Nutrient and Water Quality Fieldwork Complete

At the beginning of August, Research staff completed routine fieldwork for their nutrient and water quality monitoring programs. These programs are part of the National Estuarine Research Reserve’s System-Wide Monitoring Program (SWMP) and occur monthly.

While in the field, staff collected water samples at eleven sites to monitor spatial and temporal fluctuations in nutrient and chlorophyll-a concentrations. In addition, seven continuous water quality monitoring instruments were swapped out with freshly calibrated equipment. These instruments monitor abiotic parameters such as temperature, salinity, pH, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, and water level. The data obtained from these two programs allows the Reserve to track short- and long-term changes, providing valuable insight into the overall health of the Apalachicola Bay system.

The team was thankful to have the help of stewardship intern Juliana Duffey and enjoyed teaching her about these two important monitoring programs.