Collaborative Science to Assess Restoration Success C-STARS
Project Overview
Collaborative Science to Assess Restoration Success (C-STARS) is a multi-year collaborative project to monitor and assess the success of living shoreline restoration projects across Northwest Florida. In partnership with St. Andrews Bay Watch, Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance and Pensacola and Perdido Bays Estuary Program , 30 existing sites are actively monitored across St. Andrew, Choctawhatchee, and Pensacola Bays. These sites include different types of reef material (e.g., bagged shell vs limestone reefs), sizes and time since installation (i.e. 1-15 years old). SASJBEP is also working with partners to acquire previously collected monitoring data. Ultimately, this information will provide a snapshot that these projects are working and evaluate the ecosystem services provided by these projects. Ecosystem services are the benefits we (humans) yield directly or indirectly from natural resources.
Ecosystem services we're evaluating:
- Nutrient Removal
- Carbon Sequestration
- Recreational Fishing
- Property Protection
- Water Quality
What We're Looking At
New Monitoring
We are monitoring 10 living shorelines in each Bay four times a year for 3 years for the following: shoreline change, vegetation density and composition, oyster density and recruitment, soil nutrients and fish communities.
Existing Data
We are collecting data that has already been collected at the sites we monitor plus any additional living shorelines in all three bays. Most of this data includes monitoring oysters and vegetation and will help us look at trends in these variables over time.
Ecosystem Services
Ecosystem services are benefits we (humans) receive from natural resources. Estimates of these services provided by living shorelines will use data from the new monitoring, existing data, and other regional estimates to understand when and approximately how much of a benefit one might expect from these projects. Specifically, we are estimating nutrient removal, carbon sequestration, recreational fishing, property protection, and water clarity.
Living Shorelines Locations
We are sampling at 30 sites (10 sites per bay) in St. Andrew, Choctawhatchee and Pensacola Bays with our partners but many more living shorelines exist in each of these Bays that have been installed that we are not actively monitoring. Click on the symbols to view information about each living shoreline, including some 2024 data highlights!Â
Resources
Gallery
This project was paid for with federal funding from the Department of the Treasury under the Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act of 2012 (RESTORE Act).
