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System-Wide Monitoring Program
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Biological Monitoring
The reserve system is now developing and expanding the biological monitoring component of the NERRS System-wide Monitoring Program (SWMP). At each reserve, baseline ecological data have been collected to characterize the reserves’ ecology. These ecological data are a part of a published ecological characterization or profile of each site that contains comprehensive descriptions of reserve resources, natural history, ecological processes, and fundamental environmental stressors that impact the estuarine ecosystem.
Biological monitoring in the NERRS builds on the existing site profile information about reserve ecosystems, with the central objective of characterizing biotic diversity in the reserves by assessing community composition, species abundance, and species distributions. This component of SWMP characterizes patterns of variability and spatial distribution of estuarine communities, including emergent and submerged vegetation (e.g., marsh grasses, seagrasses, algae), invasive species, benthic communities, and nekton/plankton communities.
The NERRS research community has begun to develop and test a series of rigorous protocols to establish a national strategy for implementing the SWMP biological monitoring initiative, while retaining local flexibility as appropriate for individual reserves (e.g. Moore 2009). A key component of this effort is the production of biological monitoring data for scientists and coastal managers’ use in short-term research planning or management decisions, in addition to the long-term goal of tracking biological changes over time. These monitoring efforts will be repeated over time within each reserve, and comparisons among reserves will be made as appropriate.
Last Updated on: Friday, October 01, 2010
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