|
A paper co-authored by Adam Constantin, Whitney Broussard, and Julia Cherry was released this week in Southeastern Naturalist. The study, led by Adam Constantin as part of his thesis research, documented the distribution of dominant tidal marsh plant species along an elevation gradient and in response to salinity at the Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. To learn more, contact Julia Cherry.  Adam Constantin collecting percent cover and elevation data at Weeks Bay NERR.  Dr. Lorae' Simpson presented results of a field-based decomposition study using Avicennia germinans litter collected from nutrient-enriched plots at this year's SWS annual meeting in Baltimore, MD. A copy of her abstract is available through the SWS 2019 annual meeting abstract site.
Check out the latest paper from the Wetland Ecology Lab, which was co-authored by Anna Braswell, Chris May, and Julia Cherry. It was released online this week in Wetlands Ecology and Management. The paper describes spatially-dependent patterns of sediment accretion and plant recovery following hurricane and fire disturbances in a Juncus roemerianus-dominated tidal marsh in coastal Mississippi.  Study site at Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in coastal Mississippi. Dr. Lorae' Simpson, a postdoc in the Cherry Lab, and Steve Canty of the Smithsonian Marine Conservation Program received a $75,000 grant through the Getch Foundation to work in partnership with the University of Belize and the Turneffe Atoll Sustainability Association (TASA) on “Mangrove restoration and the potential of blue carbon in the Mesoamerican reef ecoregion.” The overall goal of their project is to support and enhance mangrove restoration projects within the Mesoamerican reef ecoregion. Specific aims include: 1) determining the feasibility and value of blue carbon credit schemes to local communities and the potential to provide funding for restoration efforts; 2) providing tools to monitor project success; 3) identifying whether or not genetic diversity of mangrove forests is lost during the restoration process; and 4) assessing the fish nursery role of restored mangrove forests.  Red mangrove trees along the coast Congratulations to Dr. Lorae' Simpson, whose recent Hydrobiologia paper, entitled "Mangroves dramatically increase carbon storage after 3 years of encroachment," was featured in this Climate Central article, as well as on Florida Public Radio and in the Florida Times.
Cherry Lab alumna, Dr. Anna Braswell, was interviewed today about her Ph.D. research on the factors determining the distribution of marshes in heterogeneous coastal environments. This project was recently published in Ecosystems and you can hear all about in this WUNC interview!  Coastal marsh in Oak Island, NC (photo credit: Anna Braswell)  We are excited to welcome Dr. Lorae' Simpson (postdoc) to the Cherry lab. Lorae' is a wetland ecologist whose research occurs at the intersection of ecosystem processes and the abiotic and biotic factors that influence them. She received her B.S. from California State University, Sacramento in 2002, and her M.S. degree from Villanova University in Villanova, Pennsylvania in 2011. She earned her Ph.D. in soil and water science at the University of Florida in 2016, where she studied how carbon dynamics were affected by spatial and temporal drivers in the salt marsh - mangrove ecotone.
Two members of the Cherry Lab presented their research at the ESA conference in New Orleans this week. Graduate student, Mollie Nugent, presented a poster of her thesis research on the interactive effects of sediment addition and nutrient subsidies on biological feedbacks to elevation, while Dr. Cherry presented a talk about an ongoing sediment addition field experiment as part of an organized session on hurricane impacts to southeastern coastal ecosystems.  Mollie Nugent presents research poster at 2018 ESA Conference.
 Mollie Nugent and Dr. Cherry presented results of their research this week at the SWS annual meeting in Denver, CO. Mollie presented the results of her thesis research on the interactive effects of sediment and nitrogen subsidies on elevation dynamics in a brackish marsh. Dr. Cherry presented on 17 years of elevation change at two brackish marshes in Louisiana, and was co-author on a talk about elevation and accretion trends in a retrograding Mississippi marsh. Copies of these abstracts are available through the SWS 2018 annual meeting abstract site.
|
Cherry Lab News & AccomplishmentsHighlighting events and recognizing achievements of current and former Cherry Lab members. Archives
May 2022
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed
