Can mussels protect Spartina from mutiple stressors? 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 2026

We aim to investigate whether drought-induced soil acidification combined with salt stress plays an important role in Spartina mortality, and whether snail grazing during drought periods increases vegetation die-off. For this we would like to perform an field experiment located where we will manipulate drought, salt stress, and snail grazing in 40, 6inch diameter plots. We plan to install PVC tubing around Spartina plots with and without mussels. Clear PVC tubing will be install above ground around each plot, and dark PVC tubing below ground connected via a PVC coupling, so that the tidal water cannot enter the plots above or below ground. Dimensions would be the following: The PVC tubing would have a diameter of 6 inches, and would be 1.6 feet above ground and 1.6 feet below ground. We would like to install 40 of these small Spartina plots in total, in already existing Spartina vegetation with and without mussels present. We would like to leave them in over summer, and remove them from the field in July/August.

marsh biomass nutrients salinity LTER NSF GCE crustaceans Geukensia infauna Littoraria plants Spartina invertebrate ecology plant ecology primary production Overall geographic extent of the research project -81.307978 -81.176185 31.536369 31.380150 2014-04-08 2014-11-30

Dutch National Research Council Funding, Young Investigator Award to Tjisse van der Heide- $5,000 awarded for this project

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-56-2014_GPS_New_site_location.docx Map (Google Earth KML/KMZ or map image) https://gce-lter.marsci.uga.edu/private/registration/files/Maps/GCE-56-2014_Maps_Oakdale_Marsh.kml

Oakdale marsh: 31°24'19.65"N, 81°17'30.78"W

6" PVC tubes will be installed above and belowground around each of the 40 experimental plots

Spartina plants and Geukensia located within each experimental plot will be collected at the end of the experiment. We will collect these organisms under the UGAMI collection permit which we have already filed with Mary Price