Research Projects

As Massachusetts faces increasing pressure from population expansion, along with increasing challenges due to climate change, we seek a solution to the growing demand in housing that supports the local timber industry and rural economies and also creates an opportunity to store more carbon both in our buildings and across our regional forested landscape. Recent advances in timber technology have produced promising new methods for meeting some of the demand for building materials, as well as the need to store carbon.

Reliable, sustainable sources of clean water are increasingly hard to come by. But did you know that there are a lot of additional benefits from cultivating and protecting freshwater wetlands atthe source of some of these waters? Wetland ecosystem services include, but are not limited to, providing verdant habitat and food supply for a large diversity of plant, animal and insect species, water filtration, slowing and spreading of floodwaters, limiting erosion, storage of carbon and other nutrients, temperature buffering, pollinator habitat and forage lands, and water storage. One of the most basic, defining metrics of a wetland is, as the name implies, its wetness. The relative water content in the soil can be assessed in a variety of ways, and this quantity alone is important for reasons beyond wetland function. Specifically, for a wetland to become established and remain functional independently, sufficient water must be present throughout the year to favor wetland plants and animals, which thrive in wet environments but are unlikely to outcompete invasives or other species in drier regimes. We forsee a continued interest in wetland restoration in Massachusetts and predict that measurable metrics to assess the success of such restoration efforts are desired. Two recent developments support this: first, Massachusetts DER created a new Cranberry Bog Program in 2018 to facilitate exactly these types of restorations, and second, Living Observatory (LO) has begun a learning collaborative of scientists, artists, and wetland restoration practitioners to document the science and best practices of freshwater wetland restoration projects. Building on recent projects and successes, we propose to identify and establish a comprehensive catalog of metrics for measuring the success of freshwater wetlands that have been restored. We will continue our observations of soil moisture and subsurface thermal regimes, and add additional observations of weather and climate variables, phenological change, subsurface water levels, water chemistry, and microclimates and topographic influences of microtopography and other restoration practices.

Regeneration is the future of Massachusetts forests. It is critical for the conservation of the State's forestlands and for the continued provisioning of the myriad ecosystem services they provide (sustainable timber and wood products, carbon storage,wildlife habitat, clean drinking water, biodiversity, recreational opportunity, and aesthetic/intrinsic value). Global change related factors including novel climatic conditions, invasive plants, deer overpopulation, and habitat fragmentation threaten current and future forest regeneration within Massachusetts. These threats come at a critical time when we are already observing increased mortality of economically and ecologically important tree species across the State at the hands of non-native pests and pathogens. Ensuring successful regeneration of desired tree species and natural communities within these damaged forests is paramount to the continued health, vigor, and viability of the State's forest resources.Adaptive forest management may be used to overcome contemporary regeneration challenges, ensuring the conservation of healthy and valuable forest ecosystems. However, we currently lack sufficient regeneration data and scientific understanding of the various factors impacting regeneration to develop and test meaningful adaptive management strategies.

We will employ a suite of quantitative and qualitative methods to accomplish our goals of determining whether and how the Mass ECAN programs have increased peer to peer learning and knowledge exchange, increased adoption of best practices, and fostered new relationships and collaborations among climate change practitioners or researchers. For this project, we will use a combination of surveys, focus groups and semi-structured interviews. 

Baseline surveys will be conducted with Mass ECAN members (Program Participants), Work Group members and leaders to establish baselines in a variety of areas including use of existing resources, levels of knowledge, degree of collaboration and peer-learning. A series of follow-up surveys will be implemented over time to facilitate a repeated measures analysis of the data.  Participants will engage periodically in facilitated focus groups to generate additional data and feedback on the type and degree of peer learning that is occurring, whether specific products and activities facilitate networking, and emergence of collaborative programming and adoption of practices. Structured interviews will be conducted with work group leaders to obtain alternate perspectives on program approaches and resources and how they influence learning and collaboration. Focus groups and interviews will be transcribed and a content analysis will be conducted to consolidate key themes and synthesize results. Survey data will be combined with qualitative assessments to generate a feedback loop for program improvement and to build our understanding of effective processes and pedagogical approaches to be incorporated into the design of future programs.

Deficiencies of mineral elements in diets of humans are on the rise worldwide, even in the United States. These deficiencies limit the physical, intellectual, and mental health activities of the affected people. Poor or deterioration of soil fertility and the concomitant decline in agricultural productivity are major concerns in the World. Organic production of vegetables and fruits is growing, and it is important to assess if organic fertilization will sustain the quantity and nutritional values of foods grown from plants equally to the current practices of conventional farming. A current project in the Massachusetts Experiment Station studied organic and conventional fertilization of vegetable crops in relation to productivity and elemental nutrient composition for human nutrition. Biochar is charcoal produced from pyrolyzed biomass. Research suggests that biochar is a good amendment to enhance physical, chemical, and other agronomic qualities of soils. Amendments with biochar are reported to increase storage of carbon in soil, to increase fertility of soils, and to increase productivity and elemental nutrient composition of crops. The production of biochar from crop and other vegetative residues may be a strategy for management of organic waste. This project will investigate the benefits that might be obtained by use of biochar in enhancing yields and nutritional quality of vegetable crops. A review of literature has shown that additions of biochar to soils or growth media may improve plant nutrition through enhanced acquisition of nutrients by crops grown in biochar-amended media. Results have been variable and need some verification with further research.

