Matthew Costa
@mangrovematt.bsky.social
Postdoctoral Research Associate at Northeastern University, oceanographer, wetland ecologist, biogeochemist, educator, and nature-lover
After taking our #Spartina belowground biomass cores at North Inlet-Winyah Bay, we sorted that biomass into three categories. Do different #nitrogen inputs to #saltmarshes affect allocation to long-lived rhizomes, root tissues devoted to resource acquisition, or turnover into the dead biomass pool?
February 6, 2026 at 10:44 AM
After taking our #Spartina belowground biomass cores at North Inlet-Winyah Bay, we sorted that biomass into three categories. Do different #nitrogen inputs to #saltmarshes affect allocation to long-lived rhizomes, root tissues devoted to resource acquisition, or turnover into the dead biomass pool?
In Sept. 2025 at North Inlet-Winyah Bay, we took the final samples for the #saltmarsh #nitrogen experiment that has been my focus for the past 3 years. Here I am placing the plot quadrat, pushing and hammering in the corer, and cutting the very last core sample. Now to write the papers....
February 4, 2026 at 8:47 PM
In Sept. 2025 at North Inlet-Winyah Bay, we took the final samples for the #saltmarsh #nitrogen experiment that has been my focus for the past 3 years. Here I am placing the plot quadrat, pushing and hammering in the corer, and cutting the very last core sample. Now to write the papers....
Happy #WorldWetlandDay! I'm pleased to be back at North Inlet today, remembering a warmer time in Sept. 2025 when we sampled our #nitrogen #saltmarsh experimental plots (you can see the boosted plant height from the fertilizer) for the last time, including pulling these belowground biomass cores.
February 3, 2026 at 3:32 AM
Happy #WorldWetlandDay! I'm pleased to be back at North Inlet today, remembering a warmer time in Sept. 2025 when we sampled our #nitrogen #saltmarsh experimental plots (you can see the boosted plant height from the fertilizer) for the last time, including pulling these belowground biomass cores.
In August 2025 I had the chance to visit the new field station at Kendall-Frost Marsh, a UC Natural Reserve @ucsandiego.bsky.social. The new classroom and visiting scientist facilities enhanced the experience of studying this wonderful #wetland and sharing it with @scrippsocean.bsky.social students.
January 30, 2026 at 2:43 PM
In August 2025 I had the chance to visit the new field station at Kendall-Frost Marsh, a UC Natural Reserve @ucsandiego.bsky.social. The new classroom and visiting scientist facilities enhanced the experience of studying this wonderful #wetland and sharing it with @scrippsocean.bsky.social students.
How do we get #saltmarsh cores? In our #nitrogen fertilization experimental plots @pie-lter.bsky.social,...
January 28, 2026 at 8:22 PM
How do we get #saltmarsh cores? In our #nitrogen fertilization experimental plots @pie-lter.bsky.social,...
How changeable is a New England summer! Doing fieldwork @pie-lter.bsky.social in July 2025, one day it's 90° and sunny, the next the stalwart team is shivering in the rain, some opting to wear PFDs for extra insulation. Needless to say, we cut our #saltmarsh biomass measurements short that day.
January 26, 2026 at 4:57 PM
How changeable is a New England summer! Doing fieldwork @pie-lter.bsky.social in July 2025, one day it's 90° and sunny, the next the stalwart team is shivering in the rain, some opting to wear PFDs for extra insulation. Needless to say, we cut our #saltmarsh biomass measurements short that day.
In July 2025, we had a couple of former undergrad interns, already on their way to grad school, come out of retirement to help wrap up our #saltmarsh experiment @pie-lter.bsky.social. I'm glad we haven't scared them away from fieldwork! Thank you to all the students who have helped over the years.
January 22, 2026 at 6:31 PM
In July 2025, we had a couple of former undergrad interns, already on their way to grad school, come out of retirement to help wrap up our #saltmarsh experiment @pie-lter.bsky.social. I'm glad we haven't scared them away from fieldwork! Thank you to all the students who have helped over the years.
