Save The Bay, Providence, Rhode Island

Salt marshes dominate the southern New England Coast , comprising some 967,000 acres of the New England States. The widespread abundance of these wetlands as well as their proximity and easy access to the open ocean often renders them vulnerable to human initiated construction projects, such as roads, bridges or dams. These objects restrict tidal flow into the marsh area, resulting in severe tidal impoundment. The resulting retention of tidal waters creates numerous ecological impacts including loss of salt marsh, harmful algal blooms, and invasion by the common reed Phragmites australis .

Combating these ecological damages is Save the Bay, a non-profit organization based in Providence , Rhode Island , that specifically targets the Narragansett Bay portion of Long Island Sound. The organization is dedicated to ensuring that the environmental quality of Narragansett Bay and its watershed is protected from the degrading effects of human activity. Save the Bay also seeks to restore the bay area to a level that can support healthy populations of local organisms. The goal of the organization is careful planned use of the Bay, in order to balance the natural processes of the watershed and its use by the community.

In defense of Narragansett Bay and its watershed, Save the Bay's actions include: serving as a monitor for the programs and activities of government and society that may potentially harm the environmental quality of the Bay; increasing public awareness and knowledge of the bay area by initiating informational programs; and performing actions that will directly restore the Bay.

During the past three months, my role at Save the Bay was concerned with the last of these tasks. I conducted research on a salt marsh on Narragansett Bay , adversely affected by human construction projects. The marsh, known as Gooseneck Cove, was experiencing severe habitat loss as a result of salt water impoundment caused by three human initiated tidal restrictions: the Ocean Drive Causeway; a dam constructed in 1942; and Hazard Road.

The water impounded by these restrictions was resulting in a systemic increase of high tide levels and decrease in low tide conditions. Local invertebrate species, ranging from microscopic flatworms to large wolf spiders rely upon the regular flooding and receding of the marsh for both food and habitat. The rising sea level was consequently causing a decrease in the numbers of species in the area.

My role was to investigate the effect of this habitat infringement on the diversity and abundance of local invertebrate populations. To this end I was responsible for conducting biological sampling, namely transects, and soil core samples, and identifying the macro and micro-invertebrate species present in the marsh area. I was also responsible for compiling the data and calculating both the diversity and abundance of the identified species.

Upon completion of data analysis I discovered that both diversity and abundance decreased steadily as the transects moved from the Ocean Drive Causeway northward to Hazard

Road. I concluded that this was due to the compounding effects of impoundment and the secondary impacts, including invasion by Phragmites, and algal blooms. Analysis of soil core samples supported these conclusions. These findings made it very clear that the three human constructed impoundments were negatively impacting the invertebrate species in Gooseneck Cove.

My experience with Save the Bay gave me an extensive amount of insight into how the research portion of habitat restoration groups function: the background research, field work, and final restorative proposal. The collection of data required long hours, both in the marsh area and in the laboratory. While extremely time intensive, the experience gave me the understanding that biology, especially field research, is - simply put - hard work.

I also gained a familiarity with field sampling techniques, particularly transects and soil coring, as well as the biological statistics associated with each. These methods will undoubtedly serve me in my senior integrative project, which is as yet undefined, but will most likely center on salt marsh invertebrate species.

At the conclusion of my internship, I came away with the sense that I had contributed in quantifying a serious ecological problem associated with Narragansett Bay . While I had an understanding that human initiated construction projects can have indirect effects on the areas in which they are instituted, I did not have a grasp of just how severe the impacts can be. I am certain that the general public has absolutely no idea of these impacts as the marsh looks generally healthy to the untrained eye. My hope is that the data I collected and analyzed will be utilized as a basis for the future restoration of the Gooseneck Cove salt marsh area.