{"id":9858,"date":"2015-10-13T12:34:15","date_gmt":"2015-10-13T16:34:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/?p=9858"},"modified":"2015-10-13T12:34:15","modified_gmt":"2015-10-13T16:34:15","slug":"rose-martin-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/2015\/10\/13\/rose-martin-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Let it grow"},"content":{"rendered":"

URI graduate researcher\u00a0discovers benefits of\u00a0invasive marsh grass<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Collected<\/a><\/p>\n

Having powered through her doctoral work in three years, newly minted University of Rhode Island Ph.D. Rose Martin credits her Rhode Island EPSCoR graduate fellowship as the most productive year of her research.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"weareriepscor-2\"<\/a>Phragmites australis<\/em>, an invasive grass that often inundates salt marshes, is the target of costly and difficult eradication efforts.\u00a0However, the research work of a Rhode Island EPSCoR graduate fellow finds that we may be better off leaving the grass alone.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s fair to say that the take home message is that the presence of the plant may contribute to the marsh\u2019s function of greenhouse gas uptake,\u201d said Rose Martin, a University of Rhode Island<\/a> doctoral student who recently gave her dissertation on the Phragmites<\/em> role in\u00a0carbon dioxide and methane emission and uptake in coastal marshes.<\/p>\n

\u201cOften times, diminishing the cover of Phragmites<\/em> is one of the goals of marsh restoration because it has a negative impact on biodiversity and wildlife in marshes,\u201d Martin explained. \u201cBut, this dissertation joins the growing body of literature that says the plants\u2019 presence might support other functions of the marsh ecosystem.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe results suggest that perhaps Phragmites<\/em> is not the absolute worst thing that could be happening to a marsh.\u201d<\/p>\n

For her dissertation \u2014 Coastal Marshes of the Anthropocene: A potential role for an invasive species in maintaining ecosystem function \u2014\u00a0Martin said she wanted to know whether the carbon dioxide uptake of Phragmites<\/em> was great enough to offset removal benefits. What she found, she said, was that a marsh dominated by Phragmites<\/em> took up more carbon dioxide and at a higher rate than native vegetation marshes.<\/p>\n

With plots in three Rhode Island locations \u2014 Round Marsh, Fox Hill Marsh, and Sage Lot Pond \u2014 Martin also found that projected temperature hikes from climate change would not alter the Phragmites<\/em> invasion of salt marshes.<\/p>\n

\"greenhouse<\/a><\/p>\n

In pursuit of science<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Introducing Martin to the audience gathered to hear her presentation one recent morning in the URI Coastal Institute auditorium, Assistant Professor Serena Moseman-Valtierra reeled off a list of accomplishments:<\/p>\n