I. Data Set Descriptors A. Title: Alyssa Gehman. 2016. Effects of small-scale armoring and residential development on the salt marsh/upland ecotone. Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER Data Catalog (data set GEL-GCET-1216; http://gce-lter.marsci.uga.edu/public/app/dataset_details.asp?accession=GEL-GCET-1216) B. Accession Number: GEL-GCET-1216 C. Description 1. Originator(s): Name: Alyssa Gehman Address: Odum School of Ecology University of Georgia Athens, Georgia 30602 Country: USA Email: gehmana@uga.edu 2. Abstract: Small-scale armoring placed near the marsh-upland interface to protect single-family homes is widespread but understudied. Using a nested, spatially blocked sampling design on the coast of Georgia, USA, we compared the biota and environmental characteristics of 60 marshes adjacent to either a bulkhead, a residential backyard with no armoring, or an intact forest. 3. Study Type: Graduate Thesis Study 4. Study Themes: Geology 5. LTER Core Areas: Disturbance Patterns 6. Georeferences: none 7. Submission Date: Dec 01, 2016 D. Keywords: Armases, bulkhead, Disturbance Patterns, GCE, Georgia, Georgia Coastal Ecosystems, LTER, residential development, Sapelo Island, shoreline armoring, Spartina alterniflora, USA II. Research Origin Descriptors A. Overall Project Description 1. Project Title: Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER Project III 2. Principal Investigators: Name: Merryl Alber Address: Dept. of Marine Sciences University of Georgia Athens, Georgia 30602-3636 Country: USA Email: malber@uga.edu 3. Funding Period: Nov 01, 2012 to Nov 01, 2018 4. Objectives: The research proposed for GCE-III is designed to address how variations in salinity and inundation, driven by climate change and anthropogenic factors, affect biotic and ecosystem responses at different spatial and temporal scales, and to predict the consequences of these changes for habitat provisioning and carbon (C) sequestration across the coastal landscape. 5. Abstract: The Georgia Coastal Ecosystems (GCE) LTER is located along three adjacent sounds on the Atlantic coast and includes both intertidal marshes and estuaries. Long-term drivers of climate change, sea level rise and human alterations of the landscape will cause transitions in dominant habitat types (state changes) within the GCE domain by changing the amounts and patterns of water delivery across the landscape. These changes in water delivery can be conceptualized as presses and pulses in river inflow, local runoff, groundwater input, and tidal inundation, which will in turn manifest themselves as changes in salinity and inundation patterns in the domain. The research proposed for GCE-III is designed to address how variations in salinity and inundation, driven by climate change and anthropogenic factors, affect biotic and ecosystem responses at different spatial and temporal scales, and to predict the consequences of these changes for habitat provisioning and carbon (C) sequestration across the coastal landscape. The goals are to: 1) Track long-term changes in climate and human actions in the watershed and adjacent uplands, and evaluate the effects of these drivers on domain boundary conditions. 2) Describe temporal and spatial variability in physical, chemical, geological and biological, and to evaluate how they are affected by variations in river inflow and other boundary conditions. 3) Characterize the responses of three dominant habitats in the domain to pulses and presses in salinity and inundation. 4) Describe patterns of habitat provisioning and C sequestration and export in the GCE domain, and to evaluate how these might be affected by changes in salinity and inundation. These efforts will be synthesized into a synoptic understanding of both biotic and ecosystem responses to variations in salinity and inundation driven by climate change and human activities, which will be used to assess thresholds between habitats and the potential for state changes in the domain. 