Returning July 28, 2025 to sample our #saltmarsh fertilization experiment @pie-lter.bsky.social for the last time, it certainly seemed that the #nitrogen added over time increased the size of the plants in the plots. See also our a great team of students (shown heading back after a hard day's work).
January 21, 2026 at 2:14 AM
Returning July 28, 2025 to sample our #saltmarsh fertilization experiment @pie-lter.bsky.social for the last time, it certainly seemed that the #nitrogen added over time increased the size of the plants in the plots. See also our a great team of students (shown heading back after a hard day's work).
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January 19, 2026 at 8:59 PM
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Observing the #saltmarsh creek bank @pie-lter.bsky.social (April 2025), you can see how the marsh platform has built up peat from the rhizomes of old Spartina alterniflora plants, atop older sediment layers, and in places crumbling away into the creek, as wind, tides, and ice erode the edges.
January 9, 2026 at 4:04 PM
Observing the #saltmarsh creek bank @pie-lter.bsky.social (April 2025), you can see how the marsh platform has built up peat from the rhizomes of old Spartina alterniflora plants, atop older sediment layers, and in places crumbling away into the creek, as wind, tides, and ice erode the edges.
To study #saltmarsh response to nitrogen inputs @pie-lter.bsky.social, we've tracked marsh accretion, which may be affected by changes in root growth. Here I am placing a quadrat on a 1 m2 plot and holding this staff, which is read by a laser elevation system, on the marsh surface (April 2025).
January 5, 2026 at 10:56 PM
To study #saltmarsh response to nitrogen inputs @pie-lter.bsky.social, we've tracked marsh accretion, which may be affected by changes in root growth. Here I am placing a quadrat on a 1 m2 plot and holding this staff, which is read by a laser elevation system, on the marsh surface (April 2025).
When you visit the #saltmarsh @pie-lter.bsky.social in spring, you can see large slabs of #sediment on the marsh platform, which have been deposited there over the winter by ice rafting: ice freezing to the mudflat, and the frozen mud being carried around by winds and tides onto the marsh (April 4).
December 23, 2025 at 4:29 PM
When you visit the #saltmarsh @pie-lter.bsky.social in spring, you can see large slabs of #sediment on the marsh platform, which have been deposited there over the winter by ice rafting: ice freezing to the mudflat, and the frozen mud being carried around by winds and tides onto the marsh (April 4).
It's always interesting to see the salt marsh plants that sprout first in the spring, April 4, @pie-lter.bsky.social.
December 22, 2025 at 5:24 PM
It's always interesting to see the salt marsh plants that sprout first in the spring, April 4, @pie-lter.bsky.social.
Visiting the #mangroves in Santa Catalina on the Pacific Coast of Panama in March 2025, I was struck by high levels of localized leaf #herbivory. Does anyone know what organism(s) are responsible?
November 25, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Visiting the #mangroves in Santa Catalina on the Pacific Coast of Panama in March 2025, I was struck by high levels of localized leaf #herbivory. Does anyone know what organism(s) are responsible?
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November 17, 2025 at 6:55 PM
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How do you get all the dried biomass from 36 #saltmarsh plant mesocosms home from a field site hundreds of miles away (along with with frozen water samples and sediment)? A lot of drying, sorting into paper bags, packing into duffels and coolers, and schlepping through airports..., but they made it!
October 31, 2025 at 3:00 PM
How do you get all the dried biomass from 36 #saltmarsh plant mesocosms home from a field site hundreds of miles away (along with with frozen water samples and sediment)? A lot of drying, sorting into paper bags, packing into duffels and coolers, and schlepping through airports..., but they made it!
Check out the amazing density of snails on the Spartina alterniflora #saltmarsh plants at North Inlet-Winyah Bay NERR. (I think that they are Littoraria irrorata, but chime in if you have a better id!)
October 29, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Check out the amazing density of snails on the Spartina alterniflora #saltmarsh plants at North Inlet-Winyah Bay NERR. (I think that they are Littoraria irrorata, but chime in if you have a better id!)
