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SECN Newsletter June 2025

collage of fieldwork by SECN staff
Dock at the edge of water with a pvc pipe attached.
Fixed-station water-quality monitoring site at Canaveral National Seashore.

NPS / SECN

Two Decades of Data!

Summary Information Now Available for SECN’s Estuarine Water Quality Program

The Southeast Coast Network began estuarine water-quality monitoring as early as 2005, depending on the park and partners involved. In preparation for an unknown future, the network has been hard at work to finish all data QA/QC and produce summary information for each fixed monitoring station. The network has operated 13 monitoring stations since its inception and nine of these are still active. Eight sites are in estuaries, and one is in a freshwater creek at Congaree National Park. At each site sondes (aka data loggers) have been deployed to record readings every 15 or 30 minutes for the following parameters: depth, dissolved oxygen, pH, salinity/specific conductance, turbidity, water temperature, and chlorophyll/blue green algae (at select sites). In locations where local entities are not monitoring nutrient concentrations, the network frequently samples to determine concentrations of chlorophyll a, dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN), dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP), total dissolved nitrogen (TDN), total dissolved phosphorus (TDP) and evaluate water clarity. These parameters serve as indicators of eutrophication (excess nutrients in the water). When taken together, the continuous and discrete nutrient data help determine the status and tendencies in water-quality near selected monitoring sites. In addition, these data can highlight nutrient related issues that may negatively impact aquatic resources. With data in hand, resource managers can work with local partners and municipalities on specific issues. Please send an email to eric_starkey@nps.gov if you would like a download link to park specific data, graphs and summary information.

SECN_EstuarineWQ_FS_SummaryGraphs

These files briefly describe the condition of each parameter and highlight any anomalies or issues. While the downloadable summary information does not contain all the content typically found in a report, it serves as a jumping off point for bigger discussions, questions, and analysis. Previous reports can be found here: DataStore - Collection Profile - Collection ID 3915. Lastly, fixed station water-quality monitoring is only half of the estuarine water-quality monitoring protocol. The other half is parkwide assessments conducted by the network. Reports for this effort are up to date and can be found here: https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/Collection/Profile/3914.

Monitoring Update

Water-quality data collection at fixed-station sites was conducted in April 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 in FY2025 have been paused and sondes from fixed-station sites have been retrieved to the Athens office.

Collage of fieldwork pics, people measuring a tree, smiling for camera, bent over looking at plants on ground and standing by tall tree.
Fieldwork at OCMU. Above left, SECN Biological Technician Mallorie Davis and OCMU Intern Henry Decker measure tree diameters. Middle left, Botanist Forbes Boyle searching for plants. Below left, the veg crew. Right, Forbes standing next to one of the tallest river cane individuals at OCMU.

NPS / Mallorie Davis and Forbes Boyle

Round 2 at OCMU

Second Iteration of Vegetation Monitoring at Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park

Botanist Forbes Boyle and Biological Technician Mallorie Davis conducted the second iteration of monitoring on long-term vegetation plots at Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park, finishing at the beginning of last month. The pair was joined by OCMU intern, Henry Decker.

One of the highlights was the abundance of river cane (Arundinaria gigantea) found on one of the bottomland forest plots within the Walnut Creek floodplain, with a few individuals found in flower. “This is only the second time I’ve ever seen Arundinaria gigantea in flower,” said Forbes. Which is not surprising, since this species of cane is known to flower only once every 40 or more years!

Plots were located across two broad habitat types, including alluvial forests within floodplains of the Ocmulgee River and Walnut Creek and upland forests surrounding park administrative structures and cultural monuments. Roughly 150 different vascular plants were observed within these vegetation plots within the park in 2025.

All 2025 vegetation monitoring data collected from Ocmulgee Mounds NHP have already been entered into the SECN vegetation monitoring database and are being processed by Forbes and Mallorie. Data collection may continue at additional parks depending on guidance from regional and national offices.

New Methodology Produces Updated Reports

Kaleidoscope Pro Software reclassifies Anuran Data Collected by the Network in 2012 and 2014

The original reports were produced using now-deprecated software. Recordings done in 2012 and 2014 were reviewed using the modern Kaleidoscope Pro Software and the species classified to improve consistency and comparability with ongoing monitoring work in the park. Data Summary Reports and Species Detection Maps for 2014 were recently published for Canaveral National Seashore, Congaree National Park, Fort Frederica National Monument, Moores Creek National Battlefield and Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park. The 2012 reports and maps include Cape Lookout National Seashore, Cumberland Island National Seashore, Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park, Horseshoe Bend National Military Park, and Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park. For IRMA links, check out Recent Publications later in this newsletter.

Stream with muddy banks and cypress trees. In corner a photo of coiled up Cottonmouth
One of the sites on Cedar Creek in April. Inset photo is a Cottonmouth found along McKenzie Creek.

NPS / SECN

More SECN Monitoring Updates

Wadeable Streams

Wadeable stream surveys were schedule for four sites at Congaree National Park in May. Site maintenance was conducted the last week of April. Surveys of these sites will be rescheduled based guidance from regional and national offices, and when base flow conditions exist. Change report for Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park (2023) is the editing phase. Reports for Horseshoe Bend National Military Park (2023), Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park (2023) and Congaree National Park (2022) will also be published in 2025.

Screenshot of IRMA cover page

Recent Publications

The Southeast Coast Network recently published the following reports and datasets:

Anurans



For More About the SECN: https://www.nps.gov/im/secn/index.htm

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Last updated: June 18, 2025