Many estuaries across the country experience nutrient pollution and algal blooms, which degrade water quality for people and other aquatic life. Carefully tracking chlorophyll ɑ concentrations - a proxy for phytoplankton biomass - can help managers track the patterns and drivers of algal blooms and eutrophication in estuaries but, to date, technological barriers have limited monitoring to monthly measurements, which may not be enough to track plankton dynamics that fluctuate hourly.

Last year, a catalyst project enabled 13 reserves nationwide to develop, test and share standardized protocols for using new YSI EXO Total Algae fluorometric sensors mounted on existing monitoring stations. In this webinar, team members will share how they: 1) assessed the performance of the new sensors; 2) identified sources of sensor interference and developed correction equations; and 3) created and shared tested protocols and recommendations for the Reserve System.