SECN Newsletter February 2025

Members of the dive team from Logan Diving and Salvage in Jacksonville finish connecting the new housing to the dock.

NPS photo

Repair of the Water-Quality Station at TIMU

Katie and Eric Constructed and Installed New Housing for the SECN Datasonde

Back in December, Hydrologic Technician Katie Dagastino and Aquatic Ecologist Eric Starkey replaced the datasonde housing at the network's fixed station monitoring site in Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve's Kingsley Plantation, on the south side of the Fort George River. A new housing was constructed out of PVC pipe and painted at the SECN office in Athens and transported to Timucuan EHP, where divers from Logan Diving and Salvage assisted Katie and Eric with the installation. The overall idea of the project was to replace the sonde pipe with a larger diameter pipe, which meant they had to unbolt the old one, replace it, and bolt in the new one. Over the years, this site has been challenging to maintain due to deep water, high current velocity, high levels of bio-fouling, and boat traffic. With a large pipe clamped from the surface down to the bottom Eric anticipates fewer data gaps and easier maintenance.

Left, Katie Dagastino works on removing the old housing. Right, Eric Starkey positions the boat near the dock.

NPS photos / SECN staff

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Data Management News

Wendy Thorsdatter Begins One-Year Detail at Central Support Office
SECN Data Manager Wendy Thorsdatter began a one-year detail in the role of Data Scientist at the I&M Central Support Office on January 12, 2025. Wendy’s role will include duties as Data Store Project Owner, Data Store user support, Aquarius-to-Data Package workflow automation, and a continued role in the OneGSS CAB for software approval.

IMD Data Publication Celebration

SECN parks were well represented at the end of year data management Fireside Chat “Data publication Celebration” call. Across IMD, there were a total of 761 data files (.csv) published, with a total of 15,503 columns, and over 632 million unique cells. The data packages included 6,516 unique species from 132 park units. Kudos were given to Dean Tucker and Paula Galloway of the WRD, Alison Loar of the Inventories Program, the SCA Data Strike Team, and SECN Data Manager Wendy Thorsdatter. SECN published data packages for six of its seven protocols in 2024 and included data for pilot, legacy, and current efforts. Pilot and legacy data for landbirds and anurans was published in collaboration with the SCA Data Strike Team.

First Data Package of the Year Published

An updated data package “Southeast Coast Network Anuran Monitoring in the Southeastern United States, January 2025 cumulative data package” has been published on DataStore. The updated package now includes data from 2012, 2014, and 2023.

Graphic created by CSO Data Science Team

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White Mangrove Discovered on Fort George Island

Ches and Partners from UNF and St. Johns River WMD were Deploying Temperature Sensors

SECN Coastal Ecologist Ches Vervaeke, along with partners from the University of North Florida and the St. Johns River Water Management District, discovered what could be the northern most white mangrove on Fort George Island while tagging mangroves within the boundaries of Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve. Prior to this, white mangroves had not been found north of Vilano Beach Florida, which is north of St. Augustine, approximately 55 kilometers south. The team deployed temperature sensors on mangroves in and around Fort Matanzas National Monument, Cumberland Island National Seashore and Timucuan, in anticipation of a freeze cold enough to damage or kill mangroves at their northern limit. Multiple red and black mangroves were discovered by Ches in this area early last year and are likely the northern most naturally occurring mangroves along the east coast. This recent discovery puts all three species of native North American mangroves within the boundary of Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve where numerous red and black mangroves are established.

White mangrove discovered on Fort George Island within Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve. Measuring stick shows it is nearly 70 centimeters tall. Temperature probe was placed on the mangrove (right).

NPS photos / Ches Vervaeke

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FY2025 Monitoring Updates

The FY2025 is underway for the Southeast Coast Network. Data collected in FY2024 are being processed along with data from the FY2022 and 2023 field seasons. Data packages and reports are coming soon.

Landbird and Anuran Communities

For FY2025, automated recording devices (ARDs) were deployed at Congaree National Park in November and in Moores Creek National Battlefield in December. Canaveral National Seashore and Fort Frederica National Monument are planned for this month along with Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park. Recordings will begin in March. The ARDs from FY2024 at Horseshoe Bend National Military Park, Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park and Cape Lookout National Seashore have been collected and data is being processed. The ARDs at Cumberland Island National Seashore will be retrieved in January. Data sets from the ARDs deployed in FY2024, FY 2023 and FY2022 for both landbird and vocal anuran monitoring continue to be processed. Summary reports for 2016 and 2022 Landbird data have been published along with Anuran data from 2015, 2016 and 2022. This includes anuran data from Fort Pulaski National Monument in 2023.

Wadeable Streams

Wadeable stream surveys will be conducted at four sites at Congaree National Park in 2025. Site maintenance is planned for late April and with the surveys scheduled for the middle of May, weather permitting. Monitoring at 13 sites in Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area was completed in 2024 and data collected have been processed. A summary report from FY2021 data collection at Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area will be published this spring. Change reports for Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park (2023), Horseshoe Bend National Military Park (2023), Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park (2023) and Congaree National Park (2022) will also be published in 2025.

Vegetation Communities

Ninety-five plots are scheduled to be survey across three parks in 2025 including Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park, Congaree National Park, and Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park. Data collected at 102 plots from during the FY2024 season at Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, Fort Frederica National Monument and Cumberland Island National Seashore is being processed. Data collected in FY2023 at Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Fort Pulaski National Monument, Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve and Fort Matanzas National Monument are processed. A new SECN Vegetation Database is also in development.

Shorelines

Surveys in FY2025 will be conducted at Cape Lookout National Seashore, Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Canaveral National Seashore, Fort Matanzas National Monument, Cumberland Island National Seashore and Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve. Fall 2024 surveys requested by the parks were completed at Canaveral National Seashore, Fort Matanzas National Monument, Cape Lookout National Seashore and Cape Hatteras National Seashore. Data for the FY2024 shoreline survey season is processed. Data collected in FY2023 are being processed and two-page summary briefs, along with an updated data dashboard, are planned for each park.

Coastal Wetlands

All Surface Elevation Table (SET) sites are scheduled for FY2025 at Fort Pulaski National Monument, Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Cape Lookout National Seashore, Canaveral National Seashore, Fort Matanzas National Monument, Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve, Fort Frederica National Monument, and Cumberland Island National Seashore. Data collected through 2024 have been published as part of a cumulative data package with recent findings to be discussed with park managers. No reports are planned for this monitoring effort until sites have at least five years of data.

Water Quality

Water-quality data collection at fixed-station sites was conducted in December and January at Congaree National Park, Fort Pulaski National Monument, Cumberland Island National Seashore, Canaveral National Seashore, Fort Matanzas National Monument, and Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve. Monthly visits to parks will continue in FY2025 with assistance from park staff and partners at Cape Hatteras National Seashore and Cape Lookout National Seashore. Park-wide assessments will be conducted in July 2025 at Cape Hatteras National Seashore and Cape Lookout National Seashore. Data collected in the 2024 park-wide water-quality assessment at Canaveral National Seashore are being processed and a report will be published soon.

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Recent Publications

The Southeast Coast Network recently published the following reports:

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For More About the SECN

Check out Southeast Coast Inventory & Monitoring Network (U.S. National Park Service) (https://www.nps.gov/im/secn/index.htm)