GCE-LTER Project News
July 2025 CalendarGCE Schoolyard Program Flux Vegetation Monitoring Flux Tower Maintenance Multispec Flight Water Quality Cruise New or Updated Publications06/24/2025 –
Runion, K.D., Mishra, D., Alber, M., Lever, M.A. and O'Connell, J.L. 2024. Capturing spatiotemporal variation in salt marsh belowground biomass, a key resilience metric, through geoinformatics. Ecosphere. 15(12):e70110. (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.70110) 06/24/2025 –
Runion, K.D., Mishra, D., Alber, M. and O'Connell, J.L. 2022. Poster: Broadening a Belowground Ecosystem Resiliency Model for Spartina alterniflora salt marshes. Long Term Ecological Research Network All Scientists Meeting 2022, September 2022, Pacific Grove, CA. 06/24/2025 –
Runion, K.D., Alber, M., Mishra, D., Byrd, K. and O'Connell, J.L. 2023. Presentation: Is salt marsh ecosystem resilience driven more by changes in space or time? Interdisciplinary Tools to Advance Ecology. Ecological Society of America 2023 Annual Meeting, August 2023, Portland, OR. Latest Data Releases08/26/2024 – Data Release
Data sets PLT-GCEM-2012 "Long-term monitoring of seven high marsh plant mixtures on Sapelo Island GA" and PLT-GCEM-1309 "Annual monitoring of high marsh plots dominated by Juncus and Borrichia" have been updated to include recent data. 07/29/2024 – Data Release
Data set titled 'Percent cover measurements of four site-dominant species from the GCE-LTER Seawater Addition Long-Term Experiment (SALTEx) Project' was added to the GCE data catalog. You can view the data here: PLT-GCED-2404. Abstract: SALTEx (Seawater Addition Long-Term Experiment) is a field experiment designed to simulate saltwater intrusion in a tidal freshwater wetland to predict how chronic (Press) and acute (Pulse) salinization will affect this and other tidal freshwater ecosystems. The SALTEx experiment was initiated in 2012 and consists of 31 field plots, each 2.5 m on a side. There are three treatments (Press, Pulse, and Fresh) and two types of controls (with and without sides), each consisting of six replicates. The Press treatment plots receive regular (4 times each week) additions of a mixture of seawater and fresh river water. Pulse plots receive the same mixture of seawater and river water during September and October, which is historically a time of low flow in the river when natural saltwater intrusion occurs. The Fresh treatment plots receive regular additions of fresh river water. Treatment water is added during low tide to facilitate its infiltration into the soil, and all plots are inundated by astronomical tides at high tide. Percent cover was measured for four site-dominant species (Zizaniopsis miliacea, Pontederia cordata, Persicaria hydropiperoides, and Ludwigia repens) each July from 2013 to 2022. Citation: Craft, Christopher B. 2024. Percent cover measurements of four site-dominant species from the GCE-LTER Seawater Addition Long-Term Experiment (SALTEx) Project. Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER Project, University of Georgia, Long Term Ecological Research Network. http://dx.doi.org/10.6073/pasta/554fbb232ea0ae95144f0857a604e73c 07/29/2024 – Data Release
Data set titled 'Photosynthetic available radiation (PAR) measurements from the GCE-LTER Seawater Addition Long-Term Experiment (SALTEx) Project' was added to the GCE data catalog. You can view the data here: PLT-GCED-2404a. Abstract: SALTEx (Seawater Addition Long-Term Experiment) is a field experiment designed to simulate saltwater intrusion in a tidal freshwater wetland to predict how chronic (Press) and acute (Pulse) salinization will affect this and other tidal freshwater ecosystems. The SALTEx experiment was initiated in 2012 and consists of 31 field plots, each 2.5 m on a side. There are three treatments (Press, Pulse, and Fresh) and two types of controls (with and without sides), each consisting of six replicates. The Press treatment plots receive regular (4 times each week) additions of a mixture of seawater and fresh river water. Pulse plots receive the same mixture of seawater and river water during September and October, which is historically a time of low flow in the river when natural saltwater intrusion occurs. The Fresh treatment plots receive regular additions of fresh river water. Treatment water is added during low tide to facilitate its infiltration into the soil, and all plots are inundated by astronomical tides at high tide. Light availability was measured using photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) both above and below the plant canopy. Citation: Craft, Christopher B. 2024. Photosynthetic available radiation (PAR) measurements from the GCE-LTER Seawater Addition Long-Term Experiment (SALTEx) Project. Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER Project, University of Georgia, Long Term Ecological Research Network. http://dx.doi.org/10.6073/pasta/1e78ffbb1d1419fcc50cb1892f3c3191 Latest File Uploads07/14/2025 – Document 07/14/2025 – Document 07/14/2025 – Other (GCE only) 06/06/2025 – Photograph 06/06/2025 – Photograph |
GCE Project Announcements07/07/2025 – Field Program News
The field crew is happy to report that GCE technican CJ Sides is now certified to operate drones. His flying style has been described by spectators as "smooth and effortless".  CJ with the IF1200A 07/07/2025 – Field Program News
One of the central aspects of the GCE V proposal is a set of field sampling campaigns focused around variability. The first of these explores the possibility that system variability increases near "transitions" in the system. To start exploring this, we established sets of plots approaching transitions at marsh landing. One set of plots is located above and below the transition from Spartina-dominated marsh to succulent-dominated marsh. Another set of plots is located above and below the transition from high marsh to forest. A large field team, led by Amanda Spivak, Alicia Wilson, Georgianne Moore and Steve Pennings set up the plots in July, for sampling at a later date. (contact Steve Pennings for additional information)06/28/2025 – Personnel News
Steve went to Savannah recently to try to track down Laura Hollander, who retired from her GCE technician position to take over the family restaurant, 45 Bistro. Laura, sadly, was not working that day (poor planning on Steve's part), but Steve did get to meet her parents, who were gracious about the fact that they stole her away from us. And the restaurant was great!  Steve with the Hollanders at 45 Bistro in Savannah 06/28/2025 – Field Program News
In a major blow to the GCE field work program, the Dairy Queen in Darien has closed. No more blizzards after a hard day of field work on the mainland!  The dairy queen sign has come down 06/24/2025 – Announcement
GCE-affiliated researchers have published a new paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on the patterns and trends of belowground biomass in salt marshes. The team, led by Kyle Runion (UT Austin, now a Research Scientist at UGA) and Jessica O’Connell (Colorado State), used the Belowground Ecosystem Resiliency Model (BERM) to estimate both above- and belowground biomass of Spartina marshes along the entire Georgia coast (691 km2) over a ten-year period (2014-2023). They found that a decline in belowground material often preceded above-ground loss, making it an important indicator of marsh vulnerability. Other authors of the paper were Merryl Alber, Deepak Mishra, Mark Lever, and Christine Hladik. You can read more about it here: https://source.colostate.edu/early-signs-coastal-marsh-decline/ and access the paper itself here: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2425501122 (contact Merryl Alber for additional information)06/20/2025 – Field Program News
A pilot study to test methods of warming the marsh is underway this week, led by Lori Sutter of UNCW. (contact Lori Sutter for additional information)» Add Announcement or Update Announcement (GCE only) » Subscribe to the GCENEWS-L Email List (weekly GCE newsletter) » View/Search Recent GCE Announcements |
