Effective coral reef conservation cannot be accomplished without an informed and engaged public. This status report is part of an ongoing series of documents to track the status and trends of coral reefs across the U.S. and its territories. The USVI coral status report is part of a larger effort to provide the public and decision-makers with information about managing and conserving coral reef ecosystems.

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This newsletter summarizes outputs from the initial stakeholder workshop to develop an integrated assessment for Darwin Harbour. The workshop took place on the week of 16 March 2020 in Darwin, Australia. Stakeholders from government, industry, academia, indigenous communities, and NGO’s gathered in Darwin to identify values. The workshop included meeting with members of the indigenous community, held outdoors at Wagait Beach.

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The Gulf of Mexico is one of the most diverse and productive ecosystems in the world. Its coral reefs are biological diverse habitats, of high cultural and economic significance. This report card was developed during a workshop held in Merida, Yucatan in November, 2019. It outlines potential indicators of coral reef ecosystem health, perceived conditions of the reefs in the Gulf of Mexico, and next steps for developing a quantitative assessment of Gulf of Mexico coral reef ecosystems.

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Watershed report cards are powerful tools to describe ecosystem status, increase public awareness, and inform and influence decision makers to improve the health of a watershed. This is the first Verde River Watershed Report Card. It is the collective effort of dozens of stakeholders throughout the Verde watershed. Indicators in the report card were selected to assess the health of three different values in the Verde watershed: Water, Habitat, and Communities.

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The process of developing a socioenvironmental report card through transdisciplinary collaboration can be used in any system and can provide the foundation for collaborative solutions for sustainable resource management by creating a holistic assessment that balances environmental, economic, and social concerns that incorporates multiple perspectives from multisectoral actors.

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Controlling phosphorus is fundamental to limit the risk of eutrophication of continental aquatic ecosystems. Integrated modelling of its concentration in the aquatic continuum requires specific tools for water bodies. However, although simple static empirical models and complex biogeochemical models are numerous, there are few relatively simple and flexible models able to simulate seasonal variations in phosphorus concentrations in water bodies and particularly in reservoirs.

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Human activities can elevate coastal levels of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN). As macroalgae readily absorb and accumulate DIN, the elemental (total N and C:N ratio) composition of their tissues is less affected by temporal fluctuations compared to more direct measures of DIN concentration. Additionally, their isotopic (δ15N) composition can reflect that of the source, which could potentially be used to identify between multiple effluent sources.

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Accurate quantification of riverine water‐quality concentration and flux is challenging because monitoring programs typically collect concentration data at lower frequencies than discharge data. Statistical methods are often used to estimate concentration and flux on days without observations. One recently developed approach is the Weighted Regressions on Time, Discharge, and Season (WRTDS), which has been shown to provide among the most accurate estimates compared to other common methods.

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Early ecosystem health report cards focused on assessing the health of natural ecosystems, producing a “snapshot” of ecosystem health at one point in time. Ecosystem health report cards are used to guide efforts that improve ecosystem health through natural resources manage- ment and stakeholder engagement. Common themes among Report Cards include water quality and quantity and habitat. These indicators are not strictly environmental concerns, though.

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New York Harbor is a complex of interconnected waterways that have supported the rapid development of a thriving megacity and metropolitan region. The water quality of New York, a partner city in the World Harbour Project, is a reflection of the combined impacts of this metropolitan region. Water quality health and trends were assessed between 1996–2017 in 9 different reporting regions using publicly available data.

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