We continued our tidal creek import/export measurements during the 2017 field season.  We’ve measured the tidal exchange of materials (water, sediment, carbon, nutrients) several times at high-elevation and low-elevation marsh sites, to understand if marsh geomorphology influences the exchange of these materials. Eric installs sampling equipment at low tide at the start of an import/export […]

We’ve put effort into understanding the verical marsh-atmosphere exchange of CO2 (through both chamber measurements and eddy covariance towers), and the later exchange of carbon through the import/export measurements, but we wanted to evaluate the vertical exchange of C between the aquatic system and the atmosphere. Mikala’s project this summer was to measure CO2 (and […]

We visited Plum Island for a winter sampling in March 2017.  We got our wish: a frozen marsh! Chamber measurements with ice over the collars yielded very low measurements of CO2 change, but we did observe some respiration. We can call our research vessel an ‘icebreaker’ now!  I’ve never needed to break through ice in […]

We visited our pilot sediment-exclusion plots in the Delaware River in November 2016.  The plots had been installed in May 2016, and we weren’t sure how well they’d stand up after 6 months.  We were also measuring surface elevation tables (SETs) installed at several locations at the field site. The field crew: Arielle, Maddee, Brian, […]

We conducted tidal creek import and export measurements in mid October on the four sites we’ve been working on during 2016.  Daylight is in somewhat shorter supply this time of year, though the tides still take about 12 hours.  So we had to get out to the sites while it was still dark, work through […]

We took a quick trip to Plum Island for an early fall CO2 gas flux measurement.     Brian, Mary, and Alec are measuring CO2 exchange between the marsh and the atmosphere. This work will be compared to the gas flux measurements made by the eddy covariance tower shown in the background, and allo is to […]

Our last summer sampling in Plum Island! We’re doing tidal creek import/export on 4 creeks, a water-column production and respiration experiment, marsh CO2 gas flux measurements, and helping out with the late summer metabolism transects (ramming). We’ll be back in October.   Mary and Brian measuring marsh CO2 exchange at various light levels.     Olivia and […]

We visited tidal wetlands in the Kennebec River in coastal Maine as part of our survey of wetland accretion rates along the East Coast of the U.S.  We collected 10 deep cores, along with above- and below-ground biomass and RTK-GPS data. The trip was very successful, and it was an adventure. We gambled on getting […]

This short (1 minute) movie describes the purpose of measuring water exchange in tidal creeks in the Plum Island system.   Here is a view of the ADCP and water quality sampling from the air!

Tidal marshes are productive ecosystems that provide key services to society such as carbon sequestration, storm surge buffering, and water-quality mitigation. The long-term stability of coastal wetlands is explained by interactions between sea level, plant growth, sediment supply, and wetland accretion, but coastal wetland stability is threatened by land use change and accelerating rates of […]