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Spartina GIS

Using GIS to analyze
marsh vegetation

Introduction

Spartina alterniflora, marsh cord grass, is a dominant species in estuarine salt marshes in the eastern United States. It is important for shoreline stabilization, fishery and waterfowl habitat, erosion control, storm dampening, and many other ecological services. It has experienced declines in much of its native range due to anthropogenic activities. Meanwhile, it has become a pest species in its introduced western US range.

The articles presented below examine the locations and spread of Spartina in several contexts. Some examine it in its native range, focusing on marsh restoration projects. Others document its expansion in its non-native range. Yet other articles below explore the mapping of marsh vegetation as a whole, and one article uses similar techniques to examine another range-expanding marsh plant, Phragmites australis. Hopefully these articles present an idea of the use of GIS technology in the analysis of marsh vegetation as a whole, and particularly of Spartina alterniflora.

Articles
Click on an author's name to read a summary of their article.

Huang, H. and L. Zhang	A study of the population dynamics of Spartina alterniflora at Jiuduansha Shals, Shanghai, China. 2007. Ecological Engineering 29: 164-172
Jensen, J.R., G. Olson, S.R. Schill, D.E. Porter and J. Morris	Remote sensing of biomass, leaf-area-index, and chlorophyll a and b content in the ACE Basin National Estuarine Research Reserve using sub-meter digital camera imagery. 2002. Geocarto International 17(3): 27-36
Hinkle, R.L. and W.J. Mitsch	Salt marsh vegetation recovery at salt hay farm wetland restoration sites on Delaware Bay. 2005. Ecological Engineering 25: 240-251
Civille, J.C., K. Dayce, S.D. Smith and D.R. Strong	Reconstructing a century of Spartina alterniflora invasion with historical records and contemporary remote sensing. 2005. Ecoscience 12(3): 330-338
Taylor, C.M., H.C. Davis, J.C. Civille, F.S. Grevstad and A. Hastings	Consequences of an Allee effect in the invasion of a Pacific estuary by Spartina alterniflora. 2004. Ecology 85(12): 3254-3266
D. Rice, J. Rooth, and J.C. Stevenson	Colonization and expansion of Phragmites australis in upper Chesapeake Bay tidal marshes. 2000. Wetlands 20(2): 280-299
D. Van der Wal, A. Wielemaker-Van den Dool, and P.M.J. Herman	Spatial patterns, rates and mechanisms of saltmarsh cycles (Westerschelde, The Netherlands). 2008. Estuarine, Coastala dn Shelf Science 76: 357-368
L.J. Shirley and L.L Battaglia	Projecting find resolution land-cover dynamics for a rapidly changing terrestrial-aquatic transition in Terrebonne Basin, Louisiana, U.S.A. 2008. Journal of Coastal Research 24(6): 1545-1554
Hillbert, K.W.	Land cover change within the Grand Bay Naotional Estuarine Research Reserve. 2006. Journal of Coastal Research 22(6): 1552-1557
Barrett, N.E. and W.A. Niering	Tidal marsh restoration: trends in vegetation change using a geographical information system. 1993. Restoration Ecology 1(1): 18-28

Created by Kelly Farrell

Created March 2009 for an Introductory GIS course (GEO565) at Oregon State University, taught by Dr. Dawn Wright.

All pictures are copyright of Kelly Farrell. Please do not use without permission.