INTERTWINED AT THE LAND-WATER INTERFACE HUMAN POPULATIONS COASTAL WETLANDS AND ESTUARIES SHAPE THE ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF BOTH THE COASTAL TERRESTRIAL AND AQUATIC LANDSCAPE. YET THESE SYSTEMS HAVE BEEN THE FOCUS OF RESEARCH PRIMARILY DRIVEN BY DISCIPLINARY OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGIES. AS A RESULT STUDIES OF TERRESTRIAL AND AQUATIC PROCESSES IN WETLAND-ESTUARY SYSTEMS HAVE REMAINED LARGELY DISCONNECTED. URBAN DEVELOPMENT POPULATION SHIFTS AND ANTHROPOGENIC POLLUTION HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO AFFECT COASTAL WETLAND BIODIVERSITY BIOGEOCHEMISTRY VEGETATION CHARACTERISTICS AND GEOMORPHIC STABILITY. THE LINKAGES HOWEVER BETWEEN THESE HUMAN- INDUCED ALTERATIONS OF WETLAND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND ESTUARINE ECOLOGICAL PROCESSES AND VULNERABILITY TO COASTAL HAZARDS REMAIN LARGELY UNKNOWN AND DRIVE THE PROPOSED RESEARCH. THIS PROPOSAL BRINGS TOGETHER AN INTERDISCIPLINARY TEAM TO ADDRESS FOUR KEY SCIENCE OBJECTIVES THAT EXPLICITLY LINK COASTAL URBAN LANDSCAPES WETLANDS AND ESTUARIES: (I) MAP TIDAL MARSH AREA EXTENT AND PLANT COMMUNITY COMPOSITION IN A HEAVILY URBANIZED ESTUARY ASSESS THE STATUS AND CHANGE IN THESE WETLAND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OVER MULTI-DECADAL TIMESCALES AND EXAMINE LINKAGES TO COASTAL POPULATION CHANGE AND ASSOCIATED URBAN DEVELOPMENT. THIS WILL BE USEFUL FOR ASSESSING BOTH DEGRADATION OF WETLAND HABITATS (E.G. EXPANSION OF INVASIVE PHRAGMITES) AS WELL AS EFFECTIVENESS OF RECENT RESTORATION EFFORTS.(II) ASSESS HOW SHIFTS AND LANDSCAPE VARIABILITY IN WETLAND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS (I.E. MARSH EXTENT AND PLANT COMMUNITY COMPOSITION) INFLUENCE THE QUANTITY AND QUALITY OF NUTRIENTS AND ORGANIC MATTER EXCHANGED BETWEEN TIDAL MARSHES AND ADJACENT ESTUARINE WATERS.(III) QUANTIFY IMPACTS OF HUMAN-INDUCED ALTERATIONS IN WETLAND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND WETLAND-ESTUARINE TIDAL EXCHANGES ON ESTUARINE ECOLOGY SPECIFICALLY ADDRESSING ESTUARINE WATER QUALITY ORGANIC MATTER CYCLING PLANKTON COMMUNITY COMPOSITION AND LINKING TO DEVELOPMENT OF HYPOXIC CONDITIONS OCCURRENCE OF BLOOM OUTBREAKS AND CHANGE IN FISHERIES HABITAT.(IV) DETERMINE POTENTIAL INFLUENCES OF FUTURE NATURAL AND ANTHROPOGENIC PRESSURES ON THESE PROCESSES UNDER VARIOUS ENVIRONMENTAL AND HUMAN POPULATION CHANGE SCENARIOS. WE WILL ADDRESS THESE OBJECTIVES THROUGH DEVELOPMENT OF NEW REMOTE SENSING TOOLS FOR CHARACTERIZATION OF TIDAL MARSH AREA EXTENT VEGETATION COMMUNITIES AND INUNDATION REGIMES (SENTINEL-1 SAR PALSAR PALSAR-2 LANDSAT SENTINEL-2 ASTER) AND ADVANCED RETRIEVALS OF ESTUARINE BIOLOGICAL AND BIOGEOCHEMICAL PROCESSES (SENTINEL-2 LANDSAT HICO MERIS MODIS VIIRS). REMOTE SENSING WILL BE INTEGRATED WITH MULTI-DISCIPLINARY ECOLOGICAL PALEOECOLOGICAL AND SOCIOECONOMIC DATASETS SPATIAL ECONOMETRIC MODELS OF POPULATION GROWTH AND A NOVEL COUPLED HYDRODYNAMIC-PHOTO-BIOGEOCHEMICAL MODEL THAT WE SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED FOR THE MARSH- ESTUARINE CONTINUUM. HUMAN-IMPACTED TIDAL WETLANDS ARE UBIQUITOUS AND RESULTS FROM OUR STUDY AND THE DEVELOPED REMOTE SENSING AND MODELING TOOLS WILL BE BROADLY APPLICABLE TO VARIOUS URBAN-MARSH-ESTUARINE SYSTEMS.

Research Foundation Of The City University Of New York, New York NY

Investigators