Award Abstract # 1058747
Plum Island Ecosystems LTER

NSF Org: OCE
Division Of Ocean Sciences
Recipient: THE MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY
Initial Amendment Date: September 16, 2010
Latest Amendment Date: October 26, 2012
Award Number: 1058747
Award Instrument: Continuing Grant
Program Manager: David Garrison
OCE
 Division Of Ocean Sciences
GEO
 Directorate for Geosciences
Start Date: October 1, 2010
End Date: September 30, 2013 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount: $1,880,000.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date: $2,213,777.00
Funds Obligated to Date: FY 2010 = $940,000.00
FY 2011 = $1,074,233.00

FY 2012 = $199,544.00
History of Investigator:
  • Anne Giblin (Principal Investigator)
    agiblin@mbl.edu
  • Bruce Peterson (Co-Principal Investigator)
  • Charles Hopkinson (Co-Principal Investigator)
  • Joseph Vallino (Co-Principal Investigator)
  • Wilfred Wollheim (Co-Principal Investigator)
  • Linda Deegan (Former Co-Principal Investigator)
Recipient Sponsored Research Office: Marine Biological Laboratory
7 M B L ST
WOODS HOLE
MA  US  02543-1015
(508)289-7243
Sponsor Congressional District: 09
Primary Place of Performance: Marine Biological Laboratory
7 M B L ST
WOODS HOLE
MA  US  02543-1015
Primary Place of Performance
Congressional District:
09
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): M2XKLRTA9G44
Parent UEI: M2XKLRTA9G44
NSF Program(s): LONG TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH
Primary Program Source: 01001011DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
01001112DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT

01001213DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
Program Reference Code(s): 1195, 1316, 1650, 4444, 7218, 7744, 9117, 9169, 9177, 9251, EGCH
Program Element Code(s): 119500
Award Agency Code: 4900
Fund Agency Code: 4900
Assistance Listing Number(s): 47.050

ABSTRACT

Intellectual Merit: 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 located in the Acadian biogeographic province in eastern New England. The study sites include the coupled Parker, Rowley, and Ipswich River watersheds, their tidal marshes, and the surrounding ocean of the Gulf of Maine. Land use change and urbanization of coastal watersheds are altering both the magnitude and timing of the flow of materials and water to coastal ecosystems. These changes in flows from land, coupled with climate change and sea level rise, will have important, but still poorly understood consequences for the ways in which materials and energy are transformed in the coastal zone. It will also have important consequences for the people who value these ecosystems for food, recreation, and storm protection. The overarching question of this project addresses the ecological consequences of global change in the coastal zone: How do external drivers, ecosystem dynamics, and human activities interact to shape organic matter and nutrient transformations in linked watershed and coastal ecosystems?

This project follows from prior LTER studies of biogeochemistry, food webs, and population biology in the Plum Island watersheds, estuary, and intertidal marshes. In this next phase of PIE LTER research there will be more emphasis on linkages and feedbacks between the component ecosystems, including the human dimension. LTER Researchers will also place a greater emphasis on the role of geomorphology and geomorphic change in ecosystem dynamics. To organize this research the investigators have divided the study into four programmatic areas, each of which addresses an issue critical to answering our overarching question:
Q1 Watersheds - How do human alterations of inter-basin material transfers, within-basin ecosystem connectivity, and geomorphology interact with climate to impact ecosystem regulation of water, organic matter, and nutrient fluxes through the watershed to the estuary, and how do these changes feed back to human behaviors that further alter watershed function?
Q2 Marsh - Are the relative elevations of salt marshes at PIE in equilibrium with sea level, and if not, what are the consequences for primary production, biogeochemical cycling, and material exchanges between the marsh and estuary?
Q3 Estuary - How do human activities and variations in climate that affect the coupling with watersheds, intertidal marshes, and the ocean shape organic matter and nutrient transformations in estuarine tidal creeks and bays?
Q4 Higher Trophic Levels - What are the consequences of changes in ecosystem spatial configuration and dynamics for the structure and transfer of productivity in food webs, and for the function of higher trophic levels in estuarine ecosystems?