6. Funding Source: NSF OCE 1237140 B. Sub-project Description 1. Site Description a. Geographic Location: GA_Coast -- Georgia Coast, Southeast Georgia Coordinates: GA_Coast -- NW: 082 41 22.37 W, 32 38 33.70 N NE: 080 44 33.24 W, 32 38 33.70 N SE: 080 44 33.24 W, 30 21 20.31 N SW: 082 41 22.37 W, 30 21 20.31 N b. Physiographic Region: GA_Coast -- Lower coastal plain c. Landform Components: GA_Coast -- unspecified d. Hydrographic Characteristics: GA_Coast -- unspecified e. Topographic Attributes: GA_Coast -- unspecified f. Geology, Lithology and Soils: GA_Coast -- unspecified g. Vegetation Communities: GA_Coast -- unspecified h. History of Land Use and Disturbance: none recorded i. Climate: Climate summary for Sapelo Island, Georgia, based on NWS data from 1980-2010: Daily-aggregated Values: Mean (sample standard deviation) mean air temperature: 20.09°C (7.28°C) minimum air temperature: 15.02°C (7.96°C) maximum air temperature: 24.82°C (6.98°C) total precipitation: 3.26mm (10.3mm) Yearly-aggregated Daily Values: Mean (sample standard deviation) total precipitation (1980-2010): 1124mm (266mm) 2. Experimental or Sampling Design a. Design Characteristics: For each plot in each sampling site, we used RTK GPS to measure the location and elevation of the upper marsh. We collected cores to determine porewater salinity and nutrient concentrations as well as grain size distribution of marsh sediments. We quantified flora (vegetation composition) and fauna (snail, bivalve, and crab abundance and sizes) in the upper marsh ecotone. For sites with bulkheads, we recorded the height, thickness and condition of the bulkhead, as well as surveyed the animals living on and around the bulkheads. b. Permanent Plots: We used GIS data on the locations of armored shorelines (Alexander 2010) and land use to select an armored, unarmored, and forested site at each station (20 stations x 3 site types = 60 sampling sites). Armored and unarmored sites had single-family homes adjacent to the marsh. Forested sites were selected at locations where no development existed adjacent to the marsh and forest vegetation was prevalent in the upland and extended to the marsh-upland boundary. At each station the defining land use characteristic of each of our three site types (i.e., bulkhead, lawn, or forest) had at least 20 m of frontage, and sites within a station were separated by at least 30 m. The marsh-upland boundary was used as the "zero" line for each site, which was delineated either by the location of the bulkhead or the edge of the lawn or the forest. Two transects were run perpendicularly from the zero line into the upper marsh, with sampling points established at 2, 4, and 8 m along each transect. c. Data Collection Duration and Frequency: Armases crabs were counted in 1 x 4 m quadrats in the upper marsh and in the upland. For bulkhead sites, the hight and thickness of the bulkhead was measured. The construction material, relative age and condition of the bulkhead were noted. We counted eastern melampus snails (Melampus bidentatus), and marsh periwinkles (Littoraria irrorata), any other snails visible, and crab borrows in a 0.25 x 0.25 m quadrat in each sampling point. We counted the ribbed mussel Geukensia demisa in a 1 x 1 m quadrat. At the bulkhead sites we counted species living on the bulkhead, and identifying benthic invertebrates such as barnacles, mobile crustaceans such as crabs, macroalgae, and any other species using the bulkheads as habitat. Littoraria irrorata individuals were collected and measured in the lab to the nearest mm. We measured percent cover of each plant species at each sampling point using a 0.5 x 0.5 m quadrat subdivided into 100 cells. Wrack and bare mud (no vegetation or wrack) were included as categories. We also recoreded the Species and height of plants in each corner of each sampling site. Porewater was collected from surficial soils at each sampling point for nutrient analysis. We collected a 10 cm sediment core from each sampling point for grain size analysis. Beginning of Observations: Jun 01, 2013 End of Observations: Jul 15, 2013 3. Research Methods a. Field and Laboratory Methods: Method 1: Site setup -- The marsh-upland boundary was used as the "zero" line for each site, which was delineated either by the location of the bulkhead or the edge of the lawn or the forest. Two transects were run perpendicularly from the zero line into the upper marsh (left and right), with sampling points established at 2, 4, and 8 m along each transect. At sites where Spartina became the dominant species along the transects, we measured from the zero line to this "Spartina Line" and established sampling points (Spartina plots) where appropriate. A visual estimate of percentage of the site (5 m on each side of the transects, extending to the 8m line) covered by wrack (choices of 0, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100 percent) was recorded. Distances were measured along each transect from the zero line to the start and end of any wrack coverage. Characteristics of the first 2 meters of the upland area were also noted. Method 2: Armases count -- To estimate the effect of a physical barrier on the use of upland habitats by marsh species, we documented use of the upland by the squareback crab Armases cinereum (Armases, henceforth). Because human presence changes crab behavior, one member of the research team walked the upland/marsh border immediately upon arrival at the site. Armases crabs were counted in 1 x 4 m quadrats in the upper marsh and in the upland (-0.5 m and +0.5 m from the “zero” line or bulkhead; n=3 per site). Method 3: Bulkhead measurements -- For bulkhead sites, the hight and thickness of the bulkhead was measured. The construction material, relative age and condition of the bulkhead were noted. Method 4: Upper Marsh Elevation -- A Trimble real time kinematic (RTK; model R6 and R8) GPS with a virtual reference network to measure the elevation and location (latitude and longitude) of each sampling point. Method 5: Fauna Quantification -- We counted eastern melampus snails (Melampus bidentatus), and marsh periwinkles (Littoraria irrorata), and any other snails visible in a 0.25 x 0.25 m quadrat in each sampling point. If snails were rare we used a larger quadrat size, up to 1 x 1 m. Crabs are highly mobile and affected by human presence, so we counted crab burrows (> 0.5 cm diameter) in a 0.25 x 0.25 m quadrat as a proxy for their density. We identified as many crabs as possible upon arriving at each sampling point. We counted the ribbed mussel Geukensia demisa in a 1 x 1 m quadrat. At the bulkhead sites we counted species living on the bulkhead by searching a 5 m length (usually between the two transects), and identifying benthic invertebrates such as barnacles, mobile crustaceans such as crabs, macroalgae, and any other species using the bulkheads as habitat. Littoraria irrorata individuals were collected and measured in the lab to the nearest mm. Method 6: Flora Quantification -- We measured vegetative cover in two ways; first we took an overhead photograph of every sampling point to produce an estimate of total vegetative cover. Next, we measured percent cover of each plant species at each sampling point using a 0.5 x 0.5 m quadrat subdivided into 100 cells. Wrack and bare mud (no vegetation or wrack) were included as categories. We also recoreded the Species and height of plants in each corner of each sampling site. Method 7: Upper Marsh Porewater and Nutrients -- Porewater was collected from surficial soils at each sampling point using Rhizon Core Solution Samplers with a 10-cm hydrophilic porous polymer tube (Rhizosphere Research Products). Samples were frozen at -80oC prior to conducting analyses for porewater nutrient content and salinity. Ammonium concentrations were determined using the phenol-hypochlorite method (Koroleff 1983) with a Shimadzu UV-1601 spectrophotometer. Nitrate + nitrite (reported as nitrate) and phosphate concentrations were measured on an Alpkem RFA-300 autoanalyzer. We used EPA-approved methods to analyze nitrate (4500-NO3- automated cadmium reduction method) and phosphate (4500-P automated ascorbic acid reduction method) (Rice et al. 2012). All nutrient samples were analyzed in