

Spotted Lanternfly Taxonomy

Domain: Eukarya 

-       Containing a membrane bound nucleus and other organelle such as  mitochondria/chloroplast, and chromosomes during mitosis and cytokinesis. Contains the kingdoms of Animalia, Plantae, and Fungi. The two other domains are Archaea and Bacteria.

A. 

Kingdom: Animalia 

-       Eukaryotic & multicellular organisms without cell walls. Ingestion to obtain sustenance, locomotion, cells forming tissues, aerobic respiration (requiring oxygen), and sexual reproduction are further characteristics with a few exceptions.

Dendrology of Saunders Woods Preserve