In this journal entry, Fred Warnock, senior designer with DM Solutions Group, reports on the creation of the ESIP Indicator reporting tool, an online mapping and graphing tool that leverages remote-sensor data in the Gulf of Maine. DM Solutions Group Inc. (DMSG) is a leading provider of web-mapping technologies and solutions to clients around the world.  

"The ESIP Indicator reporting tool consists of two components: a back-end data aggregator and a front-end data exploration tool.  The front-end tool is a web-based mapping and graphing application that allows users to discover a wide array of parameters collected by many organizations who operate in the Gulf of Maine.  Users can select which parameters they want to explore, see where the parameters were collected, and graph the values over time—all within a simple web-based application.

"The back-end aggregator is used to collect the source data attributes and store them in a database that is continually harvesting the source data.  Its primary purpose is to act as a local cache, providing a performance boost.  It leverages open geospatial data publishing standards called Sensor Observation Services (SOS) and Web Feature Services (WFS).  Several organizations in the Gulf of Maine are publishing the data they gather through these standards and several more are considering it.

"Integrating data from different sources into a single point of access clearly has many benefits to the community.  Information can be more easily discovered and compared, visualized and explored using a common set of tools.  Behind the scenes, however, this activity is only made possible through the use of open standards to publish this data.  The data in this application have been published by the data holders using SOS and WFS.  These protocols allow web servers and clients to speak a common language and access data in a distributed computing environment.  What this means is that data holders can collect and store the data using their established practices. Then they can use a web map server to publish the data on the web through a standard protocol that clients can use without either party needing to package or reformat the data.

"Already there are plans to improve the exploration tool and data aggregator.  These activities would see dramatic improvements in performance as well as the addition of more data as providers begin to offer their data through standard protocols.  There are still many challenges within the community in relation to data measuring and description, but that is common to many communities.  Leveraging standards in publishing data is a significant step forward. It will prove to be extremely valuable not just for exploring and using data but also in efforts to create consensus in many other areas in which the community is working."

Fred Warnock, senior designer with DM Solutions Group, demonstrates the ESIP Indicators reporting tool.

In this journal entry, Gary Lines, a meteorologist with the Climate Change Section of Environment Canada Atlantic, reports on the role of climate change research in informing habitat decision-making.

“Understanding the impact of climate change has always been a collaborative research effort, and that is most evident in current work on climate change indicators for the Ecosystem Indicator Partnership (ESIP). Climate researchers at the University of New Hampshire, communications experts at non-profit Clean Air Cool Planet, and atmospheric scientists at Environment Canada expanded work that had begun as a study of climate trends in the northeastern United States.”

“The results covered a geographic area that included the northeastern United States as well as Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, thus treating that area as a unified region with respect to climatological change. Such results will help inform ecosystem managers of these changes so that it can be incorporated in planning procedures for the next 25-50 year timeframe.”

This group’s research included data supplied by Environment Canada as well as results Lines and his colleagues had generated for the Canadian Maritime Provinces. Such research is an important contribution to the efforts of the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment. In the Council's Action Plan 2007-2012, Goal 1 ("Coastal and marine habitats are in a healthy, productive and resilient condition") contains at least seven separate activities directly related to expanding our understanding of climate change in the marine environment.

What are the next steps for this group? The indicator results will be expanded to include future projections and profiled to reflect changes that would direct impact on many of the Gulf of Maine habitat priorities. As Chair of the Climate Change Working Group in ESIP, Mr. Lines will continue to bring the Canadian perspective to the table and collaborate with U.S. colleagues in generating relevant results for the Gulf of Maine marine environment. For more information, contact Gary Lines at 902-426-5739.

Gary Lines, Environment Canada, preparing data sets depicting future climate change. Photo courtesy of Anne Warburton, Environment Canada.

In this journal entry, Adria Elskus, a research biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), reports on collecting fish, worms, and bivalves in August 2007 from areas above and below the Veazie and Great Works Dams along the Penobscot River in Maine. These dams are slated for removal, opening greater reaches of the river for migration of native fish, specifically the Atlantic salmon.

“A team of field biologists from Maine Department of Environmental Protection, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Maine Atlantic Salmon Commission, and USGS, along with eager graduate students from University of Maine, donned waders, grabbed snorkeling equipment, or climbed aboard a boat to collect samples for contaminant analysis including mercury, PCBs, PAHs, metals, PBDEs, and dioxin. Baseline data on contaminants in resident species before the dams are removed will allow us to determine whether dam removal affects contaminant transport both upstream and downstream.” 

“As of August 17, 2007, we collected several individuals of our two target species—smallmouth bass and white suckers—above and below the Lower Penobscot River dams. We also collected several additional fish species in the target age range (less than 2 years old), including alewives, common shiners, golden shiners, fallfish, bullhead catfish, and banded killifish.

“Species were collected by electroshocking at night, by angling, and by seine (3/16" mesh). Of these methods, seining was by far the most efficient at capturing the younger fish (less than 2 years old), with older smallmouth bass (2-3 years old) collected by electroshocking and by angling.  Although they may not be used for this study, the older fish were recorded and archived.  I am focusing on young fish because the burden of contaminants in their bodies should reflect current and recent inputs of contaminants to the river, whereas older fish have accumulated contaminants over multiple years."

Elskus’ contaminants research is an important contribution to the efforts of the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment. In the Council's Action Plan 2007-2012, Goal 1 ("Coastal and marine habitats are in a healthy, productive and resilient condition") specifically focuses upon habitat restoration.  Habitats damaged by past human activities can be restored so they contribute to a properly functioning ecosystem.

What remains to be done in her research?  Elskus plans to collect samples of eastern elliptio, a freshwater mussel, from above and below the dams. She will also attempt to collect more banded killifish because they are non-migratory and thus good sentinels of their immediate environment.  For more information, contact Adria Elskus.

USGS biologist Adria Elskus, who is studying contaminant levels in fishes and invertebrates in the Penobscot River and other rivers in the Gulf of Maine watershed, dissects a fish specimen.