New Publication on Ecosystem Functions in Natural and Restored Marshes

A second paper on research at our Fowl River marsh sites has been published in Restoration Ecology. In this study, Ledford et al. compared carbon fluxes and nitrogen removal rates between one natural and two constructed tidal marshes. Porewater ammonium, gross ecosystem productivity (GEP), ecosystem respiration, denitrification, and DNRA were similar among the three marshes, with the exception of greater denitrification in one of the two constructed sites. These results suggest that marsh restoration did recover some ecosystem functions in these 33-year-old constructed marshes.

Aerial view of constructed marshes along Fowl River in Alabama.