Mentor/s
Dr. LaTIna Steel
Participation Type
Poster
Abstract
Sediment composition plays a crucial role in plant growth, nutrient availability, water retention, and soil stability, factors that often differ between restored and natural salt marshes. Understanding these differences is essential for wetland restoration and environmental management. This study investigated how differences in physical conditions at a restored and a natural marsh in Connecticut impact smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) growth. Measurements of S. alterniflora height were taken at each site and estimated energy at each site via plaster erosion in the field. Plants and sediment were collected from Milford Point (natural) and Stratford Point (restored) and grown in a common-garden greenhouse experiment with plants from each site grown in sediment from each site. Plant height was monitored weekly over a ten-week period, and we compared the grain size of sediment from each site. In both the field and greenhouse measurements, plants from Milford were taller than plants from Stratford. Milford sediment was finer-grained than Stratford sediment, and Stratford experienced higher rates of plaster erosion than Milford, indicating more stressful conditions at Stratford than Milford. There were no effects of sediment source on plant growth in the greenhouse, suggesting that wave energy and plant lineage are more important than sediment grain size in determining plant height. Although previous experiments suggested that environmental conditions, not differences in plant genetics, drive the observed plant size differences, these results emphasize the importance of understanding both site conditions and plant genetics when planning for and evaluating marsh restoration.
College and Major available
Molecular & Cellular Biology BS
Academic Level
Undergraduate student
Location
Digital Commons & West Campus West Building University Commons
Start Day/Time
4-25-2025 12:00 PM
End Day/Time
4-25-2025 2:00 PM
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Prize Categories
Best Multidisciplinary Research or Collaboration, Most Scholarly Impact or Potential, Most Creative
Role of environmental conditions in determining plant size differences in restored and natural Spartina alterniflora
Digital Commons & West Campus West Building University Commons
Sediment composition plays a crucial role in plant growth, nutrient availability, water retention, and soil stability, factors that often differ between restored and natural salt marshes. Understanding these differences is essential for wetland restoration and environmental management. This study investigated how differences in physical conditions at a restored and a natural marsh in Connecticut impact smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) growth. Measurements of S. alterniflora height were taken at each site and estimated energy at each site via plaster erosion in the field. Plants and sediment were collected from Milford Point (natural) and Stratford Point (restored) and grown in a common-garden greenhouse experiment with plants from each site grown in sediment from each site. Plant height was monitored weekly over a ten-week period, and we compared the grain size of sediment from each site. In both the field and greenhouse measurements, plants from Milford were taller than plants from Stratford. Milford sediment was finer-grained than Stratford sediment, and Stratford experienced higher rates of plaster erosion than Milford, indicating more stressful conditions at Stratford than Milford. There were no effects of sediment source on plant growth in the greenhouse, suggesting that wave energy and plant lineage are more important than sediment grain size in determining plant height. Although previous experiments suggested that environmental conditions, not differences in plant genetics, drive the observed plant size differences, these results emphasize the importance of understanding both site conditions and plant genetics when planning for and evaluating marsh restoration.
Students' Information
Allegra Paulina Simon (Molecular and Cellular Biology Pre-Medical) Class of 2026