Projects of Interest

• Fish and Invertebrate Monitoring
  Recent concerns over salinity in the Apalachicola Bay have led the scientists to evaluate the biomass and abundance of various plant, invertebrate and vertebrate species from within the Apalachicola Bay System. Monthly trawling is performed at 12 sites within the Reserve.
   
• Sea Turtle Nesting
  The barrier island beaches of the Apalachicola area support dense concentrations of nesting loggerhead turtles as well as occasional other species. The Apalachicola Reserve partners with St. Vincent National Wildlife Refuge and St. George Island State Park to monitor sea turtle nesting, both in crawls and hatching success.
   
• Shorebird Monitoring
  The relatively undisturbed miles of Gulf beach and dunes of barrier islands provide essential habitats for a number of endangered and rare birds. The Reserve monitors these populations to help protect those species.
   
• Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Monitoring
  Apalachicola Reserve is monitoring submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV). SAV serves an important ecological role in the aquatic environment by providing food and shelter and it also can serve as an indicator for the health of the water body.
   
• Water Quality Monitoring
  The Systemwide Monitoring Program at ANERR consists of continuous water quality monitoring, continuous meteorological monitoring and monthly nutrient and chlorophyll-a monitoring.