Sapelo Research Application Form
Research Application ID: GCE-32-2012 (submitted: 06/09/2012, status: approved)
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Spartina Mussel Mesocosm Experiment
Investigator Information
On Island Sponsor: GCE SINERR UGAMI GADNR
| Principal Investigator: | Christine Angelini | ||
| Home Institution: | University of Florida | ||
| Award Information: | None | ||
| Mailing Address: | Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences | Phone Number: | |
| University of Florida | E-mail Address: | christine.angelini@essie.ufl.edu | |
| Gainesville, Florida 32611 | |||
| Co-investigators: | Brian R. Silliman (Duke University), John Griffin (University of Swansea) | ||
Briefly describe the project goals and methodology
The proposed project aims to experimentally simulate a drought in mesocosms with the goal of understanding how ribbed mussels might influence Spartina's resilience to drought stress. To accomplish this, we plan to extract 24, 50 x 50 x 30 (L x W x D) transplants of mud and Spartina from the marsh at Dean creek (half of the transplants will also contain natural mussel mounds- the size of plots are this size to allow us to extract small mussel mounds from the marsh) and place them in plastic tubs. These tubs will them be arranged in the experimental ponds behind the UGAMI institute and we will then apply drought and no-drought treatments to assigned plots. Drought treatments will simulate conditions observed during the 2009 drought that caused Spartina to die back in marshes on Sapelo (i.e. periods of ~ 2weeks with neither simulated tidal inundation or precipitation). No- drought treatments will receive the same simulated tidal regime but receive fresh water additions every 3rd day to mimic natural rainfall. Spartina stem survival will be scored weekly for the 12-week duration of the experiment. At the end of the experiment, all transplants will be returned to their original holes in the marsh.
Where will the project be located?
Transplants will be extracted from Dean Creek marsh and the experiment will take place in the experimental ponds behind the institute. We plan to coordinate using this space with researchers from the Pennings and Craft labs
How will you provide GPS coordinates for study sites?
I will provide a GIS file describing my study sites (ArcGIS shapefile, Google Earth KML/KMZ)
What are the expected start and end dates of the project?
Start Date: 06/12/2012 End Date: 09/12/2012
How many people will access the site and at what frequency?
2 people will access Dean Creek at 2 times during the summer (to extract and then replace the transplants)
Keywords that describe your project
What equipment will be deployed in the field?
None
Will plants or animals be collected as part of this study?
Yes- Spartina and ribbed mussels will be collected for the mesocosms but returned at the end of the experiment
What are the likely impacts of the project on the site?
There will be short-term impacts on the marsh where we will extract the transplants, but since all mud, plant and animal material will be returned to their original holes, we do not anticipate any long term impacts
Will the project design include boardwalks? If not, explain why not.
No because we will only be visiting the marsh twice
How long will impacts persist after the research is concluded?
Based on our experience transplanting Spartina, we anticipate the impacts of transplantation to last less than one year
