Grantee Research Project Results
2004 Progress Report: Human Activities and a Changing Climate in Louisiana
EPA Grant Number: R829420E01Title: Human Activities and a Changing Climate in Louisiana
Investigators: Dagg, Michael
Institution: Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium
EPA Project Officer: Chung, Serena
Project Period: June 10, 2002 through June 9, 2004 (Extended to June 9, 2006)
Project Period Covered by this Report: June 10, 2004 through June 9, 2005
Project Amount: $74,534
RFA: EPSCoR (Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) (2001) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: EPSCoR (The Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research)
Objective:
Global change will affect Louisiana in numerous ways, including: enhancement of sea-level rise and the associated changes in coastal ecosystems; changing patterns and amounts of fisheries production; changing patterns, amounts, and quality of drainage from land to sea; changes in weather and climate (i.e., wind patterns, storm frequency, and intensity); and long-term shifts to nonhydrocarbon energy sources. Each of these changes will have strong sociological implications in Louisiana, a state heavily dependent on its coastal environments for economic and cultural reasons. The objectives of the Strategic Improvement Plan (SIP) are to: (1) develop a coordinated, multi-institutional research and education program addressing aspects of global change most relevant to Louisiana; and (2) enhance Louisiana’s capability for understanding and predicting the effects of climate change on state ecosystems, culture, and economy.
Progress Summary:
The three Science and Engineering Environmental Research (SEER) projects have made significant contributions toward the first goal. The SIP activities also have contributed to linking activities among different universities within Louisiana.
Specific SIP activities that were proposed to support the SEERs and to develop a broad-based statewide capability for responding to global change were continued in Year 3, and some new activities were initiated.
During Year 1, it was proposed to award 2-year development grants for three students and postdoctoral researchers from any university in the state to collaborate with three out-of-state, high-visibility scientists on some aspects of our theme. This program was modeled after a similar program run by Louisiana’s National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research program. An advertisement throughout state universities resulted in awards being made to 4 students. Each student has an out-of-state collaborator. Awards are for $8,000 each over 2 years. Funds for the extra award were taken from the intern program (see below) for which there was poor response in Year 1. Development grants funded in Year 1 were:
- Ms. Shaye Sable, a doctoral student at Louisiana State University under the supervision of Dr. James Cowan, for a project titled Response of Larval Fish to Dimethylsulfide (DMS): An Experiment to Determine a Possible Effect of Climate Change on Fisheries Production in the Gulf of Mexico.
- Mr. Brian Milan, a master’s student at Louisiana State University under the supervision of Dr. Richard Shaw, for a project titled Fisheries Utilization of Smooth Cordgrass and Black Mangrove Edge Habitat: Implications of Global Climate Change.
- Mr. Lawrence Febo, a doctoral student at Louisiana State University for a project titled, Investigating the Sediment Archives of Catahoula Lake, Louisiana.
- Ms. Melanie Caudill, a doctoral student at Louisiana State University under the supervision of Dr. Richard Shaw, for a project titled The Role of Hydroperiod and Stem Densities in Determining Fisheries Utilization in Black Mangrove and Smooth Cordgrass Salt Marshes: Implications for a Changing Landscape.
Consistent with the 2-year no-cost extension awarded to the overall program, completion dates of these development grants have been extended.
The projects by Febo and Sable are completed. Febo has submitted an extensive final report, and Sable’s is expected in the near future.
A major workshop or symposium was proposed for Year 2 to discuss global change and coastal Louisiana. All SIP funds for this symposium were pooled and with additional funds from a separate program at Tulane University (B. McKee), a jointly sponsored symposium was held November 16?18, 2004. The title of this symposium was “River-dominated Ocean Margins and Global Change” (RiOMar). Approximately 50 scientists from throughout North America and Europe attended this 3-day symposium, which was held at the Solomon Center near New Orleans. This symposium addressed important issues relating to the effects of climate change on coastal Louisiana (and other coastal regions throughout the world) and will produce a written document for broad circulation within the scientific community. This document will serve as a basis for brochures and other educational materials to be distributed to the public via the Internet and via Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium’s (LUMCON) educational and outreach programs. For information about this symposium refer to http://www.tulane.edu/~riomar/. Exit
Because the RiOMar Symposium was supported only partially by the SIP award, funds were available to co-sponsor a second symposium. This was a more specialized meeting co-sponsored by the Dagg SIP and the China National Science Foundation. This international symposium, entitled “Coastal Ecosystem Responses to Changing Nutrient Inputs from Large Temperate and Sub-Tropical Rivers” was held in Xiamen, China, on May 29?June 1, 2005. The emphasis was on a comparison of the Mississippi (USA), Pearl (China), Yangtze (China), and Rhône (France) Rivers. The symposium was very successful and will result in a special volume of Continental Shelf Research being published in late 2006. This volume will be co-edited by Dagg and the two other meeting organizers, and it is expected to bring international attention to the Mississippi River impacts on coastal Louisiana.
No publications in the peer-reviewed scientific literature are expected from the SIP activities proposed in this program. The SIP is not a research activity and scientific publications are not expected from this component of the program. The RiOMar symposium summary, however, will be a grey literature document created by many of the world’s most knowledgeable scientists dealing with climate change and river/ocean margins. The document will be widely distributed within the scientific community and will serve as a source for preparation of a brochure and Web-based materials for broader distribution to the general public via LUMCON’s education and outreach programs. The second symposium will result in a special volume of Continental Shelf Research, which will be dedicated to the scientific papers presented at the symposium. Initial papers will be submitted for peer review in November 2005, and it is planned that all reviews will be complete by June 2006. Papers then will be sent to the publisher for publication in late 2006. Both of these documents will be distributed widely within the scientific community and will serve as sources for preparation of a brochure and Web-based materials for broader distribution to the general public via LUMCON’s education and outreach programs.
Future Activities:
Development grants are being brought to conclusion, with written reports required for each award.
Additional seminars, as funds permit, on global change issues, will be presented during the remaining time for this program.
Brochures on several aspects of “Climate Change Impacts on Coastal Louisiana” are being prepared and will be completed by the end of the program.
Supplemental Keywords:
climate change, coastal, Louisiana, river impacted shelf,, RFA, Scientific Discipline, Air, Geographic Area, Hydrology, climate change, State, Environmental Monitoring, Atmospheric Sciences, Ecological Risk Assessment, wetlands, fish habitat, watershed, global change, Louisiana (LA), coastal ecosystems, aquatic ecology, global warming, land and water resources, climate variabilityRelevant Websites:
http://www.lumcon.edu/Information/news/newsletter/archive/summer_2002.pdf Exit
http://www.lumcon.edu/research/faculty/mdagg/ Exit
http://www.tulane.edu/~riomar/ Exit
http://mel.xmu.edu.cn/meeting/ Exit
Progress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.