WHAT IS THE GUIDANCE MANUAL FOR MONITORING
PLANS?
Figure 1. Shallow water coral reefs. Photo courtesy of Allen Yurek underwater photo collection.
Science-Based
Restoration Monitoring of Coastal Habitats , a two volume
manual, provides technical assistance, outlines necessary steps,
and provides useful tools for the development and implementation
of sound scientific monitoring of coastal restoration efforts.
Information found in these volumes can help practitioners develop
monitoring programs that can determine if a restoration project
is on track and gauge how well a restoration site is functioning.
Methods and tools are also presented that will help practitioners
coordinate monitoring programs and share results with other restoration
practitioners leading to increases in the consistency and success
of future restoration projects. In addition to post-implementation
monitoring, information in these volumes can also be used to
help users evaluate the status of specific coastal habitats before
restoration projects are implemented.
This manual should not be considered a restoration monitoring "cookbook." It
does not provide templates of monitoring plans for specific habitats.
Rather, monitoring approaches should be tailored to different habitats
and different restoration project goals. The interdependence of site-specific
factors causes habitat types to vary in physical and biological structure
within and between regions and geographic locations (Kusler and Kentula
1990). Thus, one method may be appropriate for monitoring juvenile
fishes in a Great Lakes coastal marsh but, due to differences in
hydrodynamics, be inappropriate for use in a marsh on the Atlantic
coast.
| Habitats covered
in this Manual: |
- Water Column
- Oyster Reefs
- Kelp and Other Macroalgae
- Rocky Shore
- Rock Bottom
- Soft Bottom
|
- Soft Shoreline
- Submerged Aquatic Vegetation
(Marine, Brackish and Freshwater)
- Coastal Marshes
(Marine, Brackish and Freshwater)
- Mangroves
- Deepwater Swamps
- Riverine Forests
|
| The classification of habitats
used in this document is loosely based on Cowardin et. al.
(1979), Classification of Wetlands and Deepwater Habitats
of the United States. |
Figure 2 . South Carolina Oyster Restoration
and Enhancement (SCORE) volunteers measuring shoreline/ salt
marsh erosion along volunteer constructed oyster reefs. Photo
courtesy of South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, Columbia,
SC
Volume
One : A Framework for Monitoring Plans Under the
Estuaries and Clean Waters Act of 2000 (Public Law 160-457) was
released in 2003. It outlines the steps necessary to develop
a monitoring plan for any coastal habitat restoration project.
This includes:
- An explanation of the stages of restoration and
monitoring
- The presentation of a process of developing a
monitoring plan through twelve steps
- An explanation for the basic elements that should
be considered when writing a restoration monitoring plan, and
- Three matrices to help practitioners choose
which habitat characteristics may be most appropriate to monitor
for their project.
Figure 3. A SCORE volunteer measuring salinity
using a refractometer. Photo courtesy of South Carolina Department
of Natural Resources, Columbia, SC.
Volume
Two : Tools for Monitoring Coastal Habitats expands
upon the information in Volume One and provides tools
that aid the development and implementation of a plan. Information
provided in Volume Two is designed more for practitioners
who may not have extensive experience in coastal ecology. More
experienced restoration practitioners however, may find the annotated
bibliographies, literature review, and other tools provided useful
as well. Tools provided include:
- Detailed treatment of the characteristics of
each of the habitats and approaches to monitoring in that habitat
- A discussion of how to monitor the human dimensions
of coastal restoration projects
- A review of how to select reference sites or
conditions
- A representative index of restoration monitoring
programs
- A list of costs associated with project monitoring,
and
- A review of Federal legislation relevant to restoration
monitoring.
References
Cowardin, L. M., V. Carter, F. C. Golet and E. T. LaRoe. 1979.
Classification of Wetlands and Deepwater Habitats of the United States.
FWS/OBS-79/31, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington, D.C.
Kusler, J. A. and M. E. Kentula. 1990. Executive summary, pp. xvii-xxv.
In Kusler, J. A. and M. E. Kentula (eds.), Wetland Creation and Restoration:
the Status of the Science. Island Press, Washington, D.C.
CONTENTS
OF THE SCIENCE BASED RESTORATION MONITORING OF COASTAL HABITATS
VOLUME ONE AND TWO.
Volume One:
A Framework for Monitoring Plans under the Estuaries and Clean Waters
Act of 2000 (Public Law 160-457)
Click here for a summary of
the Restoration Monitoring Project
* Download the entire
report
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save the document to your desktop, then open the file from the desktop.
Volume Two: Tools
for Monitoring Coastal Habitats
*Download
the entire report (28MB)
* Download the report in sections:
Note: each of the following habitat and human dimension
chapters is a pdf that contains the: introduction, habitat chapter
itself, associated appendices, and glossary).
To obtain hard copies, please
contact:
John Wickham
NOAA Coastal Ocean Program (N/SCI2)
Center for Sponsored
Coastal Ocean Research
1305 East West Highway, Room 8243
Silver Spring, MD 20910-3282
phone: (301)713-3338
fax: (301)713-4044
John.Wickham@noaa.gov
OR
Teresa A. McTigue, Ph.D.
National
Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (N/SCI1)
Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment
1305 East-West Highway, Room 8409
Silver Spring, Maryland 20910
phone: (301) 713-3028 x141
fax: (301) 713-4353
Restoration.Monitoring@noaa.gov
Links to other Supporting organizations
and information