Through a 2020 catalyst project, the Heʻeia and Kachemak Bay Reserves worked to advance the equitable representation of cultural ecosystem services in estuary stewardship by providing practical information and opportunities for facilitated exchange.

Cultural ecosystem services (CES), one of four main categories of ecosystem services, are often described as the non-material benefits that humans receive from their interactions with the environment.

This table summarizes the key findings related to the fish capture, transport and husbandry practices tested in the 2020 catalyst project led by the Kachemak Bay Reserve to catalyze future research on the mechanisms of paralytic shellfish toxin transfer from forage fish to upper trophic populations.

Staff from the Kachemak Bay NERR expanded research collaborations and completed proof of concept activities to catalyze future research on the mechanisms of paralytic shellfish toxin transfer from forage fish to upper trophic populations– an increasing concern after statewide seabird die-offs and

With funding from the NERRS Science Collaborative, scientists from 12 biogeographically diverse Reserves compared fluorescence measurements taken by the YSI EXO TAL sensor to extracted chlorophyll concentrations processed in the lab.

Standardized protocols for sensor-based chlorophyll monitoring are now available for use by staff around the system to implement high frequency chlorophyll monitoring at their reserves.

Project Lead Nikki Dix (Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve) gives a 5-minute introduction to "Refining Techniques for High-frequency Monitoring of Chlorophyll Alpha in the NERRS," a catalyst project funded in 2020 by the NERRS Science Collaborative.