Monitoring

Monitoring encompasses the routine measurement of ecosystem indicators to assess the status and trends of ecosystem structure and function. Broadly, there are two goals for monitoring in the Puget Sound ecosystem. The first goal is to monitor status and trends of the ecosystem. This may take the form of snapshots of specific regions, or, more usefully, status monitoring tracks variability in carefully selected indicators over time. Status monitoring is fundamentally concerned with documenting spatial and temporal variability in ecosystem components and thus ideally relies on consistent long-term monitoring in a network of sites. A second aim of monitoring is to evaluate the effectiveness of management strategies. Effectiveness monitoring thus aims to detect changes in ecosystem status that are caused by specific management actions.

Sources:

Puget Sound Science Review

Additional resources:

Puget Sound Ecosystem Monitoring Program

Eyes Over Puget Sound

Overview

Puget Sound Ecosystem Monitoring Program

The Puget Sound Ecosystem Monitoring Program (PSEMP) is an independent program established by state and federal statute to monitor environmental conditions in Puget Sound. 

Read More
PSEMP logo

Related Articles

Orca whale in Puget Sound. Image courtesy of NOAA.

Paper: Spatial and temporal analysis of killer whale (Orcinus orca) strandings in the North Pacific Ocean and the benefits of a coordinated stranding response protocol

A new paper by Puget Sound area scientists from the SeaDoc Society and their collaborators represents the most complete summary to date of killer whale (Orcinus orca) strandings in the North Pacific. The authors analyzed stranding records dating back to 1925, obtained from scientists worldwide, finding that very few whales are stranded (an average of ten a year over the last twenty years). However, most of those strandings result in death. Only 12% of stranded whales survive.

Necropsy of stranded whales can provide important information about life history, health, genetics, and causes of death, but few of the stranded carcasses

Read More
The float plane prepares to take off. Photo by Jeff Rice for the Encyclopedia of Puget Sound.

About the Eyes Over Puget Sound monitoring program

Once a month, Washington State Department of Ecology marine scientists take to the air to obtain high-resolution aerial photo observations and gather water data at the agency's monitoring stations and via state ferry transects. This provides a visual picture of the health of Puget Sound, which they call Eyes Over Puget Sound or EOPS.

Read More
Eyes Over Puget Sound: Surface Conditions Report - June 17, 2013

Eyes Over Puget Sound: Surface Conditions Report - June 17, 2013

A stunning view of a second large Noctiluca bloom captures the attention of many living near Puget Sound. Favorable conditions support several regional phytoplankton blooms. Red-brown blooms in Port Townsend, Discovery Bay and Bellingham Bay. Large algal mats or organic material particularly in Samish Bay. Jellyfish patches increasing in Budd, Totten and Eld Inlets.
Read More

Interacting coastal based ecosystem services— recreation and water quality in Puget Sound

This paper uses water quality data to examine the relationship between environmental condition and recreational use of parks in Puget Sound.

Read More
Block seine fishing. Image courtesy of WDFW.

Report: Economic analysis of the non-treaty commercial and recreational fisheries in Washington State

This report, published in 2008 by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, summarizes the economic importance of Washington fisheries using data from 2006. The report's Executive Summary is reprinted below, followed by summaries of data specific to Puget Sound.

Read More
Photograph of sediment-covered rocks in the lower Elwha River just upstream of the river mouth at the Strait of Juan de Fuca (June 20, 2012, Chris Magirl).

Suspended-sediment concentrations during dam decommissioning in the Elwha River, Washington

This document was prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the National Park Service. Download the entire report, or read the Introduction below. Portions of this document were originally published in June 2013 and were updated in February 2014. 

 
 
Read More