The Reserve system uses state-of-the-art monitoring equipment to track a number of important environmental parameters at long-term monitoring stations 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

• View our Report Card for 2023 (issued February 2025)
• View our Report Card for 2021 (issued April 2023)
• View our Report Card for 2020 (issued December 2021)
• View our Report Card for 2019 (issued April 2021)
• View our Report Card for 2018 (issued January 2020)

Other Reports

• Standard Operating Procedures and Best Practices for the Collection of Continuous pH Data in Coastal Marine Environments

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. 

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.