This report card provides a transparent, timely, and geographically detailed assessment of Chesapeake Bay. Since 2016, UMCES has engaged stakeholders throughout the watershed to transform the report card into an evaluation of the Chesapeake Watershed health. Watershed health includes traditional ecosystem indicators, but also social, economic, and cultural indicators. This is the first year the watershed has been scored, using five indicators of ecological and socioeconomic health.

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

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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 Flower Garden Banks coral reef status report is part of a larger effort to provide the public and decision-makers with information that helps us manage and conserve coral reef ecosystems.

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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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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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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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