Program Goal
The MassMarsh Program was established in 2024. The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), recognizing the need for a statewide strategy to monitor, protect, and restore salt marshes, funded a UMass Amherst-led effort to support the collaborative and technical aspects of establishing a long-term Resilient Salt Marsh Research & Monitoring Plan for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. With an Advisory Committee of 20 state, federal, nonprofit, and research subject matter experts, MassMarsh is collaboratively leading a multi-decadal program for long-term assessments of the Commonwealth's salt marshes, the biodiversity they support, and the ecosystem services they provide.
Marsh Monitoring Metrics & Methods Categories
- Marsh Condition: monitor status and trends of salt marsh ecological function
- Threats: monitor impacts of stressors that negatively impact salt marshes
- Climate Adaptation: Evaluate and document the efficacy of marsh adaptation techniques and document recovery trajectories of marshes after restoration and climate adaptation projects have been implemented
Our Planning Team, in collaboration with an Advisory Committee of state, federal, nonprofit, and university salt marsh researchers and subject matter experts from across the Commonwealth's coastal geographies, will develop a Monitoring Plan to:
- Frame a long-term strategy for a statewide, comprehensive salt marsh monitoring program
- Develop an approach to monitor marsh restoration/adaptation projects to evaluate and document effectiveness of restoration/adaptation techniques
- Identify Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to be developed for various marsh restoration/adaptation techniques and to structure monitoring projects
- Implement a technical assistance process to aid in monitoring project design and data analysis
- Compile and communicate data from past, current, and future monitoring projects
Monitoring Plan
The Plan is a living document that will updated as data and knowledge advance