To address these questions LTER Researchers will use a combination of approaches: 1) the collection of long-term data on key ecosystem drivers and ecosystem responses, 2) short and long-term experiments, 3) comparative ecosystems studies, and 4) modeling. All data collected by the PIE LTER will be centralized and easily accessible to PIE-LTER scientists, local, regional and state partners, and the broader scientific community.

Broader Impacts: The educational and outreach program at PIE LTER is greatly strengthened through partnerships with local educators and NGOs. LTER personnel will continue to collaborate with Massachusetts Audubon and the Governor's Academy for the LTER schoolyard program, which has brought hands-on science training to students in grades 5-12. "Salt marsh Science" currently serves more than 1000 students and 50 teachers a year. Over the next six years the LTER plans to expand teacher training, and include a focus on environmental stewardship. Undergraduates will be served by intensive research experiences focusing on individual projects under the mentorship of PIE scientists. Both undergraduate and graduate student involvement will increase with the addition of new PIs. PIE will maintain an active outreach program through collaboration with many local and regional NGOs including the Gulf of Maine Institute, Essex County Greenbelt, the Ipswich River Association, and the Parker Clean Water Association. PIE scientists help bring scientific information into policy by serving as advisors to policy makers at the local, state, and national level, a role that continues to grow.

PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH

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Acinas, S.G.;Klepac-Ceraj, K.;Hunt, D.E.;Pharino, C.;Ceraj, C.;Distel, D.L.;Polz, M.F.; "Fine-scale phylogenetic architecture of a complex bacterial community." Nature , v.430 , 2004 , p.551-554
Agnew, A.M.;Shull, D.H.;Buchsbaum, R.N.; "Growth of a salt marsh invertebrate on several species of marsh grass detritus." Biological Bulletin , v.205 , 2003 , p.238-239
Aldwaik, Safaa and Robert Gilmore Pontius Jr. "Map errors that could account for deviations from a uniform intensity of land change." International Journal of Geographical Information Science , 2013 10.1080/13658816.2013.787618.
Alexander, R.B.;Bohlke, J.F.;Boyer, E.W.;David, M.;Harvey, J.W.;Mulholland, P.J.;Seitzinger, S.P.;Tobias, C.R.;Tonitto, C.;Wollheim, W.M.; "Dynamic modeling of nitrogen losses in river networks unravels the coupled effects of hydrological and biogeochemical processes" Biogeochemistry , v.93 , 2009 , p.91-116
Bahr, M.;Crump, B.C.;Klepac-Ceraj, V.;Teske, A.P.;Sogin, M.L.;Hobbie, J.E.; "Molecular characterization of sulfate-reducing bacteria in a New England salt marsh." biology , v.7 , 2005 , p.1175-1185
Bain, D.; Green, M.B.; Campbell, J.; Chamblee, J.; Fraterrigo, J.; Kaushal, S.S.; Martin, S.; Jordan, T.; Parolari, A.; Sobczak, W.V.; Weller, D.E.; Wollheim, W.M.; Boose, E.; Duncan, J.; Gettel, G.; Hall, B.; Kumar, P.; Thompson, J.; Vose, J., et al. "Legacy effects material flux: structural catchment changes predate long-term studies." Bioscience , v.62 , 2012 , p.575-584
Bain, D.J., R.L. Hale, W.M. Wollheim "Hotbed of Biogeochemical Diversity - Understanding Urban Ecosystem Dynamics." Elements , v.8 , 2012 , p.435 410.2113/gselements.2118.2116.2435
Bain, D., M. B. Green, J. Campbell, J. Chamblee, J. Fraterrigo, S. S. Kaushal, S. Martin, T. Jordan, A. Parolari, W. V. Sobczak, D. E. Weller, W. M. Wollheim, E. Boose, J. Duncan, G. Gettel, B. Hall, P. Kumar, J. Thompson, J. Vose, E. Elliott, and D. Leig "Legacies in material flux: structural catchment changes pre-date long-term studies." BioScience , v.62 , 2012 , p.575
Barnes, R.T.;Raymond, P. A.; "The contribution of agricultural and urban activities to inorganic carbon fluxes within temperate watersheds." Chemical Geology , v.266 , 2009 , p.318-327
Battin, T.J.;Kaplan, L.;Findlay, S.;Hopkinson, C.;Marti, E.;Packman, A.;Newbold, J.D.;Sabater, F.; "Biophysical controls on organic carbon fluxes in fluvial networks" Nature Geoscience , v.1 , 2008 , p.95-100
Beaulieu, J. J.; Tank, J.L.; Hamilton, S. K.; Wollheim, W.; Hall, R.; Mulholland, P; Peterson, B.; Ashkenas, L.; Cooper, L.; Dahm, C.; Dodds, W.; Grimm, N.; Johnson, S.; McDowell, W.; Poole, G.; Valett, H.; Arango, C.; Bernot, M.; Burgin, A., et al. "Nitrous oxide emission from denitrification in stream and river networks" Proceedings of the National Academy of Science , v.108 , 2011 , p.214-219
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT

