Wells Reserve at Laudholm
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Long-Term Monitoring

In this section

Weather & Water Quality Monitoring

Scientists at the Wells Reserve have been collecting long-term data on local weather and water quality continuously since 1995 through the National Estuarine Research Reserve System Wide Monitoring Program, also known as SWMP.

SWMP is a monitoring program conducted at all 30 Reserves and acts as the backbone of the Reserve’s Research Program. The mission of SWMP is to track short-term variability and long-term change in our nation’s estuaries. 

The Reserve system uses state-of-the-art monitoring equipment (fig X.) to track a number of important environmental parameters (see fig X) at long-term monitoring stations (Map?) throughout the Reserve, including 4 water quality stations: 2 in the Webhannet Estuary, 2 in the Little River, and 1 weather station on the Laudholm campus. 

This data is critical in helping us understand how our coastal systems respond to the effects of climate change and sea level rise. Other monitoring and research programs at the Wells Reserve are tracking changes in local plant and animal communities over time. Data from the SWMP program is instrumental in understanding these shifts in biological systems as they relate to abiotic factors like weather, water quality, and water chemistry. All SWMP data can be accessed at www.nerrsdata.org.

SWMP Report Cards:

    Other Reports:

    Recent Projects

    • Coastal Acidification Monitoring and Best Practices: Coastal and ocean acidification is becoming a major area of research due to its potential impacts on coastal fisheries like the lobster fishery and local aquaculture efforts. Our SWMP Coordinator (Jeremy Miller) has been working with colleagues at the University of New Hampshire and Friends of Casco Bay, to improve our ability to track “fine scale” changes in pH and other carbonate chemistry parameters important to the early development of shell-bearing organisms. Click here to see their report on “Best Practices for the Continuous Collection of pH data in Coastal Environments."
    • Tide Tracker: The Wells Tidetracker is a web-based application for viewing near real-time tidal and storm surge data (along with wind speed, direction, and moon phase) to help local coastal communities better understand and prepare for major coastal storm events, which produce coastal flooding and property damage. Click the link below to be taken to the Tidetracker website.

    Check out the Tide Tracker

    Contacts

    Jeremy Miller, Research Associate

    Salt Marsh Monitoring

    Salt marshes are critical ecosystems that provide habitat and nursery to numerous species and protect our coastal communities from storms and flooding. However, climate change, sea level rise, and shoreline development pose numerous threats to marshes. Since 2005, the Wells Reserve has been monitoring long-term changes in our local salt marshes, including shifts in plant communities, elevation, groundwater salinity, and crab usage.

    Wetlands and Water Levels

    We use monitoring protocols that are consistent with other Reserves across the country in accordance with the Wetlands and Water Levels program (WWL; formerly Sentinel Site Application Module 1, SSAM-1). 

    This has allowed us to participate in regional and national data synthesis projects with other Reserves, allowing for powerful analyses of ecological change across broad geographical scales. Additionally, by working with collaborators and visiting scientists, we have been involved in a variety of other research initiatives. All WWL data can be accessed here. 

    Recent projects

    • National synthesis of salt marsh vegetation data (2024-2025): Learn more about our findings. 
    • Regional synthesis salt marsh vegetation data for 4 New England Reserves. Learn more. 
    • Quantifying greenhouse gas exchange across tidal salt marshes (2020, 2021, 2024)
    • Piloting float-arm loggers to continuously measure salt marsh inundation (2021-2023)
    • Measuring belowground decomposition rates using tea bags (2021-2022)

    Relevant Reports and Publications

    Wells NERR Monitoring Plan. 

    Burdick, D., C. Peter, B. Fischella, M. Tyrrell, J. Allen, J. Mora, K. Raposa, J. Goldstein, C. Feurt, and L. Crane. 2020. Synthesizing NERR sentinel site data to improve coastal wetland management across New England. Data report. NERRS Science Collaborative. 37 pp. 

    Koontz, E.L, J.R. Holmquist, S.M. Parker, A. Stearns, B.J. Roberts, C.M. Young, L. Windham-Myers, P. Oikawa, J.P. Megonigal, G.L. Noyce, E. Buskey, R.K. Derby, R.P. Dunn, M.C. Ferner, J.L. Krask, C. Marconi, K. Savage, J. Shahan, A.C. Spivak, K. St. Laurent, J. Argueta, S. Baird, K.M. Beheshti, L.C. Crane, K.A. Cressman, J.A. Crooks, S. Fernald, J.A. Garwood, J.S. Goldstein, T. Grothues, A. Habeck, S. Lerberg, S.B. Lucas, P. Marcum, C. Peter, S. Phipps, K.B. Raposa, A. Rovai, S. Schooler, R. Twilley, M.C. Tyrrell, K.A. Uyeda, S. Wulfing, J. Aman, A. Giacchetti, and S. Cross-Johnson. 2024. Controls on spatial variation in porewater methane concentrations across United States tidal wetlands. Science of the Total Environment 957: 177290. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.177290

    Contacts

    Laura Crane, Research Associate

    Dr. Jason Goldstein, Research Director

    Jacob Aman, Stewardship Director

    Larval Fish

    Estuaries are important nursery grounds for larval fish, including some commercially and recreationally important species like the Atlantic herring, flounder, and hake. As the Gulf of Maine experiences changes in temperature and other abiotic factors over time, we have documented shifts in the biological communities that live in and depend on our local estuaries. 

    Researchers at the Wells Reserve have been collecting zooplankton samples from the Webhannet River Estuary four times monthly since 2008, making this project one of the longest larval fish timeseries in the Gulf of Maine. The primary focus of this monitoring is to track long-term changes in the community composition of larval fish in our local estuary. That said, we also track crab larvae and other zooplankton. In total, we have identified over 35 species of larval fish and have documented the appearance of novel, more southernly species.

    Larval Fish

    Contacts

    Jeremy Miller, Research Associate