SECN Highlights February 2025

Members of the dive team from Logan Diving and Salvage in Jacksonville finish connecting the new housing to the dock.

NPS photo

Repair of the Water-Quality Station at TIMU

Katie and Eric Constructed and Installed New Housing for the SECN Datasonde

Back in December, Hydrologic Technician Katie Dagastino and Aquatic Ecologist Eric Starkey replaced the datasonde housing at the network's fixed station monitoring site in Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve's Kingsley Plantation, on the south side of the Fort George River. A new housing was constructed out of PVC pipe and painted at the SECN office in Athens and transported to Timucuan EHP, where divers from Logan Diving and Salvage assisted Katie and Eric with the installation. The overall idea of the project was to replace the sonde pipe with a larger diameter pipe, which meant they had to unbolt the old one, replace it, and bolt in the new one. Over the years, this site has been challenging to maintain due to deep water, high current velocity, high levels of bio-fouling, and boat traffic. With a large pipe clamped from the surface down to the bottom Eric anticipates fewer data gaps and easier maintenance.

Left, Katie Dagastino works on removing the old housing. Right, Eric Starkey positions the boat near the dock.

NPS photos / SECN staff

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Data Management News

Wendy Thorsdatter Begins One-Year Detail at Central Support Office
SECN Data Manager Wendy Thorsdatter began a one-year detail in the role of Data Scientist at the I&M Central Support Office on January 12, 2025. Wendy’s role will include duties as Data Store Project Owner, Data Store user support, Aquarius-to-Data Package workflow automation, and a continued role in the OneGSS CAB for software approval.

IMD Data Publication Celebration

SECN parks were well represented at the end of year data management Fireside Chat “Data publication Celebration” call. Across IMD, there were a total of 761 data files (.csv) published, with a total of 15,503 columns, and over 632 million unique cells. The data packages included 6,516 unique species from 132 park units. Kudos were given to Dean Tucker and Paula Galloway of the WRD, Alison Loar of the Inventories Program, the SCA Data Strike Team, and SECN Data Manager Wendy Thorsdatter. SECN published data packages for six of its seven protocols in 2024 and included data for pilot, legacy, and current efforts. Pilot and legacy data for landbirds and anurans was published in collaboration with the SCA Data Strike Team.

First Data Package of the Year Published

An updated data package “Southeast Coast Network Anuran Monitoring in the Southeastern United States, January 2025 cumulative data package” has been published on DataStore. The updated package now includes data from 2012, 2014, and 2023.

Graphic created by CSO Data Science Team

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White Mangrove Discovered on Fort George Island

Ches and Partners from UNF and St. Johns River WMD were Deploying Temperature Sensors

SECN Coastal Ecologist Ches Vervaeke, along with partners from the University of North Florida and the St. Johns River Water Management District, discovered what could be the northern most white mangrove on Fort George Island while tagging mangroves within the boundaries of Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve. Prior to this, white mangroves had not been found north of Vilano Beach Florida, which is north of St. Augustine, approximately 55 kilometers south. The team deployed temperature sensors on mangroves in and around Fort Matanzas National Monument, Cumberland Island National Seashore and Timucuan, in anticipation of a freeze cold enough to damage or kill mangroves at their northern limit. Multiple red and black mangroves were discovered by Ches in this area early last year and are likely the northern most naturally occurring mangroves along the east coast. This recent discovery puts all three species of native North American mangroves within the boundary of Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve where numerous red and black mangroves are established.

White mangrove discovered on Fort George Island within Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve. Measuring stick shows it is nearly 70 centimeters tall. Temperature probe was placed on the mangrove (right).

NPS photos / Ches Vervaeke

For More About the SECN

Check out Southeast Coast Inventory & Monitoring Network (U.S. National Park Service) (https://www.nps.gov/im/secn/index.htm)