Changes in Salt Marsh Morphology Due to Hurricane Sandy

Academy Of Natural Sciences Philadelphia, Philadelphia PA

Investigators

Abstract

This project takes advantage of the major coastal extra-tropical storm, Hurricane Sandy that came ashore in New Jersey on November 6, 2012. The proposed research will evaluate the properties and processes in the coastal salt marshes immediately after and in the year following Sandy to compare with existing pre-storm data. The relationship of short-term hurricane induced flooding and sedimentation to marsh elevation change, accumulation rates of plants and dead material, and changes in soil and water chemistry will be determined for three salt marshes of the Delaware Estuary and three salt marshes of Barnegat Bay, New Jersey. This proposal addresses fundamental questions about the influences of major coastal storms on ecosystem structure and function. There are opportunities to directly observe effects of this severe disturbance on processes that have been monitored over time in the past with other funding. This proposal is a good fit for the RAPID funding mechanism because it addresses important and fundamental questions related to coastal marsh ecosystem dynamics, will enable new and additional sample collection and analyses, and is time-sensitive. It is critical to get plots re-established, baseline samples taken, and initial measurements made before the systems are further altered by the usual winter weather of this region. The prospect of future storms of this magnitude suggests the need to understand their effects on ecosystem dynamics as part of a new-normal for the East Coast. Information from this project about the impacts of Hurricane Sandy on local salt marshes will be of use to local wetland managers (e.g., U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Island Beach State Park) and to the coastal communities in the area. The information gained will also be extrapolated to predict future storm event effects, will serve as a case study applicable to other Atlantic coast wetlands, and will advance our understanding of storm effects on wetland ecosystem processes in general.