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DISL Scientists Conduct
Habitat Restoration Projects
There are two DISL habitat restoration projects that have
captured the attention of not only the local community, but
also the national media.
Dr. Just Cebrian is heading up an unprecedented marsh
gardening project, spanning two states and utilizing the
talents of many agencies to establish new, or rehabilitate
existing, marsh sites.
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Dr.
Cebrian (center) with volunteers at Weeks Bay
Reserve. Photo by Lee Yokel. |
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Salt marshes and submerged grassbeds were once dominant
habitats along the Gulf Coast. Due to human and natural
causes, these habitats have dwindled significantly. Dr.
Cebrian’s research specifically will examine how black
needlerush (Juncus roemerianus), a dominant plant of
our coastal saltmarshes, can be restored and if the restored
marshes act as water cleansing systems.
Planting sites will include the Grand Bay Reserve within the
Grand Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Weeks Bay Reserve, and
the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge.
Drs. John Dindo and Ken Heck are restoring the terrestrial
habitats and submerged aquatic vegetation of Robinson Island
in a project funded by the Gulf of Mexico Foundation.
Robinson Island is a favored spot in the summer, with
constant boat traffic in its shallow waters. Its underwater
shoalgrass beds, however, have been much impacted by
propeller damage, and much of the terrestrial vegetation on
the island itself was destroyed by Hurricane Ivan in 2004.
Dr. Dindo took the AmeriCorps volunteers to plant sea oats
in the damaged dunes.
Over the next two months, Drs. Heck and Dindo will also
plant bird stakes in the damaged grassbeds, hoping to
attract seabirds to use the stakes as a resting area where
they can “do their business” and fertilize the shoal grass
beneath them.
“Bird stakes have proven successful in the Florida Keys,”
comments Dr. Heck. “We’re placing signs in marinas and along
the grassbed borders warning boaters against using their
motors in the seagrasses. We’ll also monitor the effects the
bird droppings are having in the propeller scars in the
shoalgrass beds.”
Both these projects have appeared on the national science
and newswires.
(Lee Yokel contributed to this story).
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