Disclaimer

This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.

The Plum Island Ecosystems LTER

Scientific Merit: The Plum Island Ecosystems (PIE) LTER is an integrated research, education and outreach program whose goal is to understand the long-term response of watershed and estuarine ecosystems to changes in three key drivers: climate, sea level and human activities.  The PIE-LTER was established in 1998.  Our principal study site is the Plum Island Sound estuary and its watersheds located in eastern Massachusetts north of Boston.  Some key findings are:

 

1)      Suburbanization has altered the timing and magnitude of water flows in PIE watersheds through pumping of groundwater, through water transfers, by storm water management, and by increasing impervious surfaces. By the early 2000s, the average net diversion of water reached 20% of annual river runoff.  However, the impact of this large diversion is not evident in stream flows because there was an increase in water inputs from precipitation and an increase in runoff due to an increase in impervious surfaces.  The result is that average annual runoff has not changed at the whole watershed scale although variability has increased. 

2)      Recently, beaver populations have dramatically increased in PIE watersheds, greatly altering stream channels.  We found that beaver dams resulted in increased native fish biodiversity and may be increasing the rate at which nitrogen is removed.   

3)      We have developed a circulation model of water flow in PIE. The model has yielded new insights on the importance of hydrologic connections between Plum Island Sound and the Merrimack River. 

4)      The majority of nitrogen entering watersheds at PIE come from food/waste and fertilizer.  Although N inputs are relatively high, our watersheds export a lower percentage of N inputs than other urbanized watersheds in the northeastern United States and more closely resemble the highly retentive watersheds in the southeast.  We believe this is partially due to the location of development in our watershed.  The most urbanized areas are located near headwaters which allow abundant riparian and floodplain wetlands downstream to remove more nitrogen than in watersheds where urbanization is closer to the coast.  Suburbanization, however, does cause a decline in N retention.

5)      Nitrogen removal within marshes and estuaries is an important ecosystem service but rates are quite variable in time and space.  In the subtidal areas of PIE, we find that estuarine N dynamics are strongly controlled by water residence time, salinity, and N inputs. 

6)       We have found that marshes have "tipping points" beyond which they cannot keep up with sea-level rise.  Salt marsh primary production is strongly tied to changes in sea level.  When marshes are perched high in the tidal frame, as they are at PIE, the relative marsh elevation is above the optimum for marsh grass growth.  Consequently, in years when sea level is anomalously high, primary production responds positively.  Sea level also varies over an 18.6 year period (lunar nodal cycle) which changes the amplitude of the tides by about 5 cm.  Our research has shown that this change in the flooding duration is sufficient to alter biogeochemistry and primary production in marshes. 

7)      Creek configuration, bottom type and currents within the estuary create ‘hot spots’ where prey accumulate.  These hot spots are used by striped bass to maximize their feeding.

8)      We have developed new methods to analyze maps to gain ...

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