m Island project addresses the question of how ecosystems in a region respond to large-scale disturbances, such as long-term sea level rise. In this case, the region is the U.S. East Coast." Scientists working on the project also hope to discover how the biota of different biogeographic provinces are affected by similar nutrient inputs, freshwater supply, and availability of organic matter.

"Despite an awareness that large-scale, long-term changes are happening in estuaries," explains Taylor, "we don't fully understand the consequences of activities like damming of rivers, land-use changes and removal of floodplains."

Often, human influences on these systems result in opposing effects. Clearing of land, for example, increases sediment in a drainage basin, while damming decreases sediment discharge. Climate variability and long-term patterns of climate change can also have immense effects on the timing, magnitude and nature of material inputs. Infrequent storms can accomplish in days what would normally occur over decades.

Through research at the Plum Island Sound LTER site, scientists hope to soon have a better, broader view of estuarine dynamics.

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Contact: Cheryl Dybas
cdybas@nsf.gov
703-306-1070
National Science Foundation
30-Jul-1998


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