SFCN Seagrass Monitoring (2015 - Ongoing)
Feeley M and Richter L . SFCN Seagrass Monitoring (2015 - Ongoing). 2015. National Park Service
The South Florida/Caribbean Network (SFCN) conducts long-term seagrass monitoring of as part of the nationwide Inventory and Monitoring Division of the National Park Service. Seagrass communities in nearshore coastal ecosystems provide important habitat for numerous species including recreationally and commercially important juvenile fish and invertebrate species, sea turtles, and wading and diving birds. Seagrass communities in the SFCN parks have been exposed to significant anthropogenic stress, such as eutrophication and changes in salinity patterns associated with water management in south Florida, among other effects. The overall objectives of the SFCN seagrass monitoring project is to monitor trends in seagrass cover/community composition and the presence of invasive exotic species within mapped seagrass habitat in network parks, to collect ancillary information (i.e., water depth, sediment depth, substrate type, canopy height, Lobatus gigas [Queen Conch] counts) that can be used to improve understanding of seagrass species and habitat relationships or provide information to support another vital sign, and to compare trends in seagrass cover, species composition, and invasive exotic species presence within and outside of parks to evaluate the effectiveness of park management actions (when requested by park management and logistically feasible). Seagrass is monitored using a stratified random survey where sites are monitored by teams of divers deploying four 0.25 square meter (2.7 square foot [ft2]) quadrats which are assessed using a Braun-Blanquet methodology. This project is a repository for all datasets, protocols, reports, and other types of publications pertaining to seagrass monitoring at Biscayne National Park, Buck Island Reef National Monument, Salt River National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve, and Virgin Islands National Park.
- Type
- Project
- Authors
- Feeley, Mike; Richter, Lee
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- BISC , BUIS , SARI , VIIS
- Keywords
- Biscayne National Park, Buck Island Reef National Monument, Dry Tortugas National Park, National Park Service, Nearshore Coastal Ecosystems, Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve, Seagrass, Seagrass Communities, South Florida/Caribbean Network, Submerged Aquatic Vegetation, Virgin Islands National Park
Program
Products
- SFCN Seagrass Monitoring Resource Brief - Biscayne National Park, Buck Island Reef National Monument, Dry Tortugas National Park, Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve, Virgin Islands National Park (2022)
- South Florida/Caribbean Network seagrass community monitoring: Protocol narrative—version 1.1
- South Florida/Caribbean Network seagrass community monitoring: Protocol narrative
- South Florida/Caribbean Network seagrass community monitoring: Standard operating procedures
- South Florida/Caribbean Network seagrass community monitoring: Data quality standards
- SFCN Seagrass Monitoring Database - Virgin Islands National Park (Pilot) (2015)
- SFCN Seagrass Monitoring Standard Operating Procedure SEA01: Sample Frame and Habitat Classification—Version 1.1
- SFCN Seagrass Monitoring Standard Operating Procedure SEA02: Stratification—Version 1.1
- SFCN Seagrass Monitoring Standard Operating Procedure SEA03: Creating a Seagrass Layer, Merging with Bathymetry Layer, and Assigning Strata—Version 1.1
- SFCN Seagrass Monitoring Standard Operating Procedure SEA04: Sample Allocation—Version 1.1
- SFCN Seagrass Monitoring Standard Operating Procedure SEA05: Field Methods—Version 1.1
- SFCN Seagrass Monitoring Standard Operating Procedure SEA06: Training—Version 1.1
- SFCN Seagrass Monitoring Standard Operating Procedure SEA07: Entering, Verifying and Performing a 100% QA/QC Check of Seagrass Data in the NPStoret Seagrass Database—Version 1.1
- SFCN Seagrass Monitoring Standard Operating Procedure SEA08: Review, Certification and Export to Microsoft Excel, EQuIS and STORET—Version 1.1
- SFCN Seagrass Monitoring Standard Operating Procedure SEA09: Data Summaries, Analysis, and Reporting—Version 1.1
- SFCN Seagrass Monitoring Standard Operating Procedure SEA10: Revising the Protocol—Version 1.1