Research Technical Report

Spatial, Ecological Analysis of Megavertebrate Populations (SEAMAP)

King, C.E. (May 2003)

Poster presentation at the Data Providers Meeting, Duke University, North Carolina

ABSTRACT

The Sanctuary Integrated Monitoring Network (SIMoN) has been designed in partnership with the regional science and management community to identify natural and human induced changes to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (SANCTUARY). Initiated in 2000 and just now fully staffed, SIMoN is intended to coordinate and enhances regional monitoring of the sanctuary. The principal goals of SIMoN are to integrate existing monitoring conducted in the SANCTUARY, initiate basic surveys or characterizations of all habitats and regions of the SANCTUARY, and specific, hypothesis-driven monitoring efforts of fixed duration, establish and maintain a series of essential long-term monitoring efforts that will continue into the future, and disseminate timely and pertinent information to resource managers and decision makers, the research community, educators, and the general public. A website will be the primary outreach vehicle, giving the user the ability to access general information regarding a specific habitat, issue or organisms. An interactive map will provide a means of visualizing the spatial distribution of every catalogued monitoring program. This availability of information facilitates communication and networking among researchers, resource managers, educators and the public. The success of SIMoN depends on the continued support of the research community. Submitting high-level project information, filling identified knowledge gaps with new research, and providing feedback are some of the ways researchers and the public help shape the future of the SIMoN website.