Document Type
Report
Department/Program
Virginia Institute of Marine Science
Publication Date
4-2021
Series
VIMS Eastern Shore Laboratory Technical Report No. 8
Abstract
An Ecological Monitoring Program (EMP) has been established at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science Eastern Shore Laboratory (VIMS ESL) for the coastal environment near the Wachapreague lab. The goals of the initiative are to 1) provide status and trends information to scientists who study and regulators who manage Virginia’s marine resources, 2) provide a scientific context for short-term research and grant proposals 3) provide pedagogical enrichment to educators for their classes, and 4) build capacity in staff expertise and training of interns and students at VIMS ESL.
The program formalizes and standardizes data collection for a long-term status and trends database as an asset provided by VIMS ESL in addition to marine operations and shore support facilities. The EMP standard methods also provide visiting scientists with protocols for consistent and comparable work. The EMP includes electronic water quality stations, oyster settlement and adult population dynamics, microbial biofilm growth, characterization of benthic communities in soft sediments and oyster reefs, sediment characteristics, and drone surveillance of salt marsh die back and Wachapreague Inlet dynamics. While this document focuses on these core areas of our monitoring activities, results of other VIMS ESL research on shellfish aquaculture, bay scallop restoration, and shorter-term grant supported research projects are reported elsewhere.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.25773/3a2z-ek23
Keywords
Virginia Institute of Marine Science. Eastern Shore Laboratory, Environmental monitoring -- Virginia -- Wachapreague, Wachapreague (Va.) -- Environmental conditions
Recommended Citation
Ross, P. G., & Snyder, R. A. (2021) Ecological Monitoring Program at VIMS ESL : Annual report 2020. VIMS Eastern Shore Laboratory Technical Report No. 8. Virginia Institute of Marine Science, William & Mary. https://doi.org/10.25773/3a2z-ek23
