Can less palatable plants buffer Spartina against runaway consumption Can less palatable plants buffer Spartina against runaway consumption Dr. John Griffin University of Swansea
Department of Biosciences University of Swansea Swansea SA2 8PP Wales, United Kingdom
J.N.Griffin@swansea.ac.uk http://www.sillimanlab.com/people-griffin.php 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. John Griffin University of Swansea
Department of Biosciences University of Swansea Swansea SA2 8PP Wales, United Kingdom
J.N.Griffin@swansea.ac.uk http://www.sillimanlab.com/people-griffin.php 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 This project was motivated by observations along borders of ongoing, drought-induced, Spartina die-off areas. Specifically, we noted lower periwinkle densities on Spartina individuals when they occurred within a matrix of Sarcocornia (mixed meadows) as compared to Spartina monocultures. With this proposed experiment, we intend to test the hypothesis that Sarcocornia provides an associational refuge for interspersed Spartina individuals and therefore buffers the system against runaway consumption. To test this we plan to establish rings of plants with 3 zones: 1) mixed Spartina/Sarcocornia, 2) pure Spartina, and 3) pure Sarcocornia. We will add 500 snails to each experimental arena and monitor snail movement and grazing impact over 4 months.
Associated GCE LTER research questions 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)
marsh biomass LTER NSF GCE plants Salicornia Spartina invertebrate ecology plant ecology Overall geographic extent of the research project -81.307978 -81.176185 31.536369 31.380150 2011-08-01 2011-11-30
(not specified)
estuary marsh complex Sapelo Island - Sapelo Island on the Southeast Georgia Coast -81.307978 -81.176185 31.536369 31.380150
Project Location Airport marsh (within a zone of pure Sarcocornia).
Equipment 10 x field cages (2 m in diameter)
Plant and Animal Collection Yes. 5,000 Littoraria irrorata; 720 individual Spartina stems.