The Wrack

Dr. Jason Goldstein will oversee the Wells Reserves fish studies, salt marsh restoration activities, and long-term environmental monitoring program. He will expand the reserves shellfish program, currently focused on green crab research, into lobster and Jonah crab ecology.

This spring, our research staff will be heading out to nearby rivers to begin a fish-monitoring project and you can get involved.

We're collaborating with the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) to generate up-to-date population information on species with the greatest conservation need in coastal Maine. DMR staff have identified potential spawning habitat for diadromous species such as alewife, rainbow smelt, and brook trout in the Merriland River, Mousam River, and Little River (Biddeford). Now were off too see if these species are indeed using these habitats.

We've processed all the catch from another season of trapping green crabs (Carcinus maenas) and have some preliminary results to report.

Between June and October we caught 6,432 green crabs. This is merely half the number of crabs as last year! In the figure below you can see that the catch was not distributed equally across the three trapping sites. Trends in numbers were similar to those seen last year. Again, the most crabs were caught in the Webhannet River, Wells (3,848) and the least in Broad Cove, Yarmouth (284).

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Removing a small dam from Goff Mill Brook in Arundel reconnects seven miles of stream habitat to the estuary, benefiting brook trout, other migratory and freshwater fish, and the watersheds ecology.

I'm interested in the relationship between human communities and their environments. That is, how human activities have impacted watershed environments, coastal ecologies, and others and how environmental changes such as climate change and sea level rise are affecting human communities especially in coastal regions.

Its been 7 years since we started collecting larval fish and 3 years since our last update (See Team Larval Fish at the Wells Reserve) so its time for another look at the wonderful world of larval fish! Weve had some exciting developments over that time and attended some professional meetings where we have made connections with other researchers working on early life stages of fishes.

It is NOT about easy answers, shortcuts, or even a-ha revelations. Why on earth is that great?

Back in September we reported on a current research project going on at the reserve? green crab sampling! We now have an update on this project, but first to refresh your memory&

Over the 2014 field season, research staff and interns participated in a green crab abundance study in hopes of getting a better understanding of population dynamics of this invasive species on marshes along the coast of Maine. We used modified eels traps baited with Atlantic herring, deployed two traps at a time per site, left them for 24 hours, and repeated this process eight times between June and October.

WELLS, Maine, December 8, 2014  Scientists from around New England met at the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve on December 5 for a workshop focused on blue carbon science and policy. For the first time, scientists from throughout the region gathered to share research results, identify gaps in knowledge, and plan future collaborations involving carbon in coastal habitats.

The term blue carbon refers to the ability of salt marshes, seagrass meadows, and mangrove forests to take up and store carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. Coastal wetlands capture carbon and store it at rates even greater than rainforests.

Carbon held naturally in coastal wetlands is not entering the atmosphere as a greenhouse gas, so these habitats have real potential to mitigate climate change, said Dr. Kristin Wilson, Wells Reserve research director, who co-coordinated the workshop.

At the New England Estuarine Research Society Fall Meeting in Avery Point, Connecticut.