ABSTRACT

The Plum Island Ecosystems (PIE) LTER is an integrated research, education and outreach program whose goal is to develop a predictive understanding of the long-term response of watershed and estuarine ecosystems at the land-sea interface to changes in climate, land use and sea level. The principal study site is the Plum Island Sound estuary, its coupled Parker, Rowley and Ipswich River watersheds and the adjacent coastal ocean, the Gulf of Maine. Humans are altering the ecosystems of the world at rates not previously experienced. Understanding and predicting how multiple stresses affect the sustainability of ecosystems is one of the most crucial challenges in environmental biology. The PIE LTER focuses on how several aspects of global change influence organic matter and inorganic nutrient biogeochemistry and estuarine food-webs. The inputs of organic matter and nutrients from land, ocean and marshes interact with the external drivers (climate, land use, river discharge, sea level) to dictate the extent and degree of nutrient and organic matter processing and determine the spatial patterns of estuarine productivity and trophic structure. The overarching question is: How will trophic structure and primary and secondary productivity in estuaries be affected by changes in organic matter and nutrient loading and hydrodynamics caused by changing land use, climate and sea level?
The project uses a combination of approaches to address research questions and hypotheses: 1) short- and long-term core measurements; 2) short and long-term experiments; 3) comparative ecosystem studies; and 4) modeling. The research integrates estuarine biogeochemistry with studies of food webs and population biology of all trophic levels.
The PIE LTER data and information system provides a centralized network of information and data related to the Plum Island Sound Estuarine Ecosystem and its watersheds. This network provides researchers associated with PIE-LTER access to common information and data in addition to centralized long-term storage. Data and information are easily accessible to PIE-LTER scientists, local, regional, state partners and the broader scientific community. Researchers associated with PIE-LTER are committed to the integrity of the information and databases resulting from the research.
Broader Impacts: PIE-LTER has developed links with local teachers and students, citizens, conservation organizations, and local, state and federal agencies. What started out as a minimalist program has grown to be a broad, well-rounded suite of activities. The education/outreach program is expected to further expand during this next awqard period, as additional support is obtained from other federal agencies, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and private foundations. The long-term goal is to establish a Coastal Outreach office at the PIE-LTER study site that will serve to integrate and promote interactions with interested parties throughout New England. During this grant period, the PIE-LTER will expand its schoolyard program to provide on-going professional development for teachers; support the expansion of this project into nearby urban areas including Salem, Boston, and Revere; and facilitate the transfer of this program to New Hampshire and Maine via the Gulf of Maine Institute. There will be greater involvement with undergraduate and graduate education with the addition of PIs Mather and Pontius from UMass and Clark University, respectively. PIE-LTER has a very active outreach program in which the goal is to communicate research findings to individuals,