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Assessing Salt Marsh Recovery Utilizing Improved Computer-Aided Tomography Technology (CTT)
Citation:
Davey, E., T. Hill, J. Turek, M. O'Reilly, L. Blum, R. Martin, AND C. Wigand. Assessing Salt Marsh Recovery Utilizing Improved Computer-Aided Tomography Technology (CTT). Coastal & Estuarine Research Federation (CERF) 24th Biennal Conference, Providence, RI, November 05 - 09, 2017.
Impact/Purpose:
We applied computer-aided tomography technology (CTT) to investigate the belowground portions of a recovering marsh, the Padanarum marsh, a small 7.2-acre marsh in Dartmouth, MA and compared these results with nearby reference marshes.We found differences in belowground structures in the reference versus those in the recovery marshes, and speculated on the possible future of the recovery marsh. This study demonstrated the power and ease of CTT for assessing belowground saltmarsh condition.
Description:
In 2001 the Padanarum marsh, a small 7.2-acre marsh in Dartmouth, MA, was chosen as a Tidal Hydrology Restoration site. The site was initially characterized as a brackish mostly freshwater deteriorating marsh. In May 2003 the seawater input to this marsh was increased by replacing the old 30 cm diameter culvert with a 100 cm by 132 cm culvert, which increased the maximum seawater input by approximately 59 times. Within 2 years aboveground Phragmites australis, which dominated the eastern shores of this marsh, completely disappeared. Today, almost 15 years later, this marsh is dominated by native saltmarsh species such as Spartina alterniflora. We applied computer-aided tomography technology (CTT) to investigate the belowground portions of this recovering marsh and compared these results with nearby reference marshes. Results in 2015 indicated that the first chosen reference marsh was not suitable for comparison to this recovering marsh because these marshes were so statistically different in biological and physical composition. Even though this reference site did not compare effectively with the Padanarum marsh, the data may be still useful to use with other recovery sites in the future. The next year we chose another reference marsh, Meadow Shores, which bracketed the recovering marsh with respect to soil wet bulk density and other components of the CTT budgets. This presentation compares belowground structures in the reference site with those in the recovery marshes, and speculates on the possible future of the recovery marsh. This study demonstrates the power and ease of CTT for assessing belowground saltmarsh condition.