In 1995, with the goal of understanding how estuaries change over time, the National Estuarine Research Reserve network implemented a standardized monitoring program across all 30 Reserves known as the System-Wide Monitoring Program (SWMP). This long-term program aims to measure and determine how conditions on the Reserves are changing in both the short and long term.
With sea level on the rise, researchers at UNH are looking into the best way to protect our coastal salt marshes. Working in collaboration with Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, researchers are able to implement different techniques to prevent salt marsh erosion due to sea level rise. This post is the first of two, highlighting two graduate students working on salt marsh resiliency and restoration techniques.
When healthy, sea grasses form dense underwater meadows that provide many benefits to bay organisms and us, including producing great quantities of oxygen that many marine creatures need to thrive, provide excellent physical habitat for young fish and shellfish, improves water quality by absorbing excess nutrients, and increases water clarity by filtering sediments.
