Jeffery Cordell

University of Washington | UW · School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences

In the marine environment, greening of grey infrastructure (GGI) is a rapidly growing field that attempts to encourage native marine life to colonize marine artificial structures to enhance biodiversity, thereby promoting ecosystem functioning and hence service provision. By designing multifunctional sea defences, breakwaters, port complexes and of...

Invasive plants can impact ecosystem services, such as by reducing availability of nutritional resources for detritivorous arthropods that are valued for juvenile fish production. We compared invasive reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea) and native Lyngbye's sedge (Carex lyngbyei) stands along the lower Columbia River, focusing on their contribu...

We synthesized the status of estuarine use along the West Coast for 15 focal fish and crustacean species, creating maps displaying species location, average frequency of occurrence, and average catch per unit effort, and we compared the data to presumed habitat impacts measured by estuarine stressor scores.

Nocturnal distributions and habitat preferences of juvenile fish along urban shorelines are understudied relative to daytime investigations. As a case study, nocturnal distributions of juvenile Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) among ecological engineered and conventional seawall and pier habitats were characterized from May through August 2019 al...

In human-impacted coastal ecosystems, living shorelines are becoming a common restoration technique. However, we lack a comprehensive understanding of the ecological and physical benefits, and how they could inform management needs. To address this, we studied effectiveness of living shorelines at a broad spatial scale within the Washington State b...

Many nearshore ecosystems are modified by aquaculture, including bivalve culture to produce food and restore extirpated populations. Small invertebrates in nearshore ecosystems support fundamental ecological processes, but the effects of bivalve culture on invertebrates are incompletely understood. Here, we compared invertebrate assemblages from mu...

A mobile dual-frequency identification sonar (DIDSON) was used to characterize juvenile Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) daytime use of armored and eco-engineered seawall habitats along an urbanized shoreline in Puget Sound, Washington, USA. Eco-engineering included intertidal benches to elevate the seafloor, a textured seawall to provide refuge...

We present the first comprehensive analysis of the Pacific Northwest estuaries (PNWE) zooplankton time series, which encompasses 38 estuaries distributed across more than 1000 km of the North American Pacific Coast. With observations spanning more than 20 yr, we here examine biogeographic trends among zooplankton communities, patterns of biological...

Urban nearshore ecosystems are built environments that differ structurally and functionally from the natural ecosystems they replace. Eco-engineering offers the ability to enhance these ecosystems by reducing the impacts of shoreline modification. Recent studies have linked shoreline armoring and pier shade—common features of modified shorelines—to...

1 school of the environment, washington state university, vancouver, washington, 98686, usa 2 school of biological sciences, washington state university, vancouver, washington, 98686, usa 3 department of environmental sciences, university of basel, basel, switzerland 4 school of aquatic and fishery sciences, university of washington, seattle, washi...

Kelp forests are an important ecological component of temperate coastal systems that are sensitive to anthropogenic disturbance and are in decline in many locations globally. In the northeastern Pacific Ocean off the coast of Washington, USA, bull kelp Nereocystis luetkeana forests are seasonally used by juvenile salmonids and forage fishes; howeve...

Human population growth and accelerating coastal development have been the drivers for unprecedented construction of artificial structures along shorelines globally. Construction has been recently amplified by societal responses to reduce flood and erosion risks from rising sea levels and more extreme storms resulting from climate change. Such stru...

Human population growth and accelerating coastal development have been the drivers for unprecedented construction of artificial structures along shorelines globally. Construction has been recently amplified by societal responses to reduce flood and erosion risks from rising sea levels and more extreme storms resulting from climate change. Such stru...

The rate of aquatic invasions by planktonic organisms has increased considerably in recent decades. In order to effectively direct funding and resources to control the spread of such invasions, a methodological framework for identifying high-risk transport vectors, as well as ruling out vectors of lesser concern will be necessary. A number of estua...

