Plum Island Ecosystems LTER
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pie-lter.bsky.social
Plum Island Ecosystems LTER
@pie-lter.bsky.social
The goal of the Plum Island Ecosystems LTER is to predict the long-term effects of sea level rise, climate change, and human impacts on the health of estuaries worldwide
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Director of the Environmental Institute, Karen McGlathery, reflects on two days of discussions around world-class research in sustainability, resilience, and environmental change.
environment.virginia.edu/news/environ...
Environmental Futures Forum 2025: Director's Thoughts
Director of the Environmental Institute, Karen McGlathery, reflects on two days of discussions around world-class research in sustainability, resilience, and environmental change.
environment.virginia.edu
November 5, 2025 at 2:45 PM
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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
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During National Estuaries Week, we're reflecting on our blue carbon work & the role of coastal ecosystems in storing carbon.

Check out our blog with Dr. Matthew Costa @mangrovematt.bsky.social: buff.ly/8qHDj5A

#NationalEstuariesWeek #CommunicationSkills #SciComm #SciPol #StrategicMessaging
September 25, 2025 at 4:30 PM
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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
Fun Trails and Sails event this week showcasing new work centered on how estuary and shellfish health are intertwined and the need for people to foster both. We always get engaged attendees from the local community and make great new connections! 1/5
trailsandsails.org
September 25, 2025 at 8:41 PM
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Multiple ecology faculty positions at @notredame.bsky.social. Apply at apply.interfolio.com/171650. (1/2). 🌎🌐🧪
August 21, 2025 at 5:09 PM
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2026 OCB Activity Proposal Solicitation now open until Oct 24 - spread the word! www.us-ocb.org/science-supp... @nacp-carbon.bsky.social @usclivar.bsky.social @ccspo.bsky.social @solas-ipo.bsky.social 🌊
August 20, 2025 at 7:12 PM
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How do we measure #denitrification in our #saltmarsh ammonium and nitrate treatment plots at @pie-lter.bsky.social? Anne Giblin and Jane Tucker from @mblscience.bsky.social bring the lab into the field for this in situ "push-pull" denitrification measurement.
August 18, 2025 at 9:23 PM
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Cluster hire in ecosystem ecology at UGA! Come join us! 🌎🌱
July 22, 2025 at 12:30 PM
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Do you work on #ocean #sustainability?
Are you interested in protecting and conserving the ocean?
submit your research to our journal Frontiers in Ocean Sustainability
#MarineEcology
#Research
#Science
@frontiersin.bsky.social
www.frontiersin.org/journals/oce...
Frontiers in Ocean Sustainability
A multidisciplinary journal bridging environmental, social and economic fields to advance solutions which enable the sustainable use of the world’s oceans
www.frontiersin.org
July 17, 2025 at 2:35 PM
New paper! from Aiyin Zhang, Gil Pontius & colleagues describing a new method to map and quantify gross rather than net patch dynamics in a landscape, demonstrated for PIE marsh and pond change over 2 time intervals spanning 75 yrs @clarkuniversity.bsky.social @uslter.bsky.social #NSF
rdcu.be/evcei
DynamicPATCH: method and software for spatially explicit dynamic patch transition characterization
rdcu.be
July 7, 2025 at 5:08 PM
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Our #NSF grant, supporting a fruitful collaboration with the @cissyballen.bsky.social Lab, was terminated, along with over 1,600 others. We describe the impact of this loss in a press release here. datanuggets.org/2025/06/nsf-...
June 9, 2025 at 8:00 PM
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#PlanktonInOurMidst #artsience now @mblscience.bsky.social exhibit center-gift shop, celebrating plankton through art by Krisanne Baker, plus slide show and science panels from Liz Cunningham, OceanFluxProgram, BLE-LTER, us, and others from MBL Ecosystems Center www.lizcunningham.net/plankton-in-...
June 2, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Thanks! There were great talks, demonstrating the impact of Ecosystems Center for 5 decades thru its research & legacy of alums, addressing environmental issues from many angles and in cross-disciplinary collaboration, with #NSFfunded #LTERs often at the core enabling vital long term data collection
Happy 50th anniversary to the MBL Ecosystems Center long-time home of @pie-lter.bsky.social, @toolikfieldstation.bsky.social Arctic LTER, and @harvardforest.bsky.social LTER. So sorry to miss the party! @mblscience.bsky.social
June 2, 2025 at 3:24 PM
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A new analysis from the MBL presents evidence that accelerating sea level rise may hamper salt marsh plants’ ability to use nitrogen, a nutrient crucial for their growth 🌱 Read more: bit.ly/3Gwazce

📷 Daniel Cojanu
Rising Seas Impair Salt Marsh Growth in Response to Nitrogen Supply, Global Study Finds | Marine Biological Laboratory
bit.ly
May 2, 2025 at 6:39 PM
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Interested in careers outside academia?

Next Wednesday, May 7, at 10 PT—

Join our Career Forum to learn what folks do with a science degree—from tribal work to consulting. Put on with CESU!

Check it out below, and register at the link!
lternet.edu/events/91881/
May 1, 2025 at 6:15 PM
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Excited to embark on new projects with new collaborators to work on issues facing the shellfishing community in Great Marsh/Plum Island Sound estuaries, thanks to @uslter.bsky.social APEAL support. #NSFfunded
Collaboration with Shellfishers: an APEAL Seed Project - LTER
In October, over fifty attendees at the PIE LTER gathered in a local pub to acknowledge one another's' concerns for issues in the Sound.
lternet.edu
May 1, 2025 at 5:57 PM
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April in the salt marsh at @pie-lter.bsky.social means that the Spartina alterniflora is sending up new shoots! See the little green new leaves among the brown of the previous year's dead biomass. This #saltmarsh plant's rhizomes overwinter underground but send up new leaves each spring. Apr 2023
April 29, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Sandy Macfarlane received the NEERS Achievement Award from #NEERS President Danielle Perry, for those who "have made significant contributions over a period of years to estuarine science, education, conservation, or management". Congratulations, Sandy, so well-deserved! 1/2
April 28, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Sam Kelsey & Risa McNellis giving a poster at #NEERS; GPS elevation transects at saltmarsh sites surveyed 20 yrs apart show accretion at most sites, with higher rates at low elevations, but many not keeping up with sea level rise. Rates compared well with SET data. #LongTermData @uslter.bsky.social
April 28, 2025 at 3:23 PM
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Happy Earth Day folks! 🌍 For your listening and viewing pleasure, we have this story about super-gross-looking invasive sea squirts. Who knew they looked like pancake batter? Ew! Thanks, @vivianla.bsky.social
www.wbur.org/news/2025/04...
As New England waters warm, invasive sea squirts move in
Researchers say they're seeing more of these colorful blobs growing on docks, but they're not the only invasive marine species that could be spreading along New England coasts. And climate change may ...
www.wbur.org
April 22, 2025 at 2:25 PM
On this #EarthDay, it's worth remembering why, in 1970, it was created (smog-choked cities, toxic waste/sewage dumping, and yes, a burning river) and importantly, what followed, like the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act, helping to preserve scenes like this. We are stewards, not just users. 💚💙🌎
April 22, 2025 at 2:44 PM
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We started with S. alterniflora collected from our two field sites (@pie-lter.bsky.social in MA and North Inlet Winyah Bay NERR in SC) and grew individuals in the greenhouse each representing a different genotype.
April 12, 2025 at 6:23 PM