Charles T. Roman

  • Professor in Residence
  • Biological Oceanography
  • Phone: 401.874.6886
  • Email: roman@uri.edu
  • Office Location: 335 Coastal Institute

Research

Biological Oceanography

Climate change, Coastal and estuarine health, Coastal erosion, Marine habitat and ecosystems, Marine nitrogen cycle, Microbial ecology, Nutrients and sediment-water interactions

Charles Roman is a coastal ecologist, with a particular attention to salt marshes. His studies focus on marsh sedimentation and elevation processes with an interest in understanding the long-term fate of marshes in response to rising sea-levels. He is also engaged in efforts to monitor the long-term changes in salt marsh vegetation and habitat function in response to natural and human-induced factors. For several decades he has maintained an interest in salt marsh restoration, evaluating various restoration practices, including restoring marsh hydrology and assessing the long-term sustainability of restored systems. His research is focused on coastal National Park units in the northeastern US (Acadia National Park, Cape Cod National Seashore, Fire Island National Seashore, others).

My research on salt marsh restoration has recently culminated in a co-edited book, a volume that synthesizes the science associated with restoring tidal flow to degraded marshes and discusses the practice of restoring tidal flow. This book brings together leaders in restoration science and coastal management and should be a valuable guide to those planning restoration projects.

Education

Ph.D., Marine Studies, University of Delaware, 1981

M.S., Botany, Connecticut College, 1979

B.S., Natural Resources, University of Rhode Island, 1976

Selected Publications

Corman, S.S., and C.T. Roman. 2011. Comparison of salt marsh creeks and ditches as habitat for nekton. Marine Ecology Progress Series 434: 57-66.

Smith, S.M., C.T. Roman, M.J. James-Pirri, K. Chapman, J. Portnoy, and E. Gwilliam. 2009. Responses of plant communities to incremental hydrologic restoration of a tide-restricted salt marsh in southern New England (Massachusetts, USA). Restoration Ecology 17: 606-618.

Bannon, R.O., and C.T. Roman. 2008. Using stable isotopes to monitor anthropogenic nitrogen inputs to estuaries. Ecological Applications 18: 22-30.

Wozniak, A.S., C.T. Roman, S.C. Wainright, R.A. McKinney, and M.J. James-Pirri. 2006. Monitoring food web changes in tide-restored salt marshes: a carbon stable isotope approach. Estuaries and Coasts 29: 568-578.

Raposa, K.B., and C.T. Roman. 2003. Using gradients in tidal restriction to evaluate nekton community responses to salt marsh restoration. Estuaries 26: 98-105.

Roman, C.T., K.B. Raposa, S.C. Adamowicz, M.J. James-Pirri, and J.G. Catena. 2002. Quantifying vegetation and nekton response to tidal restoration of a New England salt marsh. Restoration Ecology 10: 450-460.

Roman, C.T. 2001. Salt marsh vegetation. Pages 2487-2490 in Encyclopedia of Ocean Sciences (J.H. Steele, K.K. Turekian, and S.A. Thorpe, eds.). Academic Press, London.

Roman, C.T., N. Jaworski, F.T. Short, S. Findlay, and R. S. Warren. 2000. Estuaries of the northeastern United States: habitat and land use signatures. Estuaries 23: 743-764.