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We've used side scan sonar in several areas of the Reserve in the early 2000's. In 2015, aerial imagery was used to map benthic habitats (funded by Science Collaborative project). We've been using to UAS technology to map smaller areas as needed for project specific purposes and to document coastal changes.

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We currently use the baseline maps to help visiting scientists select potential study sites. We also use them to guide management strategies.

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We have two eelgrass maps for the entire estuary that were created with slightly different methods. Both have reports with MMU and methodology (we can share if you're interested). Because the methods were different, they're not directly comparable. We would recommend coming up with a consistent (and affordable) protocol (which is what you're doing!).

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JCNERR - every five years or after any hurricane passage

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Consider a contract with a regional taxonomy service such as Cove Corporation for working up the fauna of core samples used for ground-truthing and supervising classification.

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Our intertidal oysters are already mapped by SCDNR. We do not have a significant interest in mapping our submerged habitat. We do not have SAV in SC. We could map our submerged habitat with new funding.

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Ideally annually (due to the ephemeral nature of eelgrass), but if that's not feasible then every 5 years.

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What others have said above, but also to assess the linkages/connectivity between benthic, intertidal and emergent habitats. Particularly the interplay between SAV and marsh--there is some interesting and counter-intuitive literature on how those two habitats interact from a sediment supply perspective.

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depends on the question(s) of interest. i do think if we are to use platforms like drones, which limits spatial coverage, but can be deployed at user-defined times (low tides), we'll probably have to implement some tiered approach with an all encompassing mapping effort every 5-10 years, but more frequent mapping (after harvest for oysters, spring and fall for SAV, and/or after hurricanes) at a subset of 'sentinel' locations.

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other important aspects--subaqueous soil characteristics (partner with NRCS?), macroalgae (signatures can look similar to SAV in aerials)

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We've done some preliminary mapping (at one component) of intertidal oyster reefs and SAV using UAS. Mapping intertidal oyster reefs has been fairly successful, but we're (more?) interested in the condition of the reefs and are trying to correlate spectral and structural characteristics from drone imagery with oyster density and size structure.

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Our estuarine waters are very turbid so mapping submerged habitats is very difficult using aerial imagery. We've contracted side scan sonar mapping in the past but it was costly.

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I tried to post a comment but I am not sure if it is still there or not. So I am rewriting. We have the capabilities with partners and new funding to map our benthic habitats but given that we do not have SAV and our oyster beds have already been mapped by SCDNR we do not see a need for our reserve.

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SCDNR maps the SC oyster beds historically using DOQQQ imagery and helicopter flights photographs. They are now moving toward the use of drone imagery.

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I do not see a need to conduct habitat change on benthic habitats for the ACE. I believe we would find that the mud, sand, and shell hash moved around but overall it remained similar with regard to total areas of each.

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Our reserve site with the most SAV has transects that we sample by in-water surveys every year. The EPA / NOAA Chesapeake Bay Program maps all SAV in our region each year by aerial photography taken at low tide near peak biomass.

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We are observing a long-term shift away from persistent, less heat tolerant SAV (i.e., our local variety of eel grass) and toward a boom-bust presence of more heat-tolerant widgeon grass. We will continue to monitor this shift. We are interested in possibly transplanting a heat tolerant variety of eel grass that is still doing well in some spots in North Carolina.

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Agree with Robert on oyster-related changes. What is the trajectory/recovery of harvested reefs? For SAV, interested in changes in aerial extent and patchiness, changes in deep water edge, and changes in spp. composition (located at range limit of 2 spp of SAV). Spp comp has been difficult to obtain from aerial imagery.

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Our seagrass has been declining over time so we need to capture the change. We also need to document any changes associated with altered freshwater flow into the Reserve.