triplicate. We measured salinity in collected porewater with a handheld refractometer (Vee Gee STX-3). Method 8: Upper Marsh Sediment -- We collected a 10 cm sediment core from each sampling point. Samples were stored at ambient temperature and brought to the lab for processing. Sediment water content was measured by drying samples for 3 days at 60°C. Sediment organic content was determined by weight loss after combustion at 440°C overnight. We collected sediment samples from the marsh surface (0 – 2 cm) in each quadrat for grain size analysis. Sediment samples were wet-sieved using standard protocols through a 63 µm (4-phi) sieve (Alexander et al. 1986). The coarse fraction (>63 µm) was then dried and sieved through stacked sieves starting at -1 phi (2 mm) to separate gravel (larger than 2 mm) from sand (2 mm - 63 µm) at 0.25 phi intervals. The percentage of mud (<63 µm) was quantified by drying an aliquot of the total mud fraction captured during wet sieving. If sufficient quantities of mud existed (>10% by weight), the silt and clay grain-size distributions were determined with a Micromeritics Sedigraph 5100. If the sample contained <10 % mud, an additional aliquot was taken to quantify the percent silt and clay in the sample. b. Protocols: Method 1: none Method 2: none Method 3: none Method 4: none Method 5: none Method 6: none Method 7: none Method 8: none c. Instrumentation: Method 1: tape measure Method 2: pvc quadrat Method 3: tape measure Method 4: RTK GPS Manufacturer: Trimble (Model: R6) Parameter: Elevation (Accuracy: 20mm + 1 ppm RMS, Readability: 1mm, ) Protocol: Base receiver is placed on a permanent cement base installed near each field site, connected to GLONASS satellite services via mobile 3G Internet connection, and allowed to establish a stable benchmark positional fix. A portable wireless rover unit is then used to collect and log horizontal position and vertical elevation data for sites being surveyed. Parameter: Latitude (Accuracy: 10 mm + 1 ppm RMS, Readability: 1mm, Range: 0-90 degrees) Protocol: Base receiver is placed on a permanent cement base installed near each field site, connected to GLONASS satellite services via mobile 3G Internet connection, and allowed to establish a stable benchmark positional fix. A portable wireless rover unit is then used to collect and log horizontal position and vertical elevation data for sites being surveyed. Parameter: Longitude (Accuracy: 10 mm + 1 ppm RMS, Readability: 1mm, Range: 0-180 degrees) Protocol: Base receiver is placed on a permanent cement base installed near each field site, connected to GLONASS satellite services via mobile 3G Internet connection, and allowed to establish a stable benchmark positional fix. A portable wireless rover unit is then used to collect and log horizontal position and vertical elevation data for sites being surveyed. Method 5: pvc quadrat Method 6: pvc quadrat, meter stick Method 7: Rhizon Core Solution Samplers with a 10-cm hydrophilic porous polymer tube (Rhizosphere Research Products), Shimadzu UV-1601 spectrophotometer, Alpkem RFA-300 autoanalyzer, handheld refractometer (Vee Gee STX-3). Method 8: Drying oven Manufacturer: Fisher (Model: Isotemp 500) Micromeritics SediGraph 5100 Manufacturer: Micromeritics (Model: SediGraph 5100) Parameter: particle size (Range: 300 - 0.1 um) Micromeritics Sedigraph 5100, seive stack d. Taxonomy and Systematics: Method 1: not applicable Method 2: not applicable Method 3: not applicable Method 4: not applicable Method 5: not applicable Method 6: not applicable Method 7: not applicable Method 8: not applicable e. Speclies List: f. Permit History: Method 1: not applicable Method 2: not applicable Method 3: not applicable Method 4: not applicable Method 5: not applicable Method 6: not applicable Method 7: not applicable Method 8: not applicable 4. Project Personnel a. Personnel: 1: Alyssa Gehman 2: Natalie Ann McLenaghan 3: Merryl Alber 4: James Byers 5: Clark R. Alexander, Jr. 6: Steven C. Pennings 7: Morgan Mahaffey 8: Stephanie Shaw 9: Katie Shaw 10: Gabriel Mills 11: Kaitlyn McPherran