Shoreline armoring is prevalent around the world with unprecedented human population growth and urbanization along coastal habitats. Armoring structures, such as riprap and bulkheads, that are built to prevent beach erosion and protect coastal infrastructure from storms and flooding can cause deterioration of habitats for migratory fish species, di...

Salmon Bay Natural Area invertebrates. Dataset of macroinvertebrates sampled in Salmon Bay Natural Area before and after armoring removal.

Cornet Bay wrack cover and log data. Dataset of wrack cover and number of logs in Cornet Bay sampled before and after shoreline armoring removal.

Epibenthos data from Olympic Sculpture Park. Dataset of epibenthos sampled in Olympic Sculpture Park before and after shoreline armoring removal.

Cornet Bay invertebrate data. Dataset of invertebrates sampled in Cornet Bay before and after shoreline armoring removal.

Powel Property dataset. Dataset of saltmarsh percentage cover and invertebrate richness from Powel Property before and after shoreline armoring removal.

Olympic Sculpture Park insect data. Dataset of insects sampled before and after shoreline armoring removal in Olympic Sculpture Park.

Seahurst Park invertebrate dataset. Dataset of invertebrates sampled before and after shoreline armoring removal at two different locations (removed in 2005 and 2014 respectively) in Seahurst Park.

Six families and at least 15 species of harpacticoid copepods were found on debris, generated from the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on 11 March 2011, that landed in North America. Harpacticoids occurred on a wide variety of objects, ranging from small plastic items to a massive floating dock. At the genus level, the harpacticoid copepod...

Climate and hydrologic variability are defining characteristics of California rivers. Recently the region experienced an unprecedented drought, and the probability of similarly warm dry conditions is predicted to increase. In addition to warming air and water temperatures, climate change projections predict increased flooding, and sea level rise, l...

We examined the effects of two types of piers on composition, abundance, and diversity of small epibenthic invertebrates and on several taxa known to be important prey for juveniles of three species of Pacific salmon. Using an epibenthic pump, invertebrates were sampled under and away from piers. Piers located within a dense urban aggregation of ov...

1. Nearshore ecosystems are increasingly recognized as critical habitats for fish of cultural, ecological and economic significance. These ecosystems are often densely inhabited by juvenile fish, highly productive and refuges from predation, leading ecologists to characterize them as nurseries. However, nearshore ecosystems are being transformed gl...

Daily cycles in feeding intensity are common among fish and suggestive of ecological trade-offs and constraints. However, feeding chronologies are typically estimated from diets rather than in situ observations. As a consequence, our understanding of daily feeding patterns is often imprecise, which limits our ability to infer connections between th...

We have a limited understanding of habitat use and behavior in nearshore fish communities because they are rarely observed in situ. Consequently, ecologists recommend a process-based conceptualization of nursery habitats, but lack knowledge of nursery processes on fine scales along shore, and studies in controlled settings suggest that context-depe...

Identifying causes of structural ecosystem shifts often requires understanding trophic structure, an important determinant of energy flow in ecological communities. In coastal pelagic ecosystems worldwide, increasing jellyfish (Cnidaria and Ctenophora) at the expense of small fish has been linked to anthropogenic alteration of basal trophic pathway...

Compared to benthic and water-column invertebrate assemblages, considerably less is known about terrestrial arthropods inhabiting estuarine wetlands despite their importance to tidal wetland biodiversity and productivity. We also need to know more about how human modification of estuaries, including efforts to restore estuarine wetlands, affects th...

During the transition of juveniles from fresh water to estuarine and coastal environments, the survival of Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) can be strongly size selective and cohort abundance is partly determined at this stage. Because quantity and quality of food influence juvenile salmon growth, high rates of prey and energy acquisition during...

An important nursery function of estuaries is providing prey resources for juvenile fish. Shoreline armoring compromises epibenthic and terrestrial prey resources, but it is unclear how this affects fish feeding ecology, particularly in urban landscapes where armoring is common. In this study we sampled prey availability and diets from 3 species of...

