The National Newsletter of Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring Vol. Some are profiled in various articles in this issue. Below, we take a quick look at a few more. Many thanks to Matthew Witten, who gathered much of the information for this article during a yearlong Sea Grant fellowship at EPA's Wetlands Division. Volunteers have monitored water quality, sediment, birds, fish, amphibians, turtles, and vegetation, all in the effort to better understand the ecology of the Sanctuary.
Volunteers measure several physical and chemical water quality parameters.
Using fish seines, volunteers capture, identify, measure, and release fish. The data help track the variety, abundance, and distribution of fish species. Volunteers weigh, sex, and release migrating marbled salamanders that they have captured using draft fences and pitfall traps. Volunteers identify trees and plants and monitor their abundance and growth. The information is used to chart and predict longterm changes in the wetland plant community.