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Examination of Below-Ground Structure and Soil Respiration Rates of Stable and Deteriorating Salt Marshes in Jamaica Bay (NY)
Citation:
WIGAND, C. Examination of Below-Ground Structure and Soil Respiration Rates of Stable and Deteriorating Salt Marshes in Jamaica Bay (NY). IN: The Tidal Exchange, The New York / New Jersey Harbor Estuary Program, New York, NY, (Spring):6, (2008).
Impact/Purpose:
This ongoing wetland research at Jamaica Bay, NY will help unravel the combined stressor effects of cultural eutrophication and sea level rise on the deterioration of salt marshes in this estuarine system.
Description:
CAT scan imaging is currently being used to examine below-ground peat and root structure in cores collected from salt marshes of Jamaica Bay, part of the Gateway National Recreation Area (NY). CAT scans or Computer-Aided Tomography scans use X-ray equipment to produce multiple images or pictures of the inside of a marsh soil core and create a 3-D image of the below-ground composition of roots, peat, particulates, and shells. The salt marsh cores are enclosed in PVC tubing and brought to a hospital in Rhode Island to be scanned. At the same salt marshes where cores are collected for CAT scanning, soil respiration is being measured to assess whether elevated respiration rates are found at salt marsh sites where soils are deteriorating. Researchers from the US EPA Atlantic Ecology Division and the National Park Service plan to examine whether changes in the below-ground root and peat structure correlate with increasing soil respiration rates in Jamaica Bay salt marshes. Researchers will try to unravel how the combined stressors of cultural eutrophication, especially the increased loadings of nitrogen, and sea level rise are causing the deterioration of many salt marshes in Jamaica Bay.