b. Affiliations: 1: University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 2: University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 3: University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 4: University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 5: Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, Savannah, Georgia 6: University of Houston, Houston, Texas 7: null 8: null 9: null 10: null 11: null III. Data Set Status and Accessibility A. Status 1. Latest Update: 13-Aug-2017 2. Latest Archive Date: 07-Aug-2017 3. Latest Metadata Update: 13-Aug-2017 4. Data Verification Status: New Submission B. Accessibility 1. Storage Location and Medium: Stored at GCE-LTER Data Management Office Dept. of Marine Sciences Univ. of Georgia Athens, GA 30602-3636 USA on media: electronic data download (WWW) or compact disk 2. Contact Person: Name: Wade M. Sheldon, Jr. Address: Dept. of Marine Sciences University of Georgia Athens, Georgia 30602-3636 Country: USA Email: sheldon@uga.edu 3. Copyright Restrictions: not copyrighted 4. Restrictions: All publications based on this data set must cite the contributor and Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER project, and two copies of the manuscript must be submitted to the GCE-LTER Information Management Office. a. Release Date: Affiliates: Dec 01, 2016, Public: Dec 01, 2018 b. Citation: Data provided by the Georgia Coastal Ecosystems Long Term Ecological Research Project, supported by funds from NSF OCE 1237140 (data set GEL-GCET-1216) c. Disclaimer: The user assumes all responsibility for errors in judgement based on interpretation of data and analyses presented in this data set. 5. Costs: free electronic data download via WWW, distribution on CD may be subject to nominal processing and handling fee IV. Data Structural Descriptors A. Data Set File 1. File Name: GEL-GCET-1216_Soils_1_0.CSV 2. Size: 390 records 3. File Format: ASCII text (comma-separated value format) 3a. Delimiters: single comma 4. Header Information: 5 lines of ASCII text 5. Alphanumeric Attributes: 6. Quality Control Flag Codes: Q = questionable value, I = invalid value, E = estimated value 7. Authentication Procedures: 8. Calculations: 9. Processing History: Software version: GCE Data Toolbox Version 3.9.6b (27-Aug-2016) Data structure version: GCE Data Structure 1.1 (29-Mar-2001) Original data file processed: soils.txt (390 records) Data processing history: 01-Aug-2017: new GCE Data Structure 1.1 created ('newstruct') 01-Aug-2017: 390 rows imported from ASCII data file 'soils.txt' ('imp_ascii') 01-Aug-2017: 83 metadata fields in file header parsed ('parse_header') 01-Aug-2017: data structure validated ('gce_valid') 01-Aug-2017: Variable Type of column Transect changed from 'text' to 'code ('ui_editor') 01-Aug-2017: copied/reordered columns Stie, Upland_Type, Station, Transect, Plot_Distance, Porewater_Salinity, Soil_Organic_Matter, Water_Concentration, Percent_Sand, Percent_Silt, Percent_Clay, NH4_Concentration, NO3_Concentration and PO4_Concentration ('copycols') 01-Aug-2017: updated 1 metadata fields in the Dataset sections ('addmeta') 01-Aug-2017: imported Dataset, Project, Site, Study, Status, Supplement metadata descriptors from the GCE Metabase ('imp_gcemetadata') 01-Aug-2017: updated 49 metadata fields in the Dataset, Project, Site, Status, Study, Supplement sections ('addmeta') 07-Aug-2017: updated 1 metadata fields in the Dataset sections ('addmeta') 07-Aug-2017: imported Dataset, Project, Site, Study, Status, Supplement metadata descriptors from the GCE Metabase ('imp_gcemetadata') 07-Aug-2017: updated 57 metadata fields in the Dataset, Project, Site, Status, Study, Supplement sections ('addmeta') 07-Aug-2017: Description of column Upland_Type edited ('ui_editor') 13-Aug-2017: Data Type of column Porewater_Salinity changed from 'd' to 'f';Numeric Type of column Porewater_Salinity changed from 'discrete' to 'continuous ('ui_editor') 13-Aug-2017: updated 6 metadata fields in the Data sections ('addmeta') 13-Aug-2017: updated 15 metadata fields in the Status, Data