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. The Marsh Monitoring Program is a large-scale effort to survey birds and amphibians throughout the Great Lakes region. Bird surveying began in 1994, and amphibian calling surveys were added in 1995. To coax secretive birds to call, volunteers broadcast a tape with the calls of some elusive bird species. The volunteers' data are used to track population increases or declines and investigate how well Great Lakes wetlands are performing their role as habitat for birds and amphibians.