Set at Sapelo Island and Altamaha River in Georgia, this study seeks to understand how freshwater pulsing and anthropogenic surface and groundwater withdrawals affect estuaries and associated wetlands and will involve the monitoring of physical and biological variables in the river system and in the island's marsh complex. The interaction between tidal flooding and freshwater discharge as it mediates soil organic matter accumulation by affecting nutrient inputs, primary production, and decomposition rates will be our focus of investigation.

      Overall, the study will investigate connections between local and distant upland areas that deliver surface and groundwater to the coastal area. Sapelo is a barrier island and marsh complex at the mouth of the Altamaha River, one of the largest and least-developed rivers on the East Coast.

      This research will help clarify the complex patterns of water movement in intertidal creeks and marshes. Long-term trends in land-use patterns and the withdrawal of fresh water in the watershed will be examined to provide scientific information upon which to base decisions about waterfront development.
 

See our recent Poster. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Cooperative Agreement #OCE 99-82133. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundations.

For more information, go to the GCE-LTER web page.

II. Soil Formation on a Newly Emerging Marsh Mudflat-Marsh System.(link)

III. Response of Tidal Freshwater Marsh Vegetation (Zizaniopsis miliacea)

     to Nitrogen and Phosphorus Additions.(link)