Salt Marsh Working Group
Get Connected to the Salt Marsh Working Group HERE
The Massachusetts Ecosystem Climate Adaptation Network’s Salt Marsh Working Group (SMWG) is comprised of over 80 state, federal, university and non-profit scientists and land managers spanning Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine and Rhode Island. The SMWG is co-led by UMass Amherst Gloucester Marine Station and the MA Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM). Formed in 2018, the SMWG was founded to:
- Facilitate communication between scientists, managers, planners and engineers;
- Share research findings to inform resilient salt marsh management;
- Target salt marsh research gaps and prioritize research needs;
- Design collaborative funding approaches to support priority research
Resources
Report: Defining Priority Research for Resilient Salt Marshes
The Salt Marsh Working Group has identified three intersecting and urgent salt marsh research priorities to support collaboration and research that promotes resilient salt marsh habitat now and into the future. This summary document represents outcomes of a year-long, consensus-based process to inspire coordinated, transdisciplinary discussion and action around the complex and intersecting challenges of salt marsh management and resilience. Download report here.
Recommended citation: Pappal, A. and K. Kahl. 2022. Gaining Ground: Defining Priority Research for Resilient Salt Marshes. Salt Marsh Working Group, a working group of the Massachusetts Ecosystem Climate Adaptation Network. https://www.umass.edu/ses/gloucester-marine-station/coastal-resilience
Salt Marsh Project Viewer
Are you conducting salt marsh research or management? Take this brief survey to help build a regional GIS-based Salt Marsh Project Viewer. After entering your project information in the survey, you will be directed to the online Project Viewer map and project summary that you helped to create. Explore the amazing research and restoration taking place along our coast here.
Lightning Talks on Regional Salt Marsh Projects
May 16, 2019
- Russ Hopping - Old Town Hill Salt Marsh Restoration
- Nancy Pau - Marsh Restoration Plans at Parker River NWR
- Kaitlyn Shaw - Great Marsh Tidal Barriers Assessment and Mitigation
- April Wobst - Sesuit Creek Salt Marsh Pilot Planting
April 22, 2019
- Liz Duff - Great Marsh Pepperweed Control Project
- Neil Ganju - Mapping the UVVR
- Kevin Kroeger - Carbon Cycle Processes and Management
- Eric Roberts - Resilience and Reducing Risk with Nature Based Coastal Infrastructure
- Jon Woodruff - Sedimentary Controls on Tidal Marsh Integrity and Resilience
December 5, 2018
- Susan Adamowicz - Farmers in the Marsh: Fixing Furbish
- Robert Buchsbaum - Snowy and Great Egrets in the Plum Island Estuary
- David Burdick - Removing Legacy Effects of Ditching at Parker River NWR
- Mark Carullo - Modeling the Effects of Sea Level Rise
- Mitch Hartley - Marsh Mat Pilot Project
- Mitch Hartley - Coastal Resilience Through Bird Conservation
- Scott Jackson - Developing More Effective CAPS Metrics for Assessing Ecological Integrity
- Adrienne Pappal - Tidal Marsh Sentinel Site Program
- Peter Phippen - Green Crab Monitoring/Management in the Great Marsh
- Peter Phippen - Great Marsh Phragmites Management
Coastal Resilience: Integrated Research & Engagement
Coastal resilience is the ability of a coastal community, ecosystem, or industry to “bounce back” after an extreme weather event. The compounding threats of sea level rise, more frequent and more intense flood and storm events and subsequent damage increase the uncertainty with which we can plan for the future. Understanding the projected range of future storm, flood and sea level rise impacts on coastal ecosystems, communities and economies is critical for reducing risk and informing management and planning decisions. The UMass Amhest Gloucester Marine Station is engaged in a suite of projects that together, are developing our integrated research and engagement program.