sections to reflect attribute metadata ('updatecols') 13-Aug-2017: parsed and formatted metadata ('listmeta') B. Variable Information 1. Variable Name: column 1. Stie column 2. Upland_Type column 3. Station column 4. Transect column 5. Plot_Distance column 6. Porewater_Salinity column 7. Soil_Organic_Matter column 8. Water_Concentration column 9. Percent_Sand column 10. Percent_Silt column 11. Percent_Clay column 12. NH4_Concentration column 13. NO3_Concentration column 14. PO4_Concentration 2. Variable Definition: column 1. Site ID (Concatenation of Upland Type and Station Number) column 2. Characteristic of upland land type (B = Bulkhead (Armored), H = House with lawn (Unarmored), F = Forested) column 3. Ordinal station number for each upland type column 4. Left or Right transect at site column 5. Distance along transect to the Sampling Location (SP = Spartina Line) column 6. Porewater salinity from Plot column 7. Percent organic matter in soil column 8. percent water in soil column 9. Percentage of sediment sample greater than 63µm column 10. Percentage of sediment sample between 4µm and 63µm column 11. Percentage of sediment sample less than 4µm column 12. Ammonium concentration in porewater column 13. Nitrate concentration in porewater column 14. Phosphate concentration in porewater 3. Units of Measurement: column 1. none column 2. none column 3. none column 4. none column 5. none column 6. PSU column 7. percent column 8. percent column 9. percent column 10. percent column 11. percent column 12. µM column 13. µM column 14. µM 4. Data Type a. Storage Type: column 1. string column 2. string column 3. integer column 4. string column 5. string column 6. floating-point column 7. floating-point column 8. floating-point column 9. floating-point column 10. floating-point column 11. floating-point column 12. floating-point column 13. floating-point column 14. floating-point b. Variable Codes: Upland_Type: B = Bulkhead (Armored), H = House with lawn (Unarmored), F = Forested Transect: L = Left transect, R = Right transect Plot_Distance: 2 = 2 meters, 4 = 4 meters, 8 = 8 meters, SP = Spartina Line c. Numeric Range: column 1. (none) column 2. (none) column 3. 1 to 22 column 4. (none) column 5. (none) column 6. 2 to 55 column 7. 0 to 84.4444 column 8. 8.3703 to 82.9428 column 9. 22.7359 to 99.1216 column 10. 0.45772 to 31.9163 column 11. 0 to 50.576 column 12. 0 to 233.9324 column 13. 0 to 607.8027 column 14. 0 to 117.3897 d. Missing Value Code: 5. Data Format a. Column Type: column 1. text column 2. text column 3. numerical column 4. text column 5. text column 6. numerical column 7. numerical column 8. numerical column 9. numerical column 10. numerical column 11. numerical column 12. numerical column 13. numerical column 14. numerical b. Number of Columns: 14 c. Decimal Places: column 1. 0 column 2. 0 column 3. 0 column 4. 0 column 5. 0 column 6. 0 column 7. 1 column 8. 1 column 9. 1 column 10. 1 column 11. 1 column 12. 1 column 13. 2 column 14. 1 6. Logical Variable Type: column 1. free text (none) column 2. coded value (none) column 3. ordinal (discrete) column 4. coded value (none) column 5. coded value (none) column 6. data (continuous) column 7. data (continuous) column 8. data (continuous) column 9. data (continuous) column 10. data (continuous) column 11. data (continuous) column 12. data (continuous) column 13. data (continuous) column 14. data (continuous) 7. Flagging Criteria: column 1. none column 2. none column 3. none column 4. none column 5. none column 6. none column 7. none column 8. none column 9. none column 10. none column 11. none column 12. none column 13. none column 14. none C. Data Anomalies: V. Supplemental Descriptors A. Data Acquisition 1. Data Forms: 2. Form Location: 3. Data Entry Validation: B. Quality Assurance/Quality Control Procedures: C. Supplemental Materials: D. Computer Programs: E. Archival Practices: F. Publications: not specified G. History of Data Set Usage 1. Data Request History: not specified 2. Data Set Update History: none 3. Review History: none 4. Questions and Comments from Users: none