NEWS FROM NOAA
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
U.S. Dept. of Commerce

Contact: Glenda Powell (301)713-3066, Ext. 191
NOAA05-056
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, NOAA RELEASES SECOND VOLUME
OF MANUAL ON COASTAL HABITAT RESTORATION MONITORING

NOAA released another useful tool for scientists and coastal managers to monitor and restore the environment in the coastal zone. Science-Based Restoration Monitoring of Coastal Habitats, Volume Two: Tools for Monitoring Coastal Habitats is the second in a series of books focusing on important information that can be used in coastal habitats nationwide. NOAA is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“This publication is part of NOAA’s continuing effort to manage coastal and ocean resources to optimize benefits to the environment and society,” said lead author Gordon Thayer, of the NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS). “Readers are presented with the background needed to make critical decisions necessary in the process of developing and implementing a monitoring plan.”

The second volume expands upon the information in Volume One: A Framework for Monitoring Plans Under the Estuaries and Clean Waters Act of 2000 (Public Law 160-457) and provides tools that aid in the implementation of the framework established in volume one. Volume two is written more for practitioners who have less extensive experience in coastal ecology. More experienced restoration practitioners may find the annotated bibliographies, literature review, and other tools of special interest. Both volumes are useful to scientists, managers and citizens involved in planning and conducting restoration monitoring efforts, including those in academia, industry, government at all levels, non-governmental organizations, and the media.

Tools provided include:
• Detailed treatment of the characteristics of each of the habitats and approaches to monitoring in that habitat; • Discussion of how to monitor the human dimensions of coastal restoration projects;
• Review of how to select reference sites or conditions;
• Representative index of restoration monitoring programs;
• List of costs associated with project monitoring; and
• Review of Federal legislation relevant to restoration monitoring.

Coastal habitats included in this volume include: water column, rock bottom, coral reefs, oyster reefs, soft bottom, kelp and other macroalgae, rocky shoreline, soft shoreline, submerged aquatic vegetation, marshes, mangrove swamps, deepwater swamps, and riverine forests. While the effort to develop this manual was based in NCCOS, the volumes are the product of teamwork among scientists from NOAA (NCCOS, the Office of Habitat Conservation, the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, and the Office of Science and Technology) and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Authors, contributors and reviewers in this project came from academia, private industry, non-governmental organizations, as well as federal and state government agencies.

Copies of this volume, as well as the earlier volume, can be downloaded as a PDF file by visiting: http://coastalscience.noaa.gov/ecosystems/estuaries/restoration_monitoring.html

For additional information and printed copies of the manual, please contact, Teresa McTigue; National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (N/SCI1); Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment; 1305 East-West Highway, Room 8409; Silver Spring, MD 20910; phone: (301) 713-3028 x 141; email: restoration.monitoring@noaa.gov.

NOAA, an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce, is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through research to better understand weather and climate-related events and to manage wisely the nation's coastal and marine resources.

On the Web:
NOAA: http://www.noaa.gov
NOAA’s National Ocean Service: http://www.nos.noaa.gov
NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science: http://coastalscience.noaa.gov/