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Restoration Monitoring

WHAT IS THE GUIDANCE MANUAL FOR MONITORING PLANS?

Figure 1. Shallow water coral reefs. Photo courtesy of Allen Yurek underwater photo collection.
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.
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.
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.
Figure 4. Sampling using lift nets in Sachuest Point Marsh, Newport County, RI. Photo courtesy of Tom and Louise Kane, NOAA Restoration Center. Publication of the NOAA Central Library. http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/habrest/r0023771.htm
Figure 4. Sampling using lift nets in Sachuest Point Marsh, Newport County, RI. Photo courtesy of Tom and Louise Kane, NOAA Restoration Center. Publication of the NOAA Central Library.

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
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Volume Two: Tools for Monitoring Coastal Habitats

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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

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

Links to other Supporting organizations and information