Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2002NJ8B

Salt Marsh Macrophyte Rhizosphere Effects on Sediment Microbial Community Catabolic Response Profiles

Institute: New Jersey
Year Established: 2002 Start Date: 2002-03-01 End Date: 2003-03-01
Total Federal Funds: $4,000 Total Non-Federal Funds: $8,673

Principal Investigators: B. Ravit, Joan Ehrenfeld

Project Summary: Due to their high assimilative capacities salt marshes may act as a sink for introduced compounds, retaining substances transported by terrestrial and tidal inflows, and often changing the chemical composition of transported substances through transformations that occur within the estuarine system. Of concern are polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), halogenated organics and metals which are manufacturing byproducts which can threaten human health. This study will use catabolic response profiles (CRP) to characterize differences in substrate utilization by microbial communities associated with Spartina alterniflora and Phragmites australis vegetation in contaminated and non-contaminated systems.