MATOS - Mid-Atlantic Acoustic Telemetry Observation System

Project Title: Mid-Atlantic MBON: Dynamic Biodiversity and Telemetry Data for a Changing Coast

MATOS Project Code: MAMBON

Data Type: Deployment

Project Duration: July 2024 - on-going

Project Description: Understanding the health and status of ecosystems is essential for coastal management, conservation, and alternative energy planning. This project will establish and develop a Marine Biodiversity Observing Network for the Mid-Atlantic coast. It will include work to transition intermittent observations and sampling to monthly and daily scales, and demonstration of an integrated biodiversity and telemetry observation program in the location of the Maryland Wind Energy Area, leveraging an ongoing monitoring program supported by U.S. Wind, Inc. The project will integrate meteorological-oceanographic data, satellite observations, animal telemetry, soundscapes, and environmental DNA. It will create open access to biodiversity data and information, develop species distribution models that will scale to the Mid-Atlantic region, and engage stakeholders in the development and design of data and information delivery tools.

Objectives:

Develop habitat suitability models to inform decision-making
Integrate acoustic telemetry with eDNA, soundscape, oceanographic, and remote sensing data
Document biodiversity along a transect that includes the Maryland Wind Energy Area

Management Benefits:

Provide dynamic biodiversity information at monthly or shorter timescales

Principal Investigator:	Matthew Ogburn (Mid - Atlantic Acoustic Telemetry Observation System)
Email:	ogburnm@si.edu

Point of Contact:	Matthew Ogburn
Email:	ogburnm@si.edu

Collaborators:

Bethany Brodbeck (University of Delaware)
Caroline Tribble (University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science)
Kelly Knee (RPS, a TetraTech Company)
Hugh Roarty (Rutgers University)
Helen Bailey (Blue Wave Consulting)
Beth Bowers (Smithsonian Environmental Research Center)
Mike O'Brien (University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science)
David Secor (University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science)
Aaron Carlisle (University of Delaware)
Gerhard Kuska (MARACOOS)

Participating Organizations:

RPS, a TetraTech Company
Rutgers University
Blue Wave Consulting
University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
University of Delaware
MARACOOS

Funding:

National Ocean Partnership Program Marine Life Program

External URL: https://marinebon.org/us-mbon/mid-atlantic-mbon/