Project Summary:
The goal of the Robinson Island Restoration and Protection project is to restore the dune habitat on Robinson Island and facilitate restoration of prop scars in shoal grass (Halodule wrightii) beds located east and southeast of Robinson Island. Additionally, signage warning against boaters from using motors within the seagrass beds will be regularly placed along grassbed margins, educational signage about seagrasses will be placed at marinas & boat ramps, and interpretive signage on coastal island habitats will placed at strategic locations on Robinson Island.

Need for Project:
Robinson Island is a City of Orange Beach-owned island located on the south end of Perdido Bay, just north of the AL Highway 182 bridge. Prior to impacts from the previous owner and Hurricane Ivan, the island had a complex community of ground cover, including sea oats, shrub-scrub species and mature sand pine. The previous owned removed much of the ground cover, and Hurricane Ivan killed or damaged a large number of the sand pines. Additionally, the island is a popular recreation location. During the summer, numerous boats and jet skis will be beached around the island, with tourists and locals enjoying the sandy beach. Robinson Island is located at the junction of 3 navigation channels and Perdido Pass, the local tidal inlet; therefore, there is a large amount of boat traffic, including tourists unfamiliar with the location of shoals, channels, etc. There are shoals with extensive shoal grass beds on the eastern and southern sides of Robinson Island, as well as north of the Bayou St. John navigation channel. These beds have been damaged with prop scars and are in need of restoration. Recently, the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources designated these shoals as a no wake zone to protect the seagrasses. However, funding for signage has not been available.

1. replant native vegetation on the island to restore dune habitat on the island
2. install “bird stakes” in prop scars and, as demonstrated in the Florida Keys, use nutrients from bird droppings to speed up seagrass re-growth into the scars, thereby restoring these areas
3. erect signage around the area warning against operation of outboard motors in the grassbeds
4. erect educational signage at local marinas & public boat ramps
5. erect interpretive signage on the importance of coastal islands at strategic locations on Robinson Island
6. monitor areas with bird stakes to gauge success in restoring seagass

• plant dune vegetation (sea oats) on the island
• install ”bird stakes” in prop scars
• install signs around perimeter of seagrass beds
• erect educational signs at local marinas and boat ramps
• install interpretive signs about the importance of coastal islands at strategic locations on Robinson Island
• monitor success of bird stakes

• The measure of success for the sea oats planting will be percent survival. Monthly surveys of Robinson Island will be made to assess the percent of the plants alive.
• We will monitor the changes that take place in seagrass coverage in the scars using the non-destructive Blaun-Branquet method of assessing cover, a technique that has proven to be quick, accurate and cost-effective.
• We will make observations of seagrass cover every meter along the length of the scar and across its entire width every month from April to October during 2006.
• At the end of October we will also take small core samples every meter along the axis of the scar and report the above ground and below ground biomasses of shoalgrass, along with any other seagrasses or algae that have colonized the scars (although this is not expected).
• We will then use a one-way ANOVA to compare seagrass coverage between restored and control prop scars at the end of the study, and we will estimate the total amount of area in the prop scars with bird stakes that contain seagrasses.

Monitoring and Long-Term Management: We will monitor the success of both the sea oats planting and the prop scar restoration monthly, as described above, for the spring-fall period of the project year. Thereafter, we will use matching funds to visit the sites in spring and fall to monitor success of both the sea oats planting and prop scar restoration for two additional years at no cost to the project.

Community Involvement:
The planting of sea oats on Robinson Island will be coordinated with the city of Orange Beach and their existing volunteer program. Marine science high school classes from Spanish Fort, Daphne, Fairhope, and Gulf Shores have all asked to assist in planting. The Dauphin Island Sea Lab’s Discovery Hall Program will supply these classes with curriculum materials on seagrasses, sand dunes, and maritime forests. Community education will be accomplished through signage placed on the island, at two of the vessel launch sites and at a marina. These signs describe the value of natural habitat and its importance within the Robinson Island ecosystem.

• Jan-Dec 2006 - Project management
• April-Dec 2006 - Field Experiments and Monitoring
• July-Dec 2006 - Data analysis
• Oct-Dec 2006 - Draft Final Report
   

• The Mobile Bay National Estuary Program
• ADCNR-State Lands Division Coastal Section
• ADCNR-Marine Police Division
• City of Orange Beach
• Baldwin County Commission
• Gulf of Mexico Foundation
• NOAA Community-based Restoration Program