Core 2 Research Program - University of Southern Mississippi

 
 

Principal Investigators: Jerry Wiggert, Kemal Cambazoglu, Scott Milroy, Chet Rakocinski

Team Members: Corey Pagart, Tasheena Powers, James Davis, Katherine VanderKooy, Geoffrey Spooner, Mallory Dyson, Hameed Ajibade

Undergraduate Interns: Joe Bell (Deepwater Horizon Memorial Internship), Aurora Green

Award Amount: $411,354

Project Description

Goal:

Continue to model and assess the seasonal trends in water quality, the dynamics of freshwater inflow into Mississippi Sound, and the suitability of waters of the MS Sound for sustainable oyster production.

Additionally, Core 2 will expand past work into bays and other coastal waters, assess locations with the potential for development of sustainable estuarine ecosystems, and synthesize all data from Core 1.

Why it is Important:

Due to record flooding in the much of the Mississippi River valley, the Bonnet Carré spillway was opened in 2018 and twice in 2019 to relieve flooding pressure on levees in New Orleans. This unprecedented event resulted in a large influx of freshwater into the Mississippi Sound, through Lake Pontchartrain. A key goal of the next phase of the core research program will be to gather the data needed to model and assess: 1) the return of water quality conditions in the western Mississippi Sound that can support and sustain existing oyster reefs; 2) oyster spat movement and successful recruitment onto reefs; 3) the reestablishment of oyster reefs growing toward harvestable size; and 4) overall ecosystem services of the Sound. This will provide the MBRACE team with a unique opportunity to study the recovery of an estuarine ecosystem from a major event.

Objectives:

  1. Data Synthesis: Synthesize data from Core 1 to assess the water conditions, oyster distribution and oyster health in the western Mississippi Sound.

  2. Oyster Larvae Supply and Recruitment:

    • Evaluate the effect of the Bonnet Carré spillway opening on oyster larvae recruitment and settlement.

    • Determine if recruitment limitation has developed; the contribution of remote sourced early stage oysters; influence of limited recruitment on post-settlement success; the impact of multi-stressors on early stage recruitment success.

  3. Circulation Modeling of MS Sound:

    • Monitor recovery of the MS Sound system.

    • Refine existing model to better resolve freshwater inputs and surface atmospheric forcing, as well as simulating biogeochemical and sediment processes.

  4. Habitat Suitability Monitoring: Using outputs from the circulation model, assess recruitment success onto our study region of oyster larvae released from various sites around the Louisiana/Mississippi/Alabama coastal waters through the application of habitat suitability assessment methods.

Expected Outcomes and Management Impacts:

  • The results of this work will provide information on current oyster bed viability, viable larval source regions, and target areas for future oyster bed installations.

  • Provide guidance on suitable locations for future oyster bed installations, with the context of increasing influence of river diversion impacts on key environmental conditions.

Project Outputs

    1. Morgan LM, Rakocinski CF. 2022. Predominance of factors limiting the recovery of the eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) in western Mississippi Sound, USA. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science. 264. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2021.107652. Link.

    1. Ajibade H, Rizal A, Armstrong B, Kuttan SK, Cambazoglu K, Wiggert JD, “The influence of river and Bonnet Carre freshwater discharge on the exchange mechanism in Cat Island channel”, Bays and Bayous Symposium, Mobile, AL, January 2023.

    2. Rakocinski CF, VanderKooy K, Spooner G, “Early recruitment limitation impedesthe recovery of the eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) in Mississippi Sound”, Bays and Bayous Symposium, Mobile, AL, January 2023.

    3. Wiggert JD, Armstrong BN, Kuttan SK, Cambazoglu MK, de Mutsert K, “Developing modeling capacity to reveal how expanding freshwater inputs to Mississippi Sound impact environmental conditions”, Bays and Bayous Symposium, Mobile, AL, January 2023.

    4. Rakocinski CF, VanderKooy K, Spooner G, “Early recruitment limitation impedesthe recovery of the eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) in Mississippi Sound”, Gulf Estuarine Research Society Annual Meeting, Ocean Springs, MS, November 2022.

    5. Bell J, Cambazoglu K, “Validation of COAWST modeling system results for 2019 Bonnet Carré Spillway openings”, American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, New Orleans, LA, December 13-17, 2021.

    6. Armstrong B, Bernstein D, Razavi-Arab A, Cambazoglu K, Wiggert J, “Coastal model sensitivity to spatial and temporal resolution of atmospheric forcing”, Coastal Education and Research Foundation Conference, Virtual, November 2, 2021.

    7. Cambazoglu K. “Actionable science for natural resource management in Mississippi Sound: A case study with modeling of Bonnet Carré Spillway operation”, American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, New Orleans, LA, December 13-17, 2021.

    8. Cambazoglu K, Armstrong B, Kuttan S, Wiggert J, Bernstein D, “Modeling the impacts of freshwater transport within estuarine systems during the Bonnet Carré Spillway openings”, Coastal Education and Research Foundation Conference, Virtual, November 2, 2021.

    9. Milroy S, Cambazoglu K, Powers T, Wiggert J “Application of habitat suitability index (HSI) models for Mississippi oyster restoration”, Featured (Anchor) Oral Presentation, Coastal Education and Research Foundation Conference, Virtual, November 2, 2021.

    10. Armstrong B, Bernstein D, Kuttan SK, Cambazoglu K, Wiggert J. “Wind sensitivity analysis in a COAWST model of the Mississippi Sound”, American Meteorological Society Conference, Virtual, January 10-15, 2021.

    1. Slade, T. 2023. “Growth and mortality of American Oysters (Crassostrea virginica) for several years in the Mississippi Sound – effects of freshwater influence. Honors College Thesis, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS, USA.

    2. Bouchard C. 2021. “Exploring the influence of diurnal forcing on tidal inlet exchange and the impact on the movement of oxygen depleted waters in the Mississippi Sound and Bight Region” Masters’ Thesis. University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS, USA.