Sapelo Research Application Form
Research Application ID: GCE-86-2017 (submitted: 05/22/2017, status: approved)
Provide a brief title for web display
Mussels control salt marsh geomorphological evolution
Investigator Information
On Island Sponsor: GCE SINERR UGAMI GADNR
| Principal Investigator: | Sinead M. Crotty | ||
| Home Institution: | University of Florida | ||
| Award Information: | Crotty: NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP), $34K/yr Angelini: NSF DEB grant | ||
| Mailing Address: | Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences | Phone Number: | |
| University of Florida | E-mail Address: | scrotty@ufl.edu | |
| Gainesville, Florida 32611 | |||
| Co-investigators: | Christine Angelini (University of Florida) | ||
Briefly describe the project goals and methodology
Until now, our understanding of how coastal landscapes evolve and respond to sea-level rise has focused on feedbacks between vegetation, hydrology and sediment supply. Invertebrates, such as crabs and mussels, are often widely distributed in these ecosystems and can directly affect plant growth as well as sediment deposition and mobility through their biotic activities and indirectly alter water flow by altering plant canopy thickness and patterns in sediment accumulation or loss from the system. However, the effects of resident fauna on coastal wetland geomorphological evolution are largely unknown. With this project, we aim to assess the role of ribbed mussels, Geukensia demissa, on tidal creek growth and salt marsh geomorphological evolution. Specifically, we hypothesize that mussels accelerate tidal creek growth by enhancing water percolation rates/flushing and accelerating flow rates at the marsh surface off of mussel mounds thereby promoting sediment scour and tidal creek elongation. We will test this with a manipulative field experiment conducted across 5 sites in Doboy Sound, GA. Experimental treatments will include full mussel removals, mussel additions, ambient controls, and removal/replace procedural controls. We will then monitor tidal creek width, depth, and length at permanently marked locations every 3-6 months, as well as following soil elevation and percolation rates in creek head regions.
Where will the project be located?
Site 1: 31.457885, -81.302107; Site 2: 31.451935, -81.317626; Site 3: 31.441807, -81.307595; Site 4: 31.438762, -81.330955; Site 5: 31.420846, -81.323166
How will you provide GPS coordinates for study sites?
GPS coordinates are listed in the project location field
What are the expected start and end dates of the project?
Start Date: 06/05/2017 End Date: 08/01/2018
How many people will access the site and at what frequency?
Five people will assist in the initial set up of the experiment. Each site will take one 6-hour set-up day. Following initial set-up, one researcher will visit each site once per month to monitor changes in creek morphology.
Keywords that describe your project
What equipment will be deployed in the field?
Flags, PVC stakes, SET posts
Flags- will be placed around experimental treatment area (4-10 flags/creek)
PVC stakes- will be inserted into the ground at 15m intervals from creek entry point to creek head region on both sides of creek to mark areas of repeated measures of creek morphology (10-16/creek)
SET posts- will be deployed in creek head regions and at 15m intervals onto the marsh platform for 60m (~15/creek)
Will plants or animals be collected as part of this study?
Ribbed mussels will be collected from one creek head region and moved to adjacent creek head regions. Total number depend on experimental creek locations, but we anticipate that approximately 1,500 mussels will be removed from removal creeks and transplanted to addition creeks.
What are the likely impacts of the project on the site?
We anticipate very local scale tidal creek morphological changes at addition/removal creek head regions. There will be limited effects on Spartina and/or on invertebrate communities, since trampling will be limited to one day for experimental deployment and then visits by one researcher monthly.
Will the project design include boardwalks? If not, explain why not.
This project will not include boardwalks since local water flow rates and patterns will be very important to the dynamics that we are measuring. Human destruction/trampling should be minimal, so the deployment of boardwalks would additionally not confer any major benefits to marsh health in this instance.
How long will impacts persist after the research is concluded?
We have previously found high rates of mussel recruitment in the region. We therefore anticipate that mussel communities from removal creeks will reestablish small mussel mounds within a year, and continue to grow/expand each year. Trampling effects will likely not persist beyond one growing season.
Site Photographs:
Files attached to this application
GCE-86-2017_Photos_Sites1-5_GoogleEarth.png (PNG image, 1660 kb, submitted 05/22/2017)
