1996 VCR/LTER All Scientists' Meeting

Research Summaries A Compilation of Past Year's Research (1995)

Table of Contents

These research abstracts have been grouped according to the rough subject categories to which the previous year's presentations were ordered. To see these abstracts grouped according to the major VCR LTER hypotheses to which their work relates, Click here. Comments from the authors about the appropriate grouping for their abstract(s) are welcome. --- dlr2n

Landscape Character and Evolution

• A second reversal in Hog Island shoreline change circa 1870. by Michael Fenster and Bruce P.Hayden

• Shoreline Changes and Shrub Thicket Dynamics on Barrier Islands of Virginia: A Modeling Approach by Guofan Shao, Bruce P. Hayden, Herman H. Shugart and John H. Porter

• Modeling of Shoreline Changes for Hog Barrier Islands of Virginia by Guofan Shao, Bruce P. Hayden, Herman H. Shugart, and John H. Porter

• Linking Remote-Sensing with Ground-based Measurements of Land Cover, Net Primary Productivity and Leaf Area Index by John H. Porter, Bruce. P. Hayden, David L. Richardson, Donald Young, Jay Zieman and Hank Shugart

Sediment Transport

• The Influence of Overwash Events on the Hydrology and Vegetation of a Pimple on Parramore Island, Virginia Coast Reserve by Karen L. Farleigh and R.C. Kochel

• The Nucleation and Evolution of Coastal Dunes on a Low Profile Barrier, Southern Parramore Island, Virginia by Laura B. Hagan and R.Craig Kochel

• Sediment Deposition on a Salt Marsh Surface by Trine Christiansen and Patricia Wiberg

Hog Island Terrestrial Chronosequence

• Vegetation dynamics on the Hog Island Chronosequence by Frank P. Day and Donald R. Young

• A long term analysis of root dynamics on a Hog Island sand dune grass community by E.P. Weber, F.P. Day and S. Morrison

• Biotic mechanisms influencing seeding establishment during primary succession on a Virginia barrier island by Tolliver, K. and D.R. Young

Marsh Chronosequence Research

• The role of tidal creeks in the development of a barrier island Spartina alterniflora marsh by A. Christy Tyler & Jay C. Zieman

• Low Marsh Succession Along An Overwash Marsh Chronosequence by John P.Walsh and Joseph C. Zieman

Marsh Nutrient Pools and Fluxes

• Development of a Process-based Nitrogen Mass Balance Model for an Accretional Spartina alterniflora Salt Marsh: Implications for Net DIN Flux by Iris Cofman Anderson, Craig R. Tobias, Betty Berry Neikirk, and Richard L. Wetzel

• Exchanges of DIN and DOC between Salt Marsh Sediments and Overlying Tidal Water by Betty Berry Neikirk, Iris Cofman Anderson, Richard L. Wetzel

• The Potential for Dissimilatory Nitrate Reduction to Ammonium in Salt Marsh Sediments by Tobias, C. R., Anderson, I. C., and Berry, B. E.

• CO2 Exchange and Production of Two Salt Marsh Communities by Scott C. Neubauer, W. David Miller, Iris C. Anderson, Peter Paik

• Studies of nitrogen contamination of groundwaters using stable nitrogen isotopes by Benjamin McConnell, Robert Tapper and Stephen Macko

• Tracing Early Diagenesis of Plant Organic Matter through Compound Specific Isotopic Analysis by Mary Jo Geyer and Steven A. Macko

• Effects of Simulated Groundwater Nutrient Pulses on Salt Marsh Carbon Oxidation by David Christian, Iris Anderson, Craig Tobias

Populations and Communities

• An analysis of vegetation assemblages on Parramore Island using remote sensing and ground-based techniques. by David L. Richardson, John H. Porter, and Bruce P. Hayden

• Rising sea levels and plummeting terns: An update on the plight of the Gull-billed Tern in coastal Virginia by R. Michael Erwin\*, Dan Stotts\*, Brian Eyler\*, Barry Truitt, C. Randy Carlson, and Craig Layman

• \Juniperus virginiana\ as a possible nurse plant for woody seedlings on a Virginia barrier island by Deirdre A. Joy and D. R. Young

• Low Altitude Remote Sensing and Mapping of Phragmites Utilizing Videography by Barry Truitt

• Topographic Mapping of VCR Barrier Islands Utilizing GPS Technology by Charles R. Carlson and Raymond D. Dueser

Microbial Ecology

• Relative Importance of Bacteria and Phytoplankton to Higher Trophic Levels in Autotrophic and Heterotrophic Estuaries by Takisha A. Cannon, Karen W. Wu, and Linda K. Blum

• Susceptibility of Salt Marsh Sediment Dissolved Organic Carbon to Microbial Metabolism in Four Vegetation Zones. by Jennifer D. Aiosa and Linda K. Blum

Innundation & Land Margin Studies

• Spatial Variation in Ground-water Levels by Laura E. Stasavich and Mark M. Brinson

• The Effects of Artificially Increased Tidal Inundation on High Marsh Productivity by Miller, W. D., Anderson, I. C., Neubauer, S. C.

• Effects of Increased Inundation and Wrack Deposition on High Salt Marsh Plants by Patty Tolley and Bob Christian

• Association of diurnal oxygen fluctuations with the rates of nitrification in estuarine waters. by Rebecca M. Tarnowski and Robert R. Christian

• Experimental Effects of Wrack Deposition and Plant Community Type on Salt Marsh Infauna by Steve Roberts and Dave Yozzo

Information Management

• Development of the Information Management System for the Virginia Coast Reserve LTER by John H. Porter, David L. Richardson and Bruce P. Hayden

Sustainability Efforts

• Progress Towards Sustainability on Virginia's Eastern Shore by R. Warren Flint