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2006 Progress Report: Climate-Linked Alteration of Ecosystem Services in Tidal Salt Marshes of Georgia and Louisiana

EPA Grant Number: R832221
Title: Climate-Linked Alteration of Ecosystem Services in Tidal Salt Marshes of Georgia and Louisiana
Investigators: Hester, Mark W. , Alber, Merryl , Joye, Samantha , Mendelssohn, Irving A.
Institution: University of Louisiana at Lafayette , Louisiana State University - Baton Rouge , University of Georgia
EPA Project Officer: Jones, Brandon
Project Period: March 21, 2005 through March 20, 2008
Project Period Covered by this Report: March 21, 2006 through March 20, 2007
Project Amount: $749,457
RFA: Effects of Climate Change on Ecosystem Services Provided by Coral Reefs and Tidal Marshes (2004)
Research Category: Ecological Indicators/Assessment/Restoration , Global Climate Change , Aquatic Ecosystems

Description:

Objective:

Our objective is to elucidate the effects of climate change on tidal salt marsh ecosystem services in Georgia and Louisiana; specifically, to better understand how the ecosystem services of eutrophication control, carbon sequestration, sustainable habitat, and faunal support are influenced by climate change. Our goal is to determine how changes in plant density associated with increased drought severity alter these ecosystem services in salt marshes with tidal amplitudes ranging from microtidal (Louisiana) to macrotidal (Georgia).

Progress Summary:

Our approach is to take advantage of severe drought events in salt marshes of both Louisiana and Georgia that resulted in large areas of sudden salt marsh dieback. Within each state, six salt marsh areas (blocks) were identified in which large (60 m2) permanent plots with boardwalks (to minimize sampling disturbance) were established in both severely impacted dieback areas and adjacent, relatively unimpacted reference marsh areas. Within the dieback areas, we proposed to artificially establish (manually transplant) Spartina alterniflora as a mechanism of controlling plant density as a treatment independent from the drought-induced dieback. Persistent drought conditions in Georgia have made obtaining the targeted plant densities difficult. Nonetheless, we have successfully established a mosaic of 48 total permanent plots (each of 60 m2 area) in Louisiana and Georgia that span a range of Spartina alterniflora plant densities from reference density, to high transplanted plant density, to low transplanted plant density, to bare plots in which alteration of ecosystem services (as described above) is being evaluated at several scales by our four research teams.

Future Activities:

Intensive early growing season (spring) and peak standing crop (fall) field sampling efforts will continue during the next reporting period. Within each plot, a suite of abiotic and biotic response variables will be measured, including biogeochemical variables (soil physical properties, porewater and solid-phase inventories, sediment metabolism and denitrification, and benthic microalgal production), belowground processes (belowground production, organic matter decomposition), aboveground processes (aboveground cover and productivity, instantaneous net CO2 assimilation, photosynthetic nutrient-use efficiency), sediment elevation and accretion, and invertebrate responses (infauna and epifauna inventories, predation rates, and food-web analyses).

Journal Articles:

No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 13 publications for this project

Supplemental Keywords:

watersheds, sediments, global climate, marine, estuary, ecological effects, vulnerability, organism, stressor, susceptibility, ecosystem, indicators, restoration, aquatic, habitat, environmental assets, environmental chemistry, biology, ecology, hydrology, zoology, monitoring, analytical, surveys, measurement methods, southeast, Atlantic coast, Gulf coast, EPA Region 6, EPA Region 4, , Ecosystem Protection/Environmental Exposure & Risk, Air, Geographic Area, Scientific Discipline, RFA, climate change, Aquatic Ecosystems & Estuarine Research, Ecological Risk Assessment, Air Pollution Effects, Atmosphere, Aquatic Ecosystem, Chemistry, Monitoring/Modeling, Environmental Monitoring, State, coral reef communities, meteorology, climate model, Global Climate Change, ecosystem indicators, tidal marsh, coastal ecosystems, Louisiana (LA), climatic influence, habitat preservation, climate models, sea level rise, aquatic ecosystems, atmospheric chemistry, climate variability, environmental measurement, environmental stress, global change, ecosystem stress, ecological models, climate, global climate models, Georgia (GA)
Relevant Websites:

A Web site for this project is currently under construction at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

Progress and Final Reports:
2005 Progress Report
Original Abstract
2007 Progress Report

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The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.

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