Dr. Joanna Nelson in the field.
Each year the Elkhorn Slough Reserve and the Elkhorn Slough Foundation jointly sponsor the Elkhorn Slough Conservation Research Award. The award recognizes the work done by a junior researcher who has made a meaningful contribution in estuarine science, in particular by answering questions that will help inform conservation and management strategies.
This year the award goes to Dr. Joanna Nelson for her work investigating the role salt marshes play in taking up nutrients at Elkhorn Slough, an important "ecosystem service" that improves water quality in highly fertilized estuaries like this one. Dr. Nelson's work looked at the interactions between the high nutrient inputs at the slough and sea level rise. She conducted a large field experiment on the Elkhorn Slough Reserve, manipulating elevations in plots of land to mimic sea level rise scenarios, and fertilizing plots at different heights. Her results were striking.
Dr. Nelson's work demonstrates that even at sites with high concentrations of nitrogen, marsh plants will continue to take up nutrients from the slough. In estuaries where excess nitrogen is a problem, tidal salt marshes may help improve water quality. However, her work also revealed that marsh plants that have been "drowned" (ie, that have spent too much time submerged by tidal ebbs in the slough) are no longer capable of carrying out this valuable ecosystem service of nutrient uptake. This indicates that in areas where sea level rise can drown tidal salt marshes, their ability to improve water quality may be impaired.
Dr. Kerstin Wasson, the Research Coordinator at ESNERR presented Dr. Nelson with the award at the Reserve on Wednesday, stating that Joanna "came here wanting to better understand resilience of key ecosystem processes to climate change, and she has done just that."
Thank you Joanna for your excellent research, and congratulations on winning the 2012 Elkhorn Slough Conservation Research Award!
