| Project Description |
Considerable work has been conducted on the
benthic populations of such aquatic systems as streams and lakes, but there
remains a paucity of effort on tidal wetlands, especially freshwater. This
study will characterize the benthic communities establishing themselves on
recently reconstructed urban freshwater tidal wetlands in Washington, D.C. in
comparison to a similar relic wetland in the Anacostia as well as to a
reference wetland in the adjacent Patuxent River watershed. The focus of the
study will be the two main areas of Kingman Marsh which were reconstructed
from Anacostia dredge material by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 2000.
Populations from this new marsh will be compared to those of similarly
reconstructed Kenilworth Marsh (1993) just one half a mile upstream, as well
as to the relic Dueling Creek Marsh in the Anacostia and the outside reference
Patuxent Marsh. Benthic organisms will be collected using selected techniques
including the Eckman bottom grab sampler, sediment corer, D-net and Hester-Dendy
sampler. Samples will be collected at least seasonally from tidal guts
(channel); tidal mud flats; three vegetation/sediment zones = low, middle and
high marsh; and pools. Collected samples will be preserved in the field and
counted in the laboratory.
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