A new climate change resource online
Scott Richardson ~ 2009-02-17
The NOAA Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (the parent office to the Estuarine Reserves Division) has added a page addressing climate change to its web site.
The 27 reserves around the country have identified several major impacts to reserve ecosystems including change in sea-level, salt marsh extent and community structure, range extension of invasive species, storm frequency and severity, shoreline erosion and migration, hydrology, and water quantity and quality changes.
On the section describing what the OCRM is doing to respond to climate change, the NERR System is featured for its recent white paper, Climate Change: Science, Education and Research for Tomorrow’s Estuaries (download the PDF) and for its Coastal Training Program.
The OCRM pages have a lot to offer and point to many other useful resources.
Michele Dionne receives national award
Scott Richardson ~ 2009-02-04
Dr. Michele Dionne, the Wells Reserve research director, has been recognized with the 2008 NERRS/NERRA Award, which recognizes people who have made significant contributions to the mission of the National Estuarine Research Reserve System.
The citation of Michele’s accomplishments stated:
Among her notable achievements was the establishment of monitoring protocols for restoration projects in the region, and the establishment of the Coastal Mosaic Project, which encouraged local land trusts and watershed groups to collaborate and form partnerships, resulting in more land conservation in a watershed context.
Dr. Dionne has authored or co-authored more than 50 papers and reports on her estuarine and coastal research and has served on regional and national task forces and research committees. She has also served on advisory committees for 12 master’s degree students and seven doctoral students, and she regularly mentors undergraduate and graduate students who intern with her at the reserve.
She also has been very active in advancing system-wide science, stewardship and education programs, and she was a major force behind the establishment of the system’s Restoration Science Initiative. She also has been a long-time advocate of using reserve sites as centers for research on climate change and sea level rise.
Congratulations, Michele!
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Latest library acquisitions
Scott Richardson ~ 2009-02-03
The Dorothy Fish Coastal Resource Library recently added these books to the collection:
- Access to the Waterfront: Issues & Solutions across the Nation
- The Big Oyster
- By a Maine River
- Cruise Control
- Ecological Profile of the Hudson River NERR
- Gold Nuggets: Readings for Experiential Education
- Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment – Action Plan
- Incorporating Small Streams & Brooks into Developing Landscapes
- Kids as Planners
- Landscaping at the Water’s Edge
- Mosquito Bite
- Ocean Seasons
- Rivers of Chance: Essays on Early Agriculture in Eastern North America
- Streamkeeper’s Field Guide
- Toxic Pollution in Casco Bay
- Watershed Dynamics
- The Weather Book
We also added these videos:
- Eye of the Cyclops: Plankton Play
- You Ought to Tell Somebody: Dealing with Aquatic Invasive Species
- Summary of Knowledge Acquired in Northern Environments
GIS Center featured in NOAA magazine
Scott Richardson ~ 2009-01-23
The Wells Reserve GIS Center is featured in this month’s Coastal Services magazine. You can read the article online, but you might want to download the PDF to see the fully illustrated version.
The article gives a nice overview of the history and purpose of mapping and technical services at the Reserve. As Tin Smith explains in the article:
We have such a broad geographic mission to protect estuaries, but we can’t be in every community to protect every estuary. Our goal is to help the people in those communities do their jobs better.
Coastal Services is a bimonthly trade publication for the nation’s coastal resource managers. Congratulations, Sue and Tin, on the nice coverage.
Did you read the article? What did you think?
Coastal Fish book is now available
Scott Richardson ~ 2008-09-02
Coastal Fish of Southern Maine & New Hampshire describes 43 fish species that live all or part of their lives along the immediate coast of our region. It provides an easily accessible and reliable reference to a fascinating, important, and often vulnerable coastal fish community.
This book combines results from local research and monitoring with information gleaned from technical journals, books, unpublished reports, and interviews and correspondence with scientists and fishermen. The result is a complete and convenient resource for curious naturalists and fish enthusiasts, a handy reference for the home, the classroom, or the field.
We are working on making the book available throughout the region and will keep updating our list of distributors.
Where to Buy the Coastal Fish Book (listed from north to south)
- The Book Review, Falmouth Shopping Center (US 1), Falmouth ME
- Maine Audubon Society Store, Falmouth ME
- Borders Books, South Portland ME
- Nonesuch Books & Cards, Mill Creek Shopping Center, South Portland ME
- Saco Bay Tackle Company, Route 1, Saco ME
- Nonesuch Books & Cards, Saco Valley Shopping Center, Saco ME
Wiggle Weigle’s Books, Alfred St (Rte. 111), Biddeford ME- Kennebunk Book Port, Shopper’s Village, Kennebunk ME
- Daytrip Society, Dock Square, Kennebunkport ME
- Laudholm Gift Shop and Book Nook, Wells Reserve
- Kittery Trading Post, Kittery ME
- RiverRun Bookstore, Congress St, Portsmouth NH
- and the Laudholm Trust website
Chloe Johnson of The Wire introduces the book here.
Robyn Burnham’s Journal Tribune story on September 30, ”’M’ is for Mackerel,” was featured on the front page above the fold!
Keep your copy up to date: Download the errata (4 Sept 08).
Have you seen the book yet? What do you think?
Twenty years of bird banding
Scott Richardson ~ 2008-08-12
It’s the 20th anniversary of bird banding at the Wells Reserve this year. The master bander who has been at the heart of the program all this time, June Ficker, recently looked back at her 1988 records and provided this summary:
Operated 6 12-meter mist nets from May 27 to August 31 for a total of 14 Wednesdays from 6 to 10:30 am.
Species banded: 19
Birds banded: 69
Gray Catbird: 18
Black-capped Chickadee: 8
American Robin: 8
Eastern Phoebe: 7
Other species banded: American Redstart, Black-and-white Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Cedar Waxwing, Chipping Sparrow, Common Yellowthroat, Downy Woodpecker, Eastern Wood-pewee, Ovenbird, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Red-eyed Vireo, Rufous-sided (Eastern) Towhee, Song Sparrow, Tennessee Warbler, Veery
Visitors observing: 129