Marsh plant diversity Dr. Steven C. Pennings University of Houston

Department of Biology and Biochemistry University of Houston Houston Texas 77204-5513 USA

scpennin@central.uh.edu https://uh.edu/nsm/biology-biochemistry/people/profiles/steven-pennings/ https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4757-7125 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. Steven C. Pennings University of Houston

Department of Biology and Biochemistry University of Houston Houston Texas 77204-5513 USA

scpennin@central.uh.edu https://uh.edu/nsm/biology-biochemistry/people/profiles/steven-pennings/ https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4757-7125 Principal investigator Amy E. Kunza Vargas University of Houston

915A Saulnier Houston Texas 77019 USA

amykunza@hotmail.com Graduate research assistant 2026

A. Kunza (MS student, UH) and Pennings compared marsh plant diversity in replicate marshes in GA and TX. Results indicated that TX marshes are more diverse at the scale of individual plots and individual sites; however, the marsh plant species pool of TX is not greater than that of GA. Thus, the nature of the interactions among plants, or between plants and the abiotic environment, must differ in these two geographic regions.

Question 2: How do the spatial and temporal patterns of biogeochemical processes, primary production, community dynamics, decomposition, and disturbance vary across the estuarine landscape, and how do they relate to environmental gradients? (more information)

LTER NSF Georgia Texas GCE diversity marsh plant Overall geographic extent of the research project -97.232340 -81.119291 31.771190 27.857811 2005-01-01 2005-07-24

National Science Foundation grant numbers OCE-9982133 and OCE-0620959. Partial funding provided by the Environmental Institute of Houston.

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 Texas Gulf Coast - Texas Gulf Coast site used for comparative plant diversity studies conducted by Amy Kunza in 2005 -97.232340 -94.231163 29.997832 27.857811 Marsh plant diversity sampling locations along Texas coast https://gce-lter.marsci.uga.edu/public/resources/projects/MarshPlantDiversityTX.png Marsh plant diversity sampling locations along Georgia coast https://gce-lter.marsci.uga.edu/public/resources/projects/MarshPlantDiversityGA.png Kunza, A.E. and Pennings, S.C. 2008. Patterns of plant diversity in Georgia and Texas salt marshes. Estuaries and Coasts. 31:673-681. Kunza, A.E. and Pennings, S.C. 2006. Poster: Patterns of plant diversity in two salt marsh regions. Long Term Ecological Research Network All-Scientists Meeting, September 20-24, 2006, Estes Park, Colorado. PLT-GCET-0802a - Plant community surveys along transects at multiple sites on Sapelo Island and St. Simons Island in Georgia during June and July 2005 https://gce-lter.marsci.uga.edu/public/app/dataset_details.asp?id=322 PLT-GCET-0608 - Plant richness survey of mainland, barrier island and back-barrier hammock island locations around Sapelo Island and St. Simons Island, Georgia, in June-July 2005 https://gce-lter.marsci.uga.edu/public/app/dataset_details.asp?id=290 PLT-GCET-0711 - Plant richness survey of mainland and barrier island locations along the Texas Gulf Coast in April and May 2005 https://gce-lter.marsci.uga.edu/public/app/dataset_details.asp?id=301