Microplastics including nanoplastics will be extracted and collected from the samples of soil, water, plant and other organisms using the published procedures (with modifications when needed). Then, microplastics will be identified and examined for polymer types, shapes, sizes and quantity by LDIR, FTIR, Raman, TEM, SEM and other instruments. Plant uptake of contaminants from water and soil will be assessed using greenhouse experiments. We will also investigate the beneficial uses of engineered nanomaterials and biochars in agriculture using both hydroponic and soil-based experiments in greenhouse and in remediation using both soil and water.

The incidence and prevalence of chronic diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), obesity, and other inflammation-related human disorders, have risen dramatically in recent decades in United States and other countries. These alarming trends suggest that it is of critical importance to develop novel strategies for preventing these chronic diseases. In this project, the effects and mechanisms of food-derived bioactive compounds on development of the chronic diseases will be investigated. Furthermore, the metabolic fate of food bioactives will be characterized following oral ingestion to inform innovative strategies to enhance their biological efficacy. In aggregate, these efforts will yield fundamental knowledge critical to develop safe and effective diet-based strategies for disease prevention and maintenance of health.

The managed landscape is a complex and unique system, with a wide variety of plant and insect species comprised on a relatively small area. The maintenance and management approaches vary depending on the owner, and each property is a unique ecosystem with the unique complex of insect pests.

Managing insect pests in this complex system inherently has many challenges, but recently is exacerbated by the limited availability of pest management tools. Because of the high aesthetic standard and almost zero tolerance to any plant damage, the main management strategy preferred by practitioners is a chemical control. Additionally, recent regulations limit or ban of some of the already scarce tools. Some active ingredients are losing efficacy due to pest resistance to insecticides while use of others becomes restricted and/or pulled from the market. For example, organophosphate chlorpyrifos is no longer available for turfgrass use, and neonicotinoid use became restricted leaving many landscape managers searching for alternatives. At the same time recent demands on environmentally friendly, less toxic approaches to insect pest management are in high demand. One of the promising alternatives is biocontrol, or inundative use of nematodes, fungi, bacteria, and their metabolites, as an alternative to conventional chemicals. However, using living organisms are challenging and efficacy is greatly dependent on the application techniques, weather condition, and other factors. In addition, the biorational and biological methods cannot compete with the chemical control because of cost and lack of robust efficacy data. Practitioners are reluctant to invest in products with unknown efficacy.

Another challenge in the system has been brought by the changing weather patterns. The complexity of the species, their phenology and adaptation changes bring us to seek new information on how to manage the pest in the changing environment.

Widespread, international and local interest in greening municipalities and increasing urban tree canopy cover continues, largely through community-based tree planting initiatives. It is generally estimated that newly-installed (i.e., planted) trees require at least 3 or more years before establishment, when they resume pre-transplant growth rates. Most trees installed in the urban environment are dug from the nursery field with a spade and wrapped in burlap and a metal basket (‘B&B’ or ‘balled and burlap’ or ‘BnB’). There is interest, however, by tree enthusiasts (i.e., shade tree committee members, Master Gardeners, etc.) and professional urban foresters (i.e., tree wardens/municipal foresters), in planting trees grown using other easier-to-plant systems, including a variety of container-grown (CG, IGF) and bare-root (BR) tree production methods. Ideally, trees that are being planted persist longer than the individuals that are installing them, thus trees grown from these production systems, must have the potential to grow long-term and reach maturity to provide optimal value in relation to the social, economic, and environmental services that urban trees are known for. This may be a challenge, since urban environments often present very difficult growing conditions that foster widespread urban tree morbidity and premature mortality. Though advances in understanding have been made, there is a dearth of empirical data describing the survival and growth of these trees, with the preponderance of research considering trees growing in traditionally forested environments or agricultural plots, rather than urban settings. Since budget constraints are routinely identified as a key limiting factor relative to urban forest management practices, there is also a need for further information concerning the longer-term costs associated with maintaining newly-installed urban trees.

Collecting growth and maintenance cost data on established urban oak specimens in Amherst, MA, produced using various nursery systems will 1) add to the overall base of knowledge concerning urban tree growth and survival 2) enable the quantification and further understanding of the relationship of urban tree growth/survival and nursery production system 3) Enable the quantification and further understanding of the long-term costs associated with planting and maintaining urban trees. The long-term goal of this work is to gather local, empirical data that will help urban forest practitioners consider the appropriate (i.e., most cost-effective, best-performing) nursery production system, when selecting trees for urban planting in Massachusetts and other New England communities.

This project investigates new sustainable markets for New England seafood. Climate change challenges the socio-economic and environmental sustainability of New England's seafood industry. A warming Gulf of Maine compounds the complex puzzle of ecosystems, fish population dynamics, and catch limits for specific fisheries. Cascading effects on fishermen, seafood processors, markets, and restaurants provide a network of challenges that are difficult to disentangle. This multifaceted challenge highlights the need for collaborative, cross-disciplinary research to build sustainable new markets for seafood. This proposal brings together a team with diverse expertise in ecology, climate change adaptation, economics, stakeholder engagement and product development. We aim to support the fishing industry by investigating consumers’ seafood choices, sustainable fishing practices, and seafood products that contain lesser known yet abundant species.   

The work will obtain new data to support ongoing pilot-work and support future proposals. Pilot data include:

1. Fisherman’s perspectives on local and underutilized fish species and preservation methods,
2. Consumer acceptability of new artisanal preserved fish products. Seed grant funds will be used to execute semi-structured interviews with New England fisherman, an online consumer survey, and a consumer sensory experiment. These funds will support the collaborative relationship between team members, building an interdisciplinary working group to pursue larger research funds.