In November 2024, after two growing seasons of treatments, you can really see the effect of #nitrogen fertilization in our field plots at North Inlet-Winyah Bay, SC! We are testing the effect of ammonium vs. nitrate inputs on #saltmarsh plant and microbe responses.
October 27, 2025 at 5:24 PM
In November 2024, after two growing seasons of treatments, you can really see the effect of #nitrogen fertilization in our field plots at North Inlet-Winyah Bay, SC! We are testing the effect of ammonium vs. nitrate inputs on #saltmarsh plant and microbe responses.
#Saltmarshes bury a lot of #carbon in place, but also excess, dead Spartina plant matter is carried away by wind and tides and can accumulate elsewhere, episodically loading sites like this marsh-upland edge with marsh wrack (North Inlet-Winyah Bay NERR, September 2024).
October 16, 2025 at 2:00 PM
#Saltmarshes bury a lot of #carbon in place, but also excess, dead Spartina plant matter is carried away by wind and tides and can accumulate elsewhere, episodically loading sites like this marsh-upland edge with marsh wrack (North Inlet-Winyah Bay NERR, September 2024).
In summer 2024 we collected the Spartina alterniflora plants and sediment from the marsh organs we used in our field experiment on the effects of different forms of nitrogen fertilization on #saltmarsh #carbon and #nitrogen cycling, @pie-lter.bsky.social and at North Inlet-Winyah Bay NERR.
October 15, 2025 at 2:44 AM
In summer 2024 we collected the Spartina alterniflora plants and sediment from the marsh organs we used in our field experiment on the effects of different forms of nitrogen fertilization on #saltmarsh #carbon and #nitrogen cycling, @pie-lter.bsky.social and at North Inlet-Winyah Bay NERR.
We got a fascinating tour of the oyster-rearing process right in the Rowley River by our neighbors at the Great Marsh Shellfish Co. ( www.thegreatmarshshellfishco.com ) in September 2024 @pie-lter.bsky.social. They were the tastiest things I've ever eaten pulled right out out of a salt marsh!
October 10, 2025 at 3:29 PM
We got a fascinating tour of the oyster-rearing process right in the Rowley River by our neighbors at the Great Marsh Shellfish Co. ( www.thegreatmarshshellfishco.com ) in September 2024 @pie-lter.bsky.social. They were the tastiest things I've ever eaten pulled right out out of a salt marsh!
Check out the incredible density of fiddler crabs in the #saltmarsh at North Inlet-Winyah Bay National Estuarine Reserve, where colleagues and I were measuring nitrogen cycling in June 2024.
October 8, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Check out the incredible density of fiddler crabs in the #saltmarsh at North Inlet-Winyah Bay National Estuarine Reserve, where colleagues and I were measuring nitrogen cycling in June 2024.
Fallen asleep on the job? Dropped a contact lens? No, in fact estimating aboveground biomass in the #saltmarsh by measuring every shoot in a 25 cm x 25 cm plot means hours with your face in the grass (while perched precariously on a boardwalk plank or milk crate platform) @pie-lter.bsky.social.
October 7, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Fallen asleep on the job? Dropped a contact lens? No, in fact estimating aboveground biomass in the #saltmarsh by measuring every shoot in a 25 cm x 25 cm plot means hours with your face in the grass (while perched precariously on a boardwalk plank or milk crate platform) @pie-lter.bsky.social.
Since 2023, we (@bowenlab.bsky.social, @randallhughes.bsky.social) have been testing how nitrogen inputs affect #saltmarsh plants, microbes, and carbon and nitrogen cycling, @pie-lter.bsky.social in Massachusetts and at North Inlet Winyah Bay NERR in South Carolina.
October 3, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Since 2023, we (@bowenlab.bsky.social, @randallhughes.bsky.social) have been testing how nitrogen inputs affect #saltmarsh plants, microbes, and carbon and nitrogen cycling, @pie-lter.bsky.social in Massachusetts and at North Inlet Winyah Bay NERR in South Carolina.