NSF Org:	OCE Division Of Ocean Sciences
Recipient:	THE MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY
Initial Amendment Date:	July 23, 1992
Latest Amendment Date:	August 1, 1996
Award Number:	9214461
Award Instrument:	Continuing Grant
Program Manager:	Phillip R. Taylor OCE  Division Of Ocean Sciences GEO  Directorate for Geosciences
Start Date:	September 1, 1992
End Date:	September 30, 1998 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount:	$1,780,000.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date:	$1,780,000.00
Funds Obligated to Date:	FY 1992 = $400,000.00 FY 1993 = $410,000.00 FY 1994 = $410,000.00 FY 1995 = $410,000.00 FY 1996 = $150,000.00
History of Investigator:	Charles Hopkinson (Principal Investigator) chopkins@uga.edu John Hobbie (Co-Principal Investigator) Brian Fry (Co-Principal Investigator) Linda Deegan (Co-Principal Investigator) Anne Giblin (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, LONG-TERM RSCH IN ENVIR BIO, BIOLOGICAL OCEANOGRAPHY
Primary Program Source:	app-0193  app-0194  app-0195  app-0196
Program Reference Code(s):	1129, 1316, 1577, 1650, 9178, 9251, EGCH, SMET
Program Element Code(s):	119500, 119600, 165000
Award Agency Code:	4900
Fund Agency Code:	4900
Assistance Listing Number(s):	47.050

ABSTRACT

Nutrient movement into estuaries and the resulting effects on primary productivity, the depletion of oxygen, habitat structure, and trophic changes in coastal waters have dominated estuarine research for decades. Another, and neglected, linkage between land and coastal waters is the input of dissolved and particulate organic carbon and organic nitrogen. Organic nitrogen inputs are frequently greater than inorganic nitrogen inputs and in many cases the input of organic carbon from land is greater than the in situ production of organic carbon. Despite the quantitative importance of organic matter inputs from land, there is little data on its actual use in coastal waters and even less data on effects of organic matter loading on coastal ecosystem structure and function. Recent developments in the chemical analysis of dissolved organic C and N and stable isotope tracer technology now make it possible to refine the input-output budgets and also address the fate and importance of organic matter entering coastal waters from land. Two broad questions addressed in this project are: (1) What is the importance to estuarine ecosystems of organic carbon and organic nitrogen inputs from watersheds with various land covers and uses? and (2) Does the interaction of inorganic nutrients with the quantity and quality of organic carbon and organic nitrogen play an important role in determining the trophic structure, production, and trophic efficiency in estuaries? This project will attempt to answer these questions through measurements of the quantity of dissolved and particulate organic carbon and organic nitrogen entering coastal waters from land, through experiments to determine the effects of various nutrient and organic matter inputs and interactions on the flow and recycling of C and N through pelagic and benthic food webs including higher trophic levels, and through modeling of food chain transformations and the effects of changes in land use and land cover. The proposed research integrates estuarine biogeochemistry with studies of food webs and population biology of higher trophic levels. Site-specific research will be focused in the Plum Island Sound System of the cold-water Acadian Biogeographic Province in northern New England. This projects seeks conclusions and models that are applicable across a wide range of coastal waters; hypothesis testing of specific questions across ecosystems is the most effective way to achieve this goal. This project will combine experimental studies in the Plum Island Sound Ecosystem with comparative studies at different coastal sites (LMER/LTER) chosen to represent end-members in an analysis of interactions between organic matter and inorganic nutrient loading.

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