Tier 1 inventories in many areas are flawed because of spatial and temporal data gaps, and they have a limited number of indicators and metrics. Independent of Tier 1 inventories of large areas, Tier 2 surveys are also being developed for estuaries, sounds, and bays by programs such as the National Park Service, the NERRS, and several state programs. An immediate goal is to determine coverage and frequency of coverage of Tier 1 and Tier 2 programs within a larger area, for instance, the coastal South Atlantic and to determine the indicators and metrics that are included within the programs for each project. A longer-term goal is to mesh Tier 2 projects with Tier 1 inventories to integrate Tier 2 data to inform through extension and enhancement of the Tier 1 information for a characterization of the larger area.
For Tier descriptions see: Gulf of Mexico Monitoring brochure pdf
The 14 Atlantic coastal states and District of Columbia are all, to varying degrees, invested in seagrass preservation, restoration, mapping/monitoring, and research. The mapping and monitoring data collected and methodologies used across the region are highly variable, meaning that robust regional data analysis is fraught if not impossible with few exceptions (e.g., Chesapeake Bay). This project would seek to partner A-SAVE with the Atlantic Coastal Fish Habitat Partnership (ACFHP) to develop a coastwide, broadly agreed upon set of tiered monitoring approaches based on similar work in the Gulf of Mexico. ACFHP has representation from all Atlantic coastal states, including numerous staff with seagrass expertise. The likely mechanism for developing this tool and set of recommendations would be through a series of facilitated workshops conducted jointly by A-SAVE and ACFHP. ACFHP steering committee members would then work with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) to encourage adoption of the tiered monitoring framework by each state through the relevant state natural resource agency. If implemented, we anticipate that it would be far easier to conduct interstate (and perhaps even intrastate) analysis of seagrass status and trends that could be used to inform management and restoration strategies.
With some of the highest densities and greatest contiguous extents of seagrasses nationwide, the states from North Carolina to Florida are at the leading edge of seagrass science, restoration, and mapping/monitoring. But there remain many challenges to overcome (e.g., increasing coastal development and degraded water quality, attaining sufficient funding, establishing best practices for restoration, and project permitting). With the broad extent of expertise and experience across the region, this project would seek to develop a multi-partner seagrass community of practice (CoP) across these four states that would include federal, state, and local government officials, academics, non-profits, and others to engage in a new, collaborative information and idea-sharing network facilitated, at least at first, by A-SAVE members with experience on other seagrass CoPs.
The Scientific Committee on Ocean Research’s funded workgroup, Coordinated Global Research Assessment of Seagrass Systems (C-GRASS) is an international group of researchers seeking to standardize seagrass monitoring towards improving synthesis and application globally. While the group is winding down, there are several efforts that could be assumed by the A-SAVE group, including:
See https://scor-int.org/group/158/ for original list of C-GRASS deliverables