The goal of ESNERR monitoring programs is to track changes in key ecosystem, habitat, and community parameters over time. Early detection of dramatic changes alerts us to potential anthropogenic disturbances in time for management intervention.

The data are also used as a baseline to support short-term, focused studies by students and other researchers. Some of our monitoring tracks the success of management or restoration strategies, while other programs test spatial hypotheses about the effects of land use on adjacent wetlands.