SeagrassNet, a Seagrass Monitoring Network

SeagrassNet to date is a successful monitoring program, providing the
foundations for a long-term database that can evaluate the impact of human
activity on the coastal ocean as well as global climate change. SeagrassNet is
a program with many facets: long term monitoring of seagrass habitat to detect
trends, but also education of marine scientists and managers throughout the
globe about the functions and values of seagrass. Also there is a community
element: scientists establishing a SeagrassNet site and training those who will
monitor that site make a point of talking with community leaders and members
about the value of the seagrass resource and the reasons for SeagrassNet
monitoring. Community-based monitoring of seagrasses is now occurring in twelve
locations throughout the Western Pacific, with citizens of these
locationsmonitoring a suite of seagrass parameters.

SeagrassNet involves the long term monitoring of seagrasses and trends in
seagrass habitat; seagrasses occur on the coasts of all continents except
Antarctica and grow from the intertidal zone to depths of 30m and more in some
clear water areas. The main goal of SeagrassNet is to implement and expand
global monitoring of seagrass habitat with generic methodologies that are used
world-wide. The SeagrassNet monitoring protocol is a standardized set of
methods which yield comparable results. Additional goals include: 1) training
of SeagrassNet participants, building a scientific monitoring team with the
capacity to continue quarterly monitoring and reporting of data after training,
2) ongoing submission of data from across the globe to a web-based SeagrassNet
database at the University of Maryland, 3) establishmennt of monitoring sites
in each participating country, where quarterly monitoring is conducted along
fixed transects within seagrass areas, 4) the inclusion of a community-based
monitoring component, with training of community members in a simplified
version of the SeagrassNet protocol for ongoing monitoring, and, 5) expansion
of the SeagrassNet program to as many countries with seagrass habitat as
possible. SeagrassNet seeks to expand within the Gulf of Maine, the US, and
globally.

SeagrassNet seeks to expand to further countries and to multiple sites within
countries. As longer term data is generated and analyzed, SeagrassNet will be
producing a "report card" on the global health of the coastal oceans.
SeagrassNet seeks long-term funding and consistent support for the program.
Additionally, SeagrassNet seeks collaborative institutions and research groups
to organize regional monitoring programs. SeagrassNet recruits monitoring teams
at all its sampling sites. Teams include graduate students, coastal managers,
scientists, community leaders, and staff of laboratories and NGOs. Also, for
the community-based monitoring, SeagrassNet recruits and trains people from the
community to participate. The SeagrassNet site in the Gulf of Maine is being
monitored quarterly by graduate and undergraduate students at the Jackson
Estuarine Laboratory, University of New Hampshire. SeagrassNet monitors
seagrasses (density, biomass, % cover, canopy height, species compostition, and
extent) as well as temperature (continuous data logging), light, and salinity.