Site Profiles

Site Profile Requirements
The development of a site profile is to be implemented by each Reserve as Phase II of the
Three Phase Monitoring Program as required by the NERRS Regulations (§921.60). The site
profile is a synthesis of information gathered during Phase I, the Environmental Characterization
Phase, which is conducted as a combination of literature and field (optional) research that
provides an overall picture of the Reserve in terms of its resources, issues, management
constraints, and research needs. The site profile will help Reserve management find important
information gaps in the resources and identify the aspects of monitoring to be initiated during
Phase III, the Resource Monitoring Program.
General Expectations
Sites should complete their site profile within three years of designation.
Chapter five of the site profile describing research and monitoring activities should be reviewed
and updated every 5 years as part of the site’s management plan.
Purpose
The purpose of the site profile is to review the existing state of knowledge for each Reserve's
research and monitoring activities and to identify research and monitoring needs that should be
addressed in the future. The site profile does not necessarily need to be a long document. If a
Reserve can adequately cover it's site profile in 75-100 pages, that is acceptable. This
document will be given to prospective researchers, resource managers and the general public
upon request, and it therefore should be a document that the Reserve can hold in high regard.
The site profile does not need to be an overly exhaustive research review and the Reserve does
not need to conduct any field research to obtain information for this document. If, for example, a
Reserve cannot find any information on the plankton at the site, the Reserve should identify this
as a gap in its research knowledge and an area where the Reserve needs to focus more
research effort in the future. If there is a lot of information on a particular research topic pertinent
to a Reserve's site profile, e.g. the benthos, only the most appropriate summary literature needs
to be cited.
Regarding multi-component Reserve site profiles, the review of each component should be
incorporated into a single site profile document. This will provide the best method of integrating
the research information for multi-component site Reserves. If a Reserve only has good
information on a few of the components of the site, the Reserve should incorporate the
information it currently has in its site profile and identify the lack of research knowledge about
the other components as research areas that need to be focused on in the future.
It is not necessary for the Reserve's Research Coordinator to write the site profile unless he or
she wants to and the Reserve can provide the time for the Research Coordinator to do so. We
encourage the Research Coordinator to act as the editor, writing the Introduction and Summary
sections of the site profile while contracting out the other sections to academics that are familiar
with the literature in each particular section. However, this is a decision for each Reserve to
make. Part of the $120K that ERD presently allocates to each Reserve for monitoring each year
is the preferred way for each Reserve to fund this effort. ERD may make some funds available
to help defray the cost of publishing site profiles, but this is contingent on ERD's annual budget.
Finally, drafts of the site profile should be sent to ERD and other appropriate parties for review
before a final draft is sent to the printer.

Content
Below is the outline of the minimum content that each Reserve site profile should contain. This
outline has been provided to each Reserve as part of the Site Profile Guidance memo. Site
profiles should contain a high quality map of the Reserve. However, it is not necessary for the
Reserve to publish a glossy and expensive document; a black and white document with an
economical binding is acceptable. Reserves are encouraged to refer to the following documents
as they plan and conduct their own site profile that are excellent examples of completed site
profiles:
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Zedler, J.B., C.S. Nordby, and B.E. Kus. 1992. The Ecology of Tijuana Estuary,
California: A National Estuarine Research Reserve. NOAA office of Coastal Resource
Management, Sanctuaries and Reserves Division, Washington, D.C.;
Short, F.T. (ed.) 1992. The Ecology of the Great Bay Estuary, New Hampshire and
Maine: an Estuarine Profile and Bibliography. NOAA - Coastal Ocean Program. 222 pp.