Sentinel Sites

Sentinel sites are research and monitoring sites created to increase the capacity for early detection of environmental change in response to natural or anthropogenic stressors to enable timely management responses.

Sites have been established across the NERRs that seek to answer questions including

  • What are the current distributions of vegetation communities with respect to elevation and tidal range?
  • How sensitive are spatial distributions and community composition to year to year changes and episodic events, such as hurricanes?
  • What is the response of vegetation, in terms of spatial distribution and community composition, to long-term changes in local water levels and inundation patterns?
  • What is the response of sediment elevation to discrete episodic inundation events, as well as long-term changes in local water levels and inundation patterns?

Video

Gallery

CrabhaulSEBB
sentinelsitessampling
DCIM100GOPROGOPR0824.
sentinalsitestorm
Previous
Next

Tour the Reserve

North Jones Estuarine Beach

Estuarine beaches are sand, mud, gravel, or
shell intertidal beaches that are found in
partially enclosed bays.

 

Bosun’s Point

Orange-billed, black and white birds with raucous
calls are likely to greet you around Bosun’s Point.

Hobcaw Beach

Among the many visitors to Hobcaw beach are
plovers, loggerhead sea turtles, and diamondback
terrapins, and dolphins and rays can often be
seen just off shore. .

Goat Island Causeway

Wildlife and evidence of environmental change
can be seen on the drive along the causeway.

Thousand Acre Marsh

The Thousand Acre marsh is one of the system
-wide monitoring program (SWMP) sites of the
Reserve.

Oyster Landing

Oyster Landing is one of the system-wide
monitoring program (SWMP) sites of the Reserve.

Debidue Creek

Debidue Creek is one of the system-wide
monitoring program (SWMP) sites of the Reserve.

Clambank Landing

The Clambank Landing system-wide monitoring
program (SWMP) site is located roughly in the
center of the reserve.

Winyah Bay Station

The Winyah Bay system-wide monitoring program
(SWMP) site is located on the western edge of the
natural channel adjacent to Frazier Point Bend,
about 6 km down-bay of the confluence of the
Black, Pee Dee and Waccamaw rivers and 4 km
down-bay of the mouth of the Sampit River

Baruch Marine Field Lab & NIWB NERR Offices

After the original Baruch Marine Field Laboratory
building was destroyed by Hurricane Hugo in
1989, the current BMFL was constructed in 1993.

Hobcaw Barony Discovery Center

The Hobcaw Barony Discovery Center (HBDC)
was constructed in 2008 through a partnership
between the North Inlet-Winyah Bay NERR and
the Belle W. Baruch Foundation, which oversees
Hobcaw Barony.

Kimbel Lodge

The Kimbel Living and Learning Center is a
lodging and conference facility located near the
entrance to Hobcaw Barony.

Midden Trail

The Midden Trail was established for classes
and visitors to get a more up-close marsh
experience.

North Island

Sandy beaches, tall dunes, swales, and maritime
forests of cedar, palmetto and live oak are found
on North Island.

Sentinel Sites

Researchers are gathering data at these sites to
better understand how the changing climate will
affect salt marshes.