VIMS SAV Monitoring Data

<p><b>Open the Data Resource:</b> <a href='https://www.vims.edu/research/units/programs/sav/access/' rel='nofollow ugc'>https://www.vims.edu/research/units/programs/sav/access/</a></p> <p>Researchers at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science have been using aerial photography and ground surveys to monitor the distribution, extent, density and species-composition of seagrass beds in Chesapeake Bay annually since 1978 (with hiatuses in 1982-84 and 1987 due to funding gaps). State and federal resource managers use data from VIMS' seagrass monitoring program as an indicator of water quality and ecosystem health, and to track progress toward the Chesapeake Bay Program's baywide restoration goal of 185,000 seagrass acres. VIMS has used a number of different spatial units to collect, analyze and present seagrass data, including Bay-wide, by segments, by map quadrangles, by salinity zone, by state and by geographic zone. You can access, organize and compare these data via interactive map, data tables and data charts.</p>