Effects of marsh elevation and bird disturbance on Spartina patch recovery
Effects of marsh elevation and bird disturbance on Spartina patch recovery
Dr.
Christine
Angelini
University of Florida
Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences
University of Florida
Gainesville
Florida
32611
USA
christine.angelini@essie.ufl.edu
http://www.angeliniecologylab.com/the-lab.html
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6669-5269
Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER Project
Dept. of Marine Sciences
University of Georgia
Athens
Georgia
30602-3636
USA
gcelter@uga.edu
https://gce-lter.marsci.uga.edu/
Dr.
Christine
Angelini
University of Florida
Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences
University of Florida
Gainesville
Florida
32611
USA
christine.angelini@essie.ufl.edu
http://www.angeliniecologylab.com/the-lab.html
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6669-5269
Principal investigator
Dr.
Brian
R.
Silliman
Duke University
135 Duke Marine Lab Rd.
Duke University Marine Lab
Beaufort
North Carolina
28516-9721
USA
brian.silliman@duke.edu
https://nicholas.duke.edu/people/faculty/silliman
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6360-650X
Co-investigator
2026
Project Goals
The goal of this project will investigate how Spartina patches are able to recolonize die off areas in low and high marsh elevations and in the presence and absence of foraging birds. We hypothesize that the rate of Spartina expansion from remnant patches depends on: elevation (high, dense-sediment marsh platforms versus very soft low marsh sediments), bird presence (foraging birds appear to be altering sediment density through their persistent disturbance of the marsh sediment in die offs at both high and low marsh elevations), and patch size. To test this hypothesis, we plan to transplant spartina patches of 4 size classes from the adjacent healthy marsh at two die off marsh sites and then manipulate the presence of birds using simple string exclosures.
marsh
biomass
carbon
nutrients
oxygen
LTER
NSF
GCE
birds
plants
Spartina
plant ecology
primary production
Overall geographic extent of the research project
-81.307978
-81.176185
31.536369
31.380150
2013-07-30
2020-07-30
estuary marsh complex
Sapelo Island - Sapelo Island on the Southeast Georgia Coast
-81.307978
-81.176185
31.536369
31.380150
GPS data file (Trimble, Excel)
https://gce-lter.marsci.uga.edu/private/registration/files/gps_data/GCE-50-2013_GPS_SapeloIslandGPS.xlsx
Map (Google Earth KML/KMZ or map image)
https://gce-lter.marsci.uga.edu/private/registration/files/Maps/GCE-50-2013_Maps_Spartina_patch_recovery_sites.kml
Project Location
This project will be located at a high marsh platform die off area near Oakdale creek ( 31°24'28.73"N, 81°17'24.67"W) and a very soft, low elevation die off area just north of the Cabretta beach causeway ( 31°27'10.90"N, 81°14'14.55"W).
Equipment
We will be placing PVC flags adjacent to each of our transplants- this will be 64 flags per site- as well as 4 foot PVC poles holding nylon string arranged around bird exclusion plots. There will be 8, 4m x4m bird exclusion plots at each site.
Plant and Animal Collection
At the end of the experiment, we will harvest the above and belowground plant material from 25-cm2 areas in each plot as well as collect 5cm x 15cm (diameter x depth) sediment cores adjacent to each plot to characterize sediment properties (bulk density, sediment grain size, % organic).
Project description or documentation
https://gce-lter.marsci.uga.edu/private/registration/files/Documents/GCE-50-2013_Documents_070312.0149pm_070612.LOPmanipulativefieldexp.pdf