Integrated Sentinel Monitoring for Change in Northeastern Ocean and Coastal Ecosystems

Why was this project initiated?

Climate change has a pervasive effect on many marine, estuarine, and coastal ecosystem functions in the northeastern U.S. and eastern Canada. Sea level rise, changing storm patterns and intensity, increased water temperature, altered circulation, increased stratification and ocean acidification are expected to intensify. Important biological resources, including commercial fisheries, will be increasingly affected. A joint, regional strategic planning exercise coordinated by NERACOOS, (Northeast Regional Association for Coastal Ocean Observing Systems) and NROC (Northeast Regional Ocean Council), and involving a dozen other regional organizations identified a pressing need to establish an integrated regional sentinel monitoring network to observe and interpret these changes. The network would inform researchers, managers, and the public about ecosystem vulnerabilities and impacts, and support an ecosystem-approach to management framework that promotes human and ecosystem resiliency from climate change and related stressors. 

What is the goal of the project?

To develop a science and implementation plan for an adaptive sentinel monitoring program in the Northeast coastal region that integrates existing regional monitoring efforts, assets, and resources to assess the status and trends of key indicators at select sites and geographic subregions.

To achieve this goal, the Northeast Sentinel Monitoring Steering Committee has developed a vision and objectives and a framework for implementation. Regional pelagic, benthic and estuarine and nearshore habitat work groups have been formed and tasked with identifying a suite of sentinel ecosystem variables and indicators, compiling information on existing observing activities, identifying gaps in the present observing system and contributing to the synthesis of an integrated regional plan. A key outcome will be to procure funding to fill monitoring and data gaps that establish a self-sustaining, integrated sentinel monitoring program for the Northeast.