Research

Sapelo Island NERR research and monitoring programs aim to promote and provide support for coastal environment, specifically estuarine, research efforts within the NERR System and the SINERR. Representatives of University of Georgia Marine Institute, University of Georgia School of Marine Programs, Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, University of Georgia Marine Extension Program, Georgia Tech, and Georgia Southern University are among those pursuing research on the Reserve.

NERR System initiatives include the System Wide Monitoring Program (SWMP)for water quality and meteorological monitoring within each reserve's watershed. The data collected provides a national baseline for assessment of short-term variability and long-term trends in our nation's estuaries.

Other SINERR projects include habitat restoration, oyster reef ecological studies, and invasive species monitoring. SINERR also participates in the Georgia Coastal Ecosystems Long Term Ecological Research (GCE LTER) program and is involved with the development of International Ocean Observing Systems (IOOS) efforts in the NERR system and on the Georgia coast.

Monitoring
Water quality, nutrient, and weather monitoring
The System-wide Monitoring Program measures changes in estuarine water quality to track the health of our nation's National Estuarine Research Reserves and coastal areas. It provides valuable long-term data on water quality and weather at high frequency time intervals to researchers, natural resource managers, and other coastal decision makers.

In order to understand changes in water quality, reserve staff use automated dataloggers to collect data on water depth, temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, turbidity (cloudiness or clarity) and pH. These data are critical indicators of environmental conditions for numerous estuarine species. The measurements are taken at 30-minute intervals at four stations within each of the 26 reserves.

Each reserve also has a weather monitoring station. Weather patterns have a major impact on estuarine habitats. Storms increase runoff into an estuary and can influence its temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, and pH.

The System-wide Monitoring Program has already provided some coastal managers with a tool to make informed decisions on local and regional issues, such as “no discharge zones” for boats, agricultural practices, and urban runoff pollution. As the program expands, the ability to correlate specific land use practices with the health of our estuaries will increase on a national level. It also will increase our understanding of how estuaries function and change naturally over time.

Monitoring data for each reserve are available from the reserve system's Centralized Data Management Office.

Water quality data is also available for the monitoring site at Hudson Creek near the Sapelo Island Visitor Center in Meridian.


Precipitation
SINERR operates a National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP) site on Sapelo Island. This site is one of a network of sites nationwide that monitor precipitation. Samples are collected weekly and are tested to monitor the amount of chemicals present in rainfall.



Stewardship
Stewardship in the National Estuarine Research Reserve System provides long-term protection of natural resources within the system's twenty-seven reserves and serves to model responsible management practices to coastal communities. Stewardship is a functional role at each reserve, involving aspects of research, monitoring, education, policy and implementation of resource management actions.

The SINERR Stewardship program incorporates elements of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping, invasive species monitoring, habitat restoration, atmospheric deposition monitoring, habitat classification, and public education. The GIS Library, maintained by the Stewardship Coordinator, includes data and Global Positioning System (GPS) locations as well as historic documents and images of Sapelo Island.
Please submit GIS data requests to gissapelo@darientel.net

The SINERR GPS program maintains a geocache site on the island. For details, visit
www.geocaching.com. Be aware, those interested in searching for the SINERR geocache on Sapelo Island must make proper tour arrangements through the Visitor Center.

Sapelo Island Research Request and Project Tracking
The SINERR program maintains information about on-going research projects on Sapelo Island. The research request and GIS tracking form must be filled out before any new study site is established within the National Estuarine Research Reserve or elsewhere Sapelo Island. It also must be filled out to maintain any previously established sites. If a research form is not on file, any project markings or equipment (stakes, pens, flags, etc.) will be subject to removal.
Click here for the Research Form.