Cultural ecosystem services (CES), one of four main categories of ecosystem services, are often described as the non-material benefits that humans receive from their interactions with the environment.

With funding from the NERRS Science Collaborative, scientists from 12 biogeographically diverse Reserves compared fluorescence measurements taken by the YSI EXO TAL sensor to extracted chlorophyll concentrations processed in the lab.

Standardized protocols for sensor-based chlorophyll monitoring are now available for use by staff around the system to implement high frequency chlorophyll monitoring at their reserves.

Project Lead Nikki Dix (Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve) gives a 5-minute introduction to "Refining Techniques for High-frequency Monitoring of Chlorophyll Alpha in the NERRS," a catalyst project funded in 2020 by the NERRS Science Collaborative.

This project overview describes a 2017 Collaborative Research project that is piloting and refining DNA-based monitoring protocols that can be applied to specific issues and species of interest in estuarine ecosystems.

This project overview describes a 2018 Catalyst project led by Grand Bay Reserve that developed standardized tools to quality-check, analyze, and visualize Surface Elevation Table data.

This curriculum was developed as part of a 2018 Science Transfer project to share knowledge and lessons learned about managing conflict in collaborative science.

eDNA (environmental DNA) refers to the genetic material found in an environmental sample (water or sediment). eDNA comes from feces, gametes, scales, and cells that an organism sheds, and is easily collected from water and sediment samples.

These guidance documents and videos provide field and lab protocols for preparing for, collecting and fitering water samples for use in eDNA analyses.