Long-term hydrologic monitoring protocol for coastal ecosystems

The Cape Cod National Seashore serves as a National Park Service prototype-monitoring park for the Atlantic and Gulf Coast biogeographic region. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the National Park Service, is charged with designing and testing monitoring protocols for implementation at the Cape Cod National Seashore. It is expected that many of the protocols will have direct application at other coastal park units, as well as U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service coastal refuges, within the biogeographic region. The Long-term Coastal Ecosystem Monitoring Program at the Cape Cod National Seashore will rely upon numerous protocols that are relevant to the major ecosystem types (Estuaries and Salt Marshes, Barrier Islands/Spits/Dunes, Ponds and Freshwater Wetlands, Coastal Uplands). The hydrologic monitoring protocol is associated with all of these ecosystem types. The overall monitoring program is designed so that all of the protocols are interrelated. Roman and Barrett (1999)present a conceptual description of the entire monitoring program.