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SECN Newsletter August 2024

Southeast Coast Inventory and Monitoring Network August 2024 Network News on a background of fieldwork photos
Two people, one in uniform, talk to a group of students in the forest.
SECN Physical Scientist Stephen Cooper, left, and Jacob Bateman-McDonald, assistant professor at the University of North Georgia, took a break from a wadeable stream survey to talk to a group of students about what the network does and opportunities in the NPS.

NPS photo / CHAT staff

Stephen and Jake Talk Wadeable Streams

Last month, the SECN's wadeable stream survey crew took a break from work at the Crayfish Creek monitoring site to speak with a group of students from Youth 4 Environmental Action. The volunteers were removing invasive vegetation at a restoration site downstream from the network's site. Physical Scientist and Protocol Lead Stephen Cooper, along with Jacob Bateman-McDonald, an assistant professor at the University of North Georgia, explained what the Southeast Coast Network monitors and how it is interconnected with the surrounding riparian zone and larger ecosystem. They also provided more details on the NPS Inventory and Monitoring Division and the network and the role they play at the parks, as well as opportunities for recent high school graduates or college students in natural resource fields. Stephen and Jake also answered questions from the group. Jake, a former fluvial geomorphologist with the network, is the lead author on the protocol.

Data Sets Published

A revised data package has been published for the five-network Surface Elevation Table monitoring effort. It contains surface elevation and marker horizon records collected from 1998-10-14 through 2024-06-28 for sites in the Southeast Coast Network, South Florida/Caribbean Network, Northeast Temperate Network, Northeast Coastal and Barrier Network and National Capital Region Network.

A new data package has been published for the Southeast Coast Network. Data from parkwide water quality assessments at Cumberland Island National Seashore from 2007 through 2022 have been published here. Similar water quality data packages are expected for Fort Matanzas National Monument, Fort Pulaski National Monument, and Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve by the end of August.
Cover of magazine with closeup of mangroves and the title March of the Mangroves

Mangrove Movement Continues

The SECN's Coastal Ecologist William "Ches" Vervaeke continues to spread the word about mangroves expanding their range up the East Coast. Ches is featured in Michael Adno's article, "March of the Mangroves," (online version) which appears in the July/August 2024 edition of Scientific American. Ches, who has studied mangroves for many years, was contacted by Adno about an article he was writing about the northern expansion of mangroves. The pair, along with University of North Florida Assistant Professor of Biology, Scott Jones; and Ilka Feller, an Ecologist with the Smithsonian Institution; searched for mangroves in the marshes near Cumberland and Amelia islands in December 2023, finding red and black mangroves all the way to the Georgia-Florida border. A subsequent trip in January, minus Felker, ended with the discovery of a mangrove off Cumberland Island near the St. Marys River, the first one documented in Georgia. Their find was also the subject of a story from www.thebrunswicknews.com, and was highlighted in a press release from UNF, "UNF biologist helps discover mangrove trees in Georgia farther north than ever recorded."

Ches recently co-authored a paper, "Mangroves of the Warm Temperate Northwest Atlantic," published in the ICUN Red List of Ecosystems Assessments. He also co-authored, "Enhancing Assessments of Coastal Wetland Migration Potential with Sea‑level Rise: Accounting for Uncertainty in Elevation Data, Tidal Data, and Future Water Levels," for Estuaries and Coasts.

man wearing waders and a ball cap holding a fishing net
Brian Gregory, SECN Program Manager

SECN Program Manager Moves to New Role

Brian Gregory, SECN Program Manager, was recently selected to assume the role of the Regional Lead for I&M in the Southeast Region starting on September 8. Brian has been the program manager at the network since 2015 and prior to that served as the water-quality specialist for the Southeast Coast Network. “Hopefully, the experiences I have gained working with my staff here and the 17 diverse parks across our network will have prepared me well for this next step” Brian commented. “It was also a great experience serving the parks in the area where I was born and raised as well as having my first park (Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park) part of my network.” Brian plans to be more involved in regional natural resource activities and work closely with other divisions. As part of his new role he will be spending more time at the Regional office and at other I&M network offices and parks. Good luck, Brian!

Person with a clipboard and another wrapping a measuring tape around a tree
Elena Kelly (SIP Intern), left, and Mallorie Davis (SECN Biological Technician), measure tree diameters at Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area last month.

NPS photo / SECN staff

FY2024 Monitoring Updates

The FY2024 monitoring season is in full swing for the Southeast Coast Network. In addition, data collected during the FY2023 field season continues to be processed along with FY2022 data. Reports and data packages are coming soon.

