From Therese Apuzzo, Graduate Student, Coastal Disturbance Ecology Lab, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University
In the summer of 2025, researchers from the Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk and Stony Brook University spent time studying the Jarvis Creek salt marsh as part of a project funded by the Long Island Sound Partnership. Salt marshes are intertidal wetlands that provide many benefits to coastal communities including protection from storm surge and coastal flooding. Marshes are habitat for many species of fish, birds, and invertebrates and act as natural water filtration systems. However, they are currently threatened by increasing rates of sea level rise and can be further impacted by human activities. In order to survive, salt marshes must continue to build up sediment at a faster pace than sea level rise through a process called accretion. The goal of this project is to analyze what drives salt marsh accretion in eleven marshes in the Long Island Sound. By finding the major contributors to salt marsh decline or resilience, marshes can be better protected.
In order to analyze these drivers, the team took a variety of measurements at Jarvis Creek including estimates of vegetation biomass, decomposition rates, and submergence frequency. They also captured multispectral imagery using a drone for a fine-scale map of vegetation communities. They will be analyzing these measurements in combination with landscape variables and the restoration history of the marsh. This comprehensive data will inform management recommendations for the Jarvis Creek marsh. Further, this work will contribute to a broader understanding of salt marsh health in the Long Island Sound. Work will continue in the summer of 2026 as researchers analyze vegetation communities and elevation in Jarvis Creek. The scientists are grateful to all the members of the Branford Land Trust for their support of this research!
