Task 2: Marsh Processes and Health
- Quantify changes in biomass, photosynthetic activity, marsh elevation and soil strength of dominant emergent wetland plants (i.e., Spartina alterniflora) exposed to oil in 2010. Principal Investigator: R. Eugene Turner.
- Separate the effects of marsh elevation and background shoreline erosion rates from any effects of the oil. Principal Investigator: R. Eugene Turner, Louisiana State University.
- Use of imagery to determine shoreline erosion and multi-annual variations in vegetation rigor and coverage across affected areas of south Louisiana. Principal Investigator: Dr. Michael Kearney, University of Maryland.
- Wetland biogeochemistry of oiled and un-oiled plots, e.g., carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus biogeochemical processes, greenhouse gas exchange. Principal Investigators: Dr. Brian Roberts, Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium; Dr. Anne Bernhard, Connecticut College; Dr. Anne Giblin, The Ecosystems Center at the Marine Biological Laboratory.
- Marsh-edge sediment microbial community distribution, turned-over and insights about the mechanisms controlling shifts in communities. Principal Investigator: Annette Engel-Summers, University of Tennessee.