Vegetation Communities

Monitoring for the 2024 season is complete with 91 vegetation monitoring plots across three parks resampled and four new plots established. Work at Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area was completed in July, surveys at Fort Frederica National Monument were conducted in June and monitoring at Cumberland Island National Seashore was done earlier this summer. Data collected in FY2023 at Fort Pulaski National Monument, Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve and Fort Matanzas National Monument is being processed and analyzed leaving Cape Hatteras National Seashore to be completed. Data collected in Moores Creek National Battlefield has been processed and a report is coming soon.

Clockwise from top left, man at the wheel, woman in scarf and sunglasses on a boat. a puffer fish below the surface; a woman sets the anchor at the end of boat, a manatee under a boat
Clockwise from top left, Eric Starkey and Katie Dagastino headed to another site; an unidentified puffer fish seen below the surface; Katie sets the anchor at a monitoring site; and a manatee checking out the SECN boat.

NPS photos / SECN staff

Water Quality

A park-wide water-quality assessment was conducted in July at Canaveral National Seashore. Aquatic Ecologist Eric Starkey and Hydrologic Technician Katie Dagastino took samples at 30 randomly selected sites in the estuarine waters of Mosquito Lagoon. Water-quality data collection at fixed-station sites was conducted in June at Congaree National Park, Fort Pulaski National Monument, Cumberland Island National Seashore, Canaveral National Seashore, Fort Matanzas National Monument, and Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve. Monthly visits to parks will continue in FY2024 with assistance from park staff and partners at Cape Hatteras National Seashore and Cape Lookout National Seashore. Data collected in 2022 park-wide water-quality assessments at Cumberland Island National Seashore and Fort Matanzas National Monument are currently being reviewed by the park and will be reported later this year.

Man holding a phone taking a picture with another man holding a card in the photo. Both are standing in a stream.
SECN Physical Scientist Stephen Cooper snaps a photo of a transect during a wadeable stream survey at Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area. Wayne Ryan, SECN Wildlife Intern, assists with the photo.

NPS photo / SECN staff

Wadeable Streams

Twelve of 13 sites at Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area have been surveyed this summer. The final stream reach will be surveyed this month. A summary report from FY2021 data collection at Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area is in review and should be published in 2024. A summary report for FY2023 data collected at Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park is also in review. Data and analysis continues for the remaining FY2023 parks, Horseshoe Bend National Military Park and Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park. Processing continues for data collected from wadeable stream monitoring surveys conducted in FY2022 at Congaree National Park.

Landbird and Anuran Communities

Recordings from the automated recording devices (ARDs) deployed at five parks this season are complete. The ARDs at Horseshoe Bend National Military Park and Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park have been retrieved and more retrievals are scheduled for August at Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park and October for Cumberland Island National Seashore. The network is coordinating with park staff to get ARDs at Cape Lookout National Seashore (Thank you Chelsey and CALO staff!). Data sets from the ARDs deployed in FY 2023 and FY2022 for both landbird and vocal anuran monitoring continue to be processed. A few lingering vocalization data sets collected in FY 2015 and 2016 have been processed and data sets from these monitoring events will be published in the coming weeks with reports for all four recently monitored parks to follow later this year.

Shorelines

All data for the FY2024 shoreline survey season has been collected and processed. Surveys were completed at Cape Lookout National Seashore, Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Canaveral National Seashore, Fort Matanzas National Monument, Cumberland Island National Seashore and Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve. Fall surveys, requested by the parks, are planned for Canaveral National Seashore, Fort Matanzas National Monument, Cape Lookout National Seashore and Cape Hatteras National Seashore. Data collected in FY2023 are being processed and two-page summary briefs, along with an updated data dashboard, are planned for each park.

Coastal Wetlands

All Surface Elevation Table (SET) sites have been read for FY2024 at Fort Pulaski National Monument, Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Cape Lookout National Seashore, Canaveral National Seashore, Fort Matanzas National Monument, Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve, Fort Frederica National Monument, and Cumberland Island National Seashore. Data collected through 2024 has been published as part of a cumulative data package with recent findings to be discussed with park managers. No reports are planned for this monitoring effort until sites have at least five years of data.

Four people sitting and kneeling on the ground looking at plants in a small box lined with meter sticks.
Group effort. Members of the SECN Vegetation Monitoring Crew survey a nested subplot at a site in Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area last month. From left, Megan Herrmann (ACE intern at Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park), Cynthia Worthington (Fire Effects Assistant Crew Lead with Great Smoky Mountains National Park), Wylie Paxton (Lead Fire Effects Monitor with the Southeast Region), and Mallorie Davis (SECN Biological Technician).

NPS photo / SECN staff

screenshot of IRMA homepage

Recent Publications

The Southeast Coast Network recently published the following reports:

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Last updated: August 6, 2024