CICEET Progress Report for the period 2/01/03 through 8/31/03
Project Title: Refinement of Bacterial Growth Efficiency as an Index of Salt Marsh Ecological Function
Principal Investigator(s): Roger I. E. Newell, Paul del Giorgio
Accomplishments
Scheduled Tasks:
1: The two restoration marshes, adjacent natural marsh, and open Bay sites in New Jersey will be sampled twice to allow us to follow Bacterial Growth Efficiency (BGE) in the marshes for a further year. This will allow us to document changes in BGE for a total of 6 y as restoration progresses in these marshes. This sampling will also provide information on any possible seasonality in BGE in natural marshes.
2: Describe our methodology in sufficient detail that it can be used by others to measure BGE using our procedures in other aquatic system. Make this available to interested persons through the CICEET website
3: Contact investigators who have been performing environmental monitoring on plant and animal abundances in the restoration and reference mashes. These data have been collected by various investigators and consultants contracted by PSE&G as part of the permit agreements required by these mitigation projects. Compare these assessments of salt marsh restoration success to our measurement of BGE in the restoration and reference marshes over the 6 y for which we have data
Progress on Tasks
1: The major objective of our research has been to assess ways to describe salt marsh microbial function and use these approaches to assess tidal marsh restoration. The field work was completed in 2002 and we have completed all data analysis. We are now concentrating on writing the research papers for publication in peer reviewed journals.
2: The text describing the methods has been written and is available to be downloaded from the CICEET website
3: Contacts to obtain data from other investigators working in these same restoration marshes have been made. We now have agreement for a collaborative publication that will compare our 6 years of BGE data with the data sets collected by these other investigators. This includes information obtained over the same 6 y time period on the regrowth of natural marsh vegetation obtained by Ken Strait (PSE&G Technical manager Estuary Enhancement Program) and fish abundance obtained by Dr. Ken Able and colleagues (Tuckerton Field station, Rutgers University). We will also include the 2-y data set on benthic invertebrate community composition obtained by Dr. Gary Taghon and students working in Dennis Township restoration marshes. This analysis is ongoing and will be submitted as a peer reviewed paper, possibly to the journal Estuaries.
Difficulties Encountered
None
Anticipated Success in Meeting Project Objectives in Scheduled Project Period
We met the scheduled objectives.
Tasks and activities for the next reporting period
Tasks for the next reporting period
1: Continue to collaborate with other investigators working in the same restoration marshes to compare the patterns that we have measured for BGE during the salt marsh restoration processes with the data obtained by them for other indicators of salt marsh function.
2: Complete writing for publication in the peer reviewed literature the results from this 4-y project. Two manuscripts have been already completed:
1) del Giorgio, P.A.. and R. I.E. Newell. The coupling between free-living bacteria and respiration in tidal saltmarshes is influenced by the relative availability of dissolved organic carbon and phosphorous. Limnol. Oceanogr. Resubmitted after first review.
Other manuscripts are in preparation
1) Apple, J., P. A. del Giorgio and R. I. E. Newell. An experimental estuarine system to assess the response of bacterioplankton communities to anthropogenic nutrient loading. To be Submitted Aquatic Microbial Ecology..
2) del Giorgio, P. A. and R. I. E. Newell. Large-scale patterns in free-living bacterioplankton respiration, production and growth efficiency in tidal marshes and open estuarine waters.
3) del Giorgio, P. A., D. Tulipani and R. I. E. Newell. An investigation of bacterioplankton respiratory quotients in coastal ecosystems. Will be submitted to Aquatic Microbial Ecology.
4) del Giorgio, P. A., and R. I. E. Newell. Long-term trends in microbial metabolism in Spartina marshes after restoration. Will be submitted to Limnology and Oceanography.
Concerns or difficulties
None
Expenditures
In no budget categories are expenditures exceeding estimates.