GCE-LTER Key Outcomes and Accomplishments

Since the GCE-LTER project began in 2000, our research has contributed significantly to understanding patterns and processes that shape estuarine and marsh environments. Key site-based findings of the GCE are:

GCE IV

• Heterogeneity in tidal marsh C flux
• Long-term marsh survival
• Repeat drone imagery
• Shellfish as Signposts: Insights from archaeology
• Advancing C synthesis
• Studying coastal wetland disturbance
• Responses of salt marshes to disturbance
• Synchrony among salt marsh sites: does one size fit all?
• Cross-site syntheses
• What Drives DOM Composition in Estuaries?
• Tools for Tidal Filtering of Remote Sensing Imagery
• Comparisons with Chinese Wetlands Provide Insight into Salt Marsh Ecology
• Patterns of marsh change at three LTER sites
• The biogeomorphic and ecological effects of the marsh crab Sesarma reticulatum
• The role of megafauna in salt marsh ecosystems
• Allometric rules describe variation in salt marsh plant size and flowering
• Elevation gradients drive microspatial differences in marsh temperature and spring green-up
• Saltwater intrusion releases N from freshwater marshes

GCE III

• Groundwater discharge increases with marsh inundation
• Sea level rise alters wetland function
• The importance of lateral transport in southeastern estuaries
• Biomass patterns differ in fresh as compared to salt marshes
• River flow supports marsh production
• The importance of foundation species in marshes
• Ammonia oxidizers transform the nitrogen cycle
• Disturbance patterns in GCE long-term monitoring plots
• Ecological responses to shoreline armoring
• Using high resolution mass spectrometry to track dissolved organic matter through estuaries
• Filtering out tidal flooding improves remote sensing of marsh vegetation
• 3-d model tracks residence times and shows connectivity in GCE estuaries
• The importance of non-trophic interactions in salt marsh communities
• Local gradients are more important than regional processes in structuring salt marsh plant communities
• What causes wetland salinization?
• Mobile predators structure communities
• Large-scale climate drivers are linked to river discharge
• Mapping marsh habitat with remote sensing
• Examining latitudinal variation in salt marsh herbivory
• Estuaries play an outsized role in the global carbon budget
• Archaeology and the historical ecology of the Georgia Bight
• Mapping geomorphology, plants, and animals with remote sensing
• Tidal fresh forests are not keeping up with sea level rise