Title:

Effects of a Large-Scale Natural Sediment Addition Event on Macroinvertebrate Communities in NE Salt Marshes

Poster

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Abstract

Salt marsh invertebrates play a vital role in salt marsh ecosystems by aerating the marsh, cycling nutrients, and forming connections between trophic levels. Sediment accretion in marshes constantly builds substrate for invertebrates to exploit. However, large-scale, episodic sedimentation events may disrupt regular patterns. Since these events are rare, their influence on community structure and species composition is not well documented. During winter storm Grayson in January of 2018, ice rafting caused large areas of atypically thick sediment to deposit on a number of locations in New England, including significant areas of the Great Marsh in Massachusetts. We hypothesized that sediment addition would influence the abundance and diversity of invertebrates in the marsh since the literature suggests most marsh taxa are susceptible to disturbance and slow to recover. Sediment cores were taken from 3 sites in Massachusetts that received ice-rafted sediment to identify and quantify infaunal macroinvertebrates. Preliminary analysis shows that the sites had relatively low richness. A total of 21 taxa were found at the sites using purely taxonomic methods, with 5 taxa overlapping between the three sites. Ecrobia truncata, Melampus bidentatus, Orchestia spp, Oligochaetes, and Hydrophilidae beetles were found at every site. Genomic analysis will provide further context and richness to these results. At this stage of analysis, only one of the detected taxa was significantly affected by the addition of sediment. Further analysis will examine the relationships between sediment depth, salinity, and vegetation and invertebrate community.

Authors

First Name Last Name
Chloe Brownlie

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Submission Details

Conference GRC
Event Graduate Research Conference
Department Biological Sciences (GRC)
Group Poster Presentation
Added April 17, 2020, 5:14 p.m.
Updated April 17, 2020, 5:15 p.m.
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