Natural tidal marsh along the Fowl River in Mobile County, AL (photo credit: J. Cherry)
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Project Overview
To combat high rates of wetland loss, restoration and creation projects are necessary to recover ecosystem structure and function, as well as ecosystem services upon which humans depend. While wetland creation can achieve similar vegetation structure to natural wetlands, it often fails to fully recover similar ecosystem functions, like primary productivity, carbon sequestration, and nutrient removal. The objective of this project is to compare and contrast ecosystem structure and function in a natural tidal salt marsh and two 30-year old, created marshes along the Fowl River in Mobile County, AL. Our team is characterizing hydro-edaphic conditions, bioturbation, plant community composition, primary productivity, organic matter decomposition, nitrogen removal capacity, and carbon stocks and fluxes in all three sites. The proposed work will be the first to thoroughly examine the constructed marshes of the Fowl River, and will serve as the foundation for a series of studies on plant productivity, decomposition, and carbon and nitrogen cycling at these sites. This project will (1) permit evaluation of wetland creation success, (2) identify shortcomings and trajectories of wetland recovery, and (3) inform management strategies to recover ecosystem services. |
The TeamOur team has experience in community ecology, ecosystem ecology, and biogeochemistry of tidal marshes. In addition to Drs. Cherry and Mortazavi, the group includes post-docs (Drs. Lorae' Simpson and Corianne Tatariw), graduate students (Taylor Ledford, Erin Smyth, Sommer Starr, and Abbey Griffin Wood), and a number of undergraduate students.
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Natural and constructed marshes are both dominated by healthy stands of black needlerush, yet rooting depth and soil organic matter is greater in the natural marsh (top panel) compared to the constructed marshes (bottom panel). (Photo credit: J. Cherry)
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Contact UsTo learn more about this project and opportunities in the Cherry and Mortazavi labs, contact us at:
Julia Cherry: julia.cherry@ua.edu Behzad Mortazavi: bmortazavi@ua.edu |