My prior research has also helped elucidate the responses of coastal wetlands to rising sea-level. We have shown that the long-term stability of these ecosystems is explained by interactions among sea level, land elevation, primary production, and sediment accretion that regulate the elevation of the sediment surface toward equilibrium with mean sea level (Morris et al. 2002. Ecology).

Additionally, in an ongoing study, my collaborators and I analyzed time-series of high-frequency data on chemical, biological and physical parameters in surface waters of North Inlet estuary with a minimally impacted watershed. Our analyses of these long-term NERRS and LTER data suggest that N:P ratio in this coastal environment has been increasing over the past 20 years, mainly driven by a steady decline in P concentrations. There is a concomitant increase in dissolved organic carbon concentrations. Understanding the outcome of such complex biogeochemical feedbacks are further complicated by the fact that over the same time period springtime surface water temperatures have risen by as much as 1.2°C.  This has the potential to alter autotrophic and heterotrophic activity and the biogeochemical cycling of nutrients (Koepfler et al. In preparation). Our findings that P availability in this ecosystem alters C demands for microbial processes, suggest that the steady increase in dissolved organic carbon concentrations in the surface waters observed over the two decades is likely due to P limitation of microbial production and activity.  A synthesis of these findings and my other collaborative research suggests that the long-term decline in P in the pelagic ecosystem may be due to the response of coastal wetlands to rising sea-level, indicating that climate change not only has ecosystem specific impacts, but can also alter the coupling between adjoining ecosystems (Sundareshwar et al. in preparation) and the components therein.

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