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Stewardship at the Grand Bay NERR, MS
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Mission
The stewardship program at the Grand Bay NERR is committed to promoting the wise use and conservation of coastal resources. Coastal Mississippi , and the Grand Bay NERR in particular, provides a perfect laboratory for examining landscape changes related to human population growth and natural disasters along with the impacts of climate change and sea-level rise. Monitoring of sensitive habitats and species within the boundary of the reserve provides baseline data on resource status and allows for the detection of trends in resource abundance and health. Resource management activities on the reserve are driven by science and based on the principles of adaptive resource management. Current techniques in restoration science are selectively applied to impaired coastal habitats and long term monitoring allows us to evaluate the effectiveness of restorations. Invasive species are actively monitored, mapped, and controlled when appropriate.
Priority Topics
Habitat Alteration
- Habitat Mapping: Climate change is an important regional issue along the Gulf Coast. A clear understanding of current and historic vegetation communities is important as we track ecological change associated with changes in our climate. For this reason, habitat mapping remains a priority topic for the stewardship staff at the Grand Bay NERR. Fine scale mapping of the topography and plant distributions on the reserve is critical as we work to refine our understanding of how sea level rise will affect coastal resources. Detailed mapping of the reserve watershed provides us with important information about how changes in human populations affect freshwater inflows and nutrient inputs into the system. While most coastal areas are experiencing large increases in human population, portions of the Grand Bay NERR watershed are actually experiencing a trend toward depopulation following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Our mapping efforts will provide important baseline information as we look for both short term and long term changes in plant communities on these ex-urban properties.
- Restoration Science: The restoration of coastal habitats is an important area of focus on the Grand Bay NERR. Many of the vegetative communities on the reserve are fire-dependent, but pressures including human population growth and financial constraints make the regular application of fire on a landscape scale increasingly difficult not only on the reserve but across the region. Our staff is actively investigating the role of fire in the maintenance of these communities by studying the dendroecology of maritime forests on the reserve. We also map invasive species, most notably Chinese Tallow (Triadica sebifera (L.) Small) and cogongrass (Imperata cylindrica (L.) P. Beauv.), to determine their rate of spread. Control efforts for these pest plants include mechanical removal and the selective application of herbicides. Additionally, we are actively monitoring for several invasive insect pests of regional importance.
Last Updated on: Friday, October 16, 2009
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