Research and Monitoring

Research Programs | Monitoring Programs

SWMP - Water Quality
Monitoring equipment
Courtesy of Kathy Mills

The research program at the Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) focuses on understanding the structure and function of the Great Bay ecosystem and the effects of natural and human-induced changes. In collaboration with a variety of university, state, federal, and non-governmental partners, we manage monitoring programs and advance research initiatives that will ultimately guide stewardship and management activities within and beyond the Reserve.

The Great Bay NERR's research and monitoring efforts focus on four themes: (1) water quality, (2) land use change, (3) biological communities, and (4) climate change. Long-term monitoring programs enable us to detect changes over time associated with each of the four themes, while short-term research projects focus on identifying and mitigating threats to habitats, species, and human communities in Great Bay and its watershed. Monitoring data and research findings have been synthesized in the Great Bay NERR's 20th anniversary report , which provides an overview of major changes in the Great Bay ecosystem.