Beach wrack is an organic subsidy that supports high intertidal and supralittoral invertebrate communities in many coastal systems. Beaches fringed with riparian vegetation accumulate wrack from both terrestrial leaf litter and marine algae/seagrasses, forming a reciprocal connection. Previous research has shown that shoreline armoring disrupts thi...

The Asian isopod Ianiropsis serricaudis is now well established in fouling communities, often associated with introduced ascidians, throughout the Northern Hemisphere but has gone largely unnoticed because of its diminutive size (typically less than 3 mm in length) and the difficulties of identifying small peracarid crustaceans. Known locations inc...

Removal of shoreline armoring can potentially restore lost biological functions to intertidal beaches and increase con-nectivity between aquatic and terrestrial realms. Conceptual models are needed, as ecologists, managers, and engineers are all concerned with finding ways to restore natural aspects to shoreline features that are stable and resilie...

The carrying capacity of a 2.4 ha Manila clam Venerupis philippinarum farm, using mechanised harvesting in North Puget Sound, WA, USA,was determined by means of an ecological model; the results were also scaled to Puget Sound as a whole. An individual Manila clam growth model was developed, calibrated and validated for the commercial farm, together...

Zooplankton are important trophic intermediaries between aquatic primary producers and higher level consumers such as fish, but to date they have been little studied in intertidal marshes. This is particularly true in the San Francisco Estuary (SFE), which is heavily impacted by human activities and is being targeted for restoration of its native w...

The ecological significance of algal and seagrass wrack subsidies has been well-documented for exposed-coast sandy beaches but is relatively unstudied in lower-energy and mixed-sediment beaches. In marine nearshore environments where beaches are fringed with riparian vegetation, the potential for reciprocal subsidies between marine and terrestrial...

In Puget Sound, an oceanographically diverse and urbanized fjord estuary, understanding of pelagic ecology is poor, and systematic monitoring and assessment of living systems has long been neglected. We explored current patterns of community composition from lower‑to‑middle trophic levels (microbes, phytoplankton, zooplankton, small pelagic fishes,...

Shoreline modifications, such as seawall armoring and piers, are ubiquitous along developed waterfronts worldwide, and recent research suggests that their ecological effects are primarily negative. We utilized snorkel surveys to quantify the effects of seawalls and piers on fish in nearshore habitats of an urbanized estuary in Puget Sound, Washingt...

Tidal marsh wetlands provide important foraging habitat for a variety of estuarine fishes. Prey organisms include benthic/epibenthic macroinvertebrates, neustonic arthropods, and zooplankton. Little is known about the abundance and distribution of interior marsh macroinvertebrate communities in the San Francisco Estuary (estuary). We describe seaso...

The freshwater cladoceran Bosmina coregoni (Baird, 1857), native to Eurasia, has established and spread in the Great Lakes region of North America since the 1960s. Here we report the first detection of B. coregoni on the Pacific coast of North America, in three geographically distinct locations: the Lower Columbia River Estuary (LCRE), Lake Washing...

Shoreline armoring is prevalent worldwide and has resulted in substantial habitat alteration in heavily urbanized areas. The biological and physical processes associated with these shorelines have in many cases been compromised, which has led to a recent focus on how to design and implement projects to restore some of the lost or impaired functions...

Abundances of two closely related Pseudodiaptomus species, Pseudodiaptomus inopinus and Pseudodiaptomus poplesia, and salinity, temperature, and chlorophyll (Chl) a levels were measured monthly at a station in the Mankyung River estuary, South Korea, through a spring tide flood-ebb series. Both species occurred mostly under mesohaline to polyhaline...

Background/Question/Methods As part of a multi-year field study to investigate plankton dynamics in the lower Columbia River estuary, we conducted monthly sampling of chlorophyll, nanoplankton, microplankton, and mesozooplankton. In addition to the description of seasonal variation in the plankton community and relationships to environmental pred...

