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Research at Sapelo Island, GA
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The Sapelo Island Reserve research programs are focused on supplying local, state and federal stakeholders with high quality, robust, environmental databases for assessment of short-term variability and long-term trends related to estuarine health. The Reserve also works closely with the Georgia Coastal Management Program to provide scientific information pertinent to state and regional policy needs.
The following are selected examples of current research projects at the Sapelo Island Reserve. These projects reflect the Reserve’s strategic mission and goals.
The Ecological Assessment Project: This project provides a central research focus for the reserve and many of its partners. While the project supports the national partnership between the Reserve System and NOAA’s Centers for Coastal and Oceanographic Sciences (NCCOS), this interdisciplinary research effort includes many other programs and agencies. The project has been an on-going research focus for more than three years within the Reserve’s marshes, as well as in more severely impacted areas such as the adjacent LCP Chemicals Superfund site in Brunswick, Ga. In addition to characterizing the ecological condition of the Sapelo Island Reserve salt marsh communities from three perspectives (subtidal-benthic, emergent vegetation, and nekton) it places a premium on utilizing the Reserve as a sentinel site for emerging coastal issues such as climate change and sea level rise. It also provides data that can be used as a model for a national perspective of salt marsh condition changes over time. Partners include three NOAA NCCOS centers, the Georgia Coastal Ecosystems (GCE) Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) site, National Institute of Standards and Technology, University of Georgia, The Nature Conservancy, and several other academic institutions.
The Dean Creek Project: This research program is aimed at restoration of a tidal marsh system impacted by 50 years of tidal hydrological restriction. Restoration will be accomplished by installing a causeway and culvert pipe system to allow water to flow freely to the marsh. There has been extensive monitoring of marsh hydrology, sediment budgets, geology, vegetation responses, water quality, and faunal components for more than 5 years, which will allow a better understanding of the effects of dike removal on the system. The project includes academic and regulatory partners who are working together to assess impacts of the culvert system, and recovery of the marsh ecosystem services after the removal of the dike. Funding for the work has largely been pro-bono; however $1.2 million in mitigation funding is expected from private industry. This inclusion of mitigation funding in the project makes the project a unique merging of industry and government resources that will substantially enhance the Reserve’s salt marsh resources, while furthering the development of restoration science related to implementation of wetland policy in the state of Georgia.
The Living Shorelines Project: This project is directed at scientifically quantifying the biological benefits of alternative shoreline sediment control structures, while assessing their costs, longevity, appropriateness, and aesthetics in comparison to conventional control structures such as oyster-shell infused Gabion construction, rip rap, interlocking concrete sheathing, and treated lumber bulkhead. In this study the alternative structure has been designed with a lower elevation slope than conventional structures. Also, successful oyster restoration techniques for this area have been combined into a sediment retention structure that is environmentally friendly by providing critical habitat in the form of an oyster reef. This type of structure also provides a physical connection between the upland and marsh systems, thereby providing benefits to animals, fish and vegetation in both habitats. Native upland vegetation plantings used in the project also will provide the landowner with an alternative to exotic species plantings that often become unintentionally invasive. Partners on the project include The Nature Conservancy, the Georgia Coastal Marine Program, NOAA Restoration Center, EPA and Georgia Wildlife Resources Division. It is hoped that the scientific information obtained from the project will help to modify and reinforce future Georgia Marshland Protection policy, while educating the concerned public.
Last Updated on: Wednesday, October 28, 2009
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