nerrs.noaa.gov - Background

The National Estuarine Research Reserve System is a partnership of NOAA and coastal states to study and protect vital coastal and estuarine resources.

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Reserve research and monitoring programs provide a robust foundation for effective national, regional, and local coastal zone management.

System-Wide + Overview of Research & Monitoring + System-wide Monitoring Program + NERRS Science Collaborative Opportunities + Graduate Research Fellowships		Resources + Research & Monitoring Data + Research Monitoring Products + Research Partners + Contact Research Coordinators Reserve-based + Reserve Research

Graduate Fellows use reserves as living laboratories to address coastal management needs in the natural and social sciences.

System-Wide + Program Background + FAQs Opportunities + Openings + Program Application + Announcements		Resources + Final Report Library + Current Fellows Reserve-based + Current Fellows + Coordinator Directory

Reserves provide educational & outreach activities that advance estuary literacy and engage educators, students and the general public to practice coastal stewardship.

System-Wide + Education Network + Estuaries.noaa.gov Opportunities + K-12 Education Programs + Community Education + Public Outreach + How You Can Help		Resources + About Estuaries + Videos & Games + Real-time Data & Maps + Publications Reserve-based + Reserve Education

The Coastal Training Program provides science-based information and training to support those who make decisions that affect coastal resources.

System-Wide + Overview + Audiences + Coastal Management Issues Opportunities + Key Partners + Training Calendar		Resources + Case Studies + Training Profiles + Publications Reserve-based + Reserve CTP

Reserve Stewardship programs integrate science, monitoring and communities to protect, manage, and restore coastal habitats.

System-Wide + Ecological Changes + Water Quality + Habitat Alteration Opportunities + Restoration + Mapping + Land Acquisition		Resources + Habitat Mapping and Change + Restoration Science + Land Acquisition + Publications Reserve-based + Reserve Stewardship

- News and listings of events, activities and achievements from throughout the National Estuarine Research Reserve System.
  
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The National Estuarine Research Reserve System protects more than 1.3 million acres in 28 reserves in 22 states and Puerto Rico.

Northeast + Wells, ME + Great Bay, NH + Waquoit Bay, MA + Narragansett Bay, RI + Hudson River, NY Mid Atlantic + Jacques Cousteau, NJ + Delaware + Chesapeake Bay, MD + Chesapeake Bay, VA Southeast + North Carolina + North Inlet-Winyah, SC + ACE Basin, SC + Sapelo Island, GA + GTM, FL		Great Lakes + Old Woman Creek, OH + Lake Superior, WI Caribbean + Jobos Bay, PR Gulf of Mexico + Rookery Bay, FL + Apalachicola, FL + Weeks Bay, AL + Grand Bay, MS + Mission-Aransas, TX West Coast + Kachemak Bay, AK + Padilla Bay, WA + South Slough, OR + San Francisco, CA + Elkhorn Slough, CA + Tijuana River, CA

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Background

NERRS Strategic Plan

Science

Reserves are living laboratories to explore, study, and investigate the natural world and the communities around them. Researchers and community members can access real-time data and use reserves as platforms to answer important environmental questions.

GOAL: NERRS scientific investigations improve understanding and inform decisions affecting estuaries and coastal watersheds.

OBJECTIVES:

Expand capacity to monitor changes in water quality and quantity, habitat, and biological indicators in response to land use and climate change drivers.
Improve understanding of the effects of climate change and coastal pollution on estuarine and coastal ecology, ecosystem processes, and habitat function.
Characterize coastal watersheds and estuary ecosystems and quantify ecosystem services to support ecosystem-based management of natural and built communities
Increase social science research and use of social information to foster coastal stewards that value and protect estuaries.

PRIORITY STRATEGIES:

Lead Reserve-based collaborative projects that connect scientists with intended users from problem definition through implementation.
Generate and disseminate periodic data syntheses and analyses of water quality and habitat change and the effects of climate change and other stressors at local and regional scales.
Implement monitoring and research projects that use reserves as sentinel sites for detecting and understanding the effects of sea level change and other climate change effects on estuaries.
Develop and implement strategies that build reserve capacity to conduct and use social science to address coastal management issues.

Last Updated on: Friday, April 15, 2011


Overview Funding History Mgmt Plans & Site Profiles Key Documents & Partners Strategic Plan Legislation Regulations Designation Process Future Designations Bioregions Bioregions Map
	For more information contact Laurie.Mcgilvray@noaa.gov