The non-native tunicates Didemnum vexillum, Ciona savignyi, and Styela clava are of concern to resource managers of Puget Sound, Washington, USA because they have been shown to threaten native species diversity and shellfish aquaculture in other regions. Invasive tunicates in Puget Sound occur mainly on man-made structures such as floating docks an...

As part of a multi-year field study to investigate plankton dynamics in the Lower Columbia River Estuary (LCRE), we conducted monthly sampling of the mesozooplankton (> 73 mu m) at a station near Astoria, Oregon. The planktonic copepod community was numerically dominated by three non-indigenous species (NIS), Pseudodiaptomus forbesi, Limnoithona te...

Shoreline armoring is thought to be a major factor disrupting natural ecosystem functions in nearshore marine and estuarine environments, yet few studies have documented actual negative impacts of armoring on ecosystem health. The demand for shoreline armoring is likely to increase with heightened concerns about erosion caused by sea-level rise, an...

Marine shorelines worldwide are being increasingly modified with armoring as coastal populations grow and the risk of sea level rise increases. Seawalls are the least complex armoring structure, typically built of smooth vertical concrete. Compared to natural rocky intertidal shorelines they reduce surface area, lack microhabitats that provide refu...

The San Francisco Estuary (SFE) is a large, highly dynamic and ecologically important estuary on the west coast of the USA. We collected zooplankton and hydrographic data over a 3-year period (1997–1999) at six stations spanning the lower SFE to investigate long-term changes through comparison with a 1980–1981 survey of the area, El Niño-Southern O...

We assessed the colonization risk of invertebrate nonindigenous species (NIS) in ballast water being brought into Canada's Pacific coast by indirect and direct methods. Initially we mapped the locations in the northern Pacific Ocean where ships coming into Vancouver Harbour had performed mid-ocean exchange (MOE). Exchange transects (the distance be...

The Duwamish estuary is an industrialized waterway located in Seattle, WA, USA. Despite a history of habitat loss, naturally produced juvenile Chinook salmon use the estuary. In addition to experiencing degraded habitat in the estuary, wild salmon growth may be affected by competition with more than three million hatchery fish released yearly into...

We investigated the feeding ecology of juvenile salmon during the critical early life-history stage of transition from shallow to deep marine waters by sampling two stations (190 m and 60 m deep) in a northeast Pacific fjord (Dabob Bay, WA) between May 1985 and October 1987. Four species of Pacific salmon-Oncorhynchus keta (chum), O. tshawytscha (C...

In coastal environments, the supratidal zone bridges marine and terrestrial ecosystems and is important for energy exchange. However, it is also subject to extensive anthropogenic disturbance, such as armoring of shorelines. Shoreline armoring is extensive along many coasts, but the impacts on biota are comparatively unknown. Between 2000 and 2002,...

Estuarine ecosystems along the Pacific coast of North America are vulnerable to invasions by non-indigenous planktonic copepods, with documented invasions by at least nine species introduced via ship's ballast. One of these, the calanoid copepod Pseudodiaptomus inopinus, now occurs in a relatively wide geographical area in coastal estuaries of Wash...

The movement and release of non-indigenous species (NIS) in ship ballast water is a global threat to the conservation of native aquatic species and habitats. One key to successful NIS establishment in coastal waters is propagule pressure – the size and frequency of NIS inoculations. We estimated propagule pressure of high-risk coastal zooplankton d...

Oceanographic characteristics and the presence of international shipping in Puget Sound, Washington, USA contribute to its vulnerability to non‐indigenous species (NIS) invasions. To evaluate NIS arriving in ballast water, zooplankton was sampled in 380 ballast tanks of ships after they entered Puget Sound. Taxa were classified into a higher risk g...

The amphipod Crangonyx floridanus and the isopods Caecidotea racovitzai and Asellus hilgendorfii were discovered in the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta, California, U.S.A. We applied Chapman and Carlton's (1994) criteria for determining introduced species to test whether these species are non-indigenous to the delta. The majority of the attributes sco...