Maps and Locals (MALS) Dr. Merryl Alber University of Georgia

Dept. of Marine Sciences University of Georgia Athens Georgia 30602-3636 USA

malber@uga.edu https://marsci.uga.edu/directory/people/merryl-alber https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9467-4449 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. Merryl Alber University of Georgia

Dept. of Marine Sciences University of Georgia Athens Georgia 30602-3636 USA

malber@uga.edu https://marsci.uga.edu/directory/people/merryl-alber https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9467-4449 Principal investigator 2009-01-01 Dr. Robert G. Pontius Clark University (PIE LTER)

Clark University

Affiliated investigator 2009-01-01 Dan Runfola Clark University

Clark University

Graduate research assistant 2009-01-01 2026

We are involved in a cross-site initiative to use spatial representation of land cover and land use to identify patterns of landscape change in regions in and around LTER sites. Specifically, we are comparing land cover within the GCE domain from 5 time points (1974, 1985, 1991, 2001, and 2005). This analysis will allow us to address several immediate questions: 1. Where and when did landscape changes occur, and at the expense of what type of land? 2. Has the process of land transformation been stationary across more than one time interval? 3. What are the differences in the landscape (and in landscape change) in the different watersheds? 4. Are there associations between landscape change and potential driving variables (e.g. slope, the location of roads and protected areas)? 5. Can differences in the watersheds be linked to observations in response variables (e.g. estuary nutrient concentration, salt marsh primary production)? We are particularly interested in the process of development and how that influences the receiving water. For example, an inspection of the figure reveals build-out in the landscape, particularly in the towns of Doctortown and Darien. If we can find a relationship between impervious surface and water quality then we can use that to evaluate the effects of potential future development scenarios.

Question 1: What are the long-term patterns of environmental forcing to the coastal zone? (more information)

LTER NSF GCE impervious land cover land use landscape watersheds Overall geographic extent of the research project -81.759763 -81.119291 31.771190 30.892711 2009-01-01 2012-11-01

National Science Foundation grant number and OCE-0620959

estuary marsh complex Central Georgia Coast - Central Georgia coastal region from the South Newport River (northern extent) to the Satilla River (southern extent), and from the outer banks of the barrier islands (eastern extent) to approximately 35km inland (western extent) -81.759763 -81.119291 31.771190 30.892711 Lehmann, M.K., Gurlin, D., Pahlevan, N., Binding, C., Fichot, C., Gitelson, A., Mishra, D., Schalles, J.F., Simis, S., Smith, B. and Spyrakos, E. 2023. GLORIA - A globally representative hyperspectral in situ dataset for optical sensing of water quality. Nature - Scientific Data. 10:1130958, 6 April 2023(100 (2023)):13 p. (DOI: doi.org/10.1038/s41597-023-01973-y) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-023-01973-y Georgia landcover 1974 and 2005 https://gce-lter.marsci.uga.edu/public/resources/projects/LandcoverAlberQ1.png