Southeast Coast Network News October 2018

Forbes Boyle, new botanist at the Southeast Coast Network.

NPS photo / Forbes Boyle

Botanist on Board!

The Southeast Coast Network is excited to welcome Forbes Boyle as their new network botanist. Forbes comes to the National Park Service from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Inventory and Monitoring Program where he has served as one of four zone ecologists since 2011. Prior to his time with the Fish and Wildlife Service, he was a project manager and post-doctoral scholar for the Carolina Vegetation Survey. Forbes brings a wealth of knowledge and field experience related to vegetation monitoring on federal and private lands in the southeastern United States. His background in performing scientific research, used in decision making and better understanding ecosystems, fills a much-needed gap in the Southeast Coast Network's ongoing monitoring programs. Forbes will be based in the SECN office in St. Marys, Georgia at Cumberland Island National Seashore. Please welcome Forbes to our program and your park.

From the Program Manager

The new fiscal year is has begun, and work plans, budgets, and hiring requests are in progress. We hope to see lots of park representation in St. Augustine, Florida next month for our annual Steering Committee and Board Meeting. The meeting is scheduled for November 14-15, and our main goal is to discuss our progress and get your input and approval on future plans. It will be held near one of our network parks, Castillo de San Marcos National Monument. We are planning a group visit and tour of the park on the morning of the second day. In addition, we will be introducing new SECN staff members and meeting some new folks from our network parks. We look forward to seeing everyone at the meeting!

Former SECN Aquatic Technician Pete Mockus completing a hydrologic profile at Fort Pulaski National Monument.

Photo by SECN Staff

A typical sediment sample from Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve.

NPS Photo / SECN

Coastal Water and Sediment Assessments

In July, the Southeast Coast Network aquatic program completed coastal water- and sediment-quality assessments at 60 randomly chosen locations in the estuarine waters around Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve and Fort Pulaski National Monument. This monitoring included hydrologic profiles, nutrient sampling, and collection of sediment for analysis of metals, total organic carbon, and pollutants. Monitoring is scheduled for Canaveral National Seashore in 2019. A summary of the assessments for Timucuan E&HP and Fort Pulaski NM, as well as summaries for Fort Matanzas National Monument and Cumberland Island National Seashore, which were assesed in 2017, are planned for publication in November 2018.

SECN Aquatic Ecologist Eric Starkey preparing to lower the Ponar grab sampler and retrieve sediment from the bottom.

Photo by SECN Staff

Publications

The Southeast Coast Network recently published two reports in in the Natural Resource Report series. The Monitoring Wadeable Stream Habitat Conditions in Southeast Coast Network Parks: Protocol Narrative and all associated standard operating procedures and Data Quality Standards, and the Natural Resource Condition Assessment: Congaree National Park have been published on IRMA. The network expects the shoreline protocol and several wadeable stream data reports to be published in October.

Post-Florence Shoreline Surveys

A request was made to perform post-Hurricane Florence shoreline surveys at Cape Hatteras National Seashore and possibly Cape Lookout National Seashore. Lisa Cowart Baron, coastal ecologist for the Southeast Coast Network, identified the neap tide survey window and communicated with park staff at Cape Hatteras, and surveys will be completed this fall.
Lisa also attended and presented at the Georgia Coastal Research Council Colloquium Meeting in Savannah, Georgia.

Upcoming Field Work

Shallow Groundwater Monitoring will be conducted at Cumberland Island National Seashore October 16-18.