Urban Marsh Restoration
Living shoreline project at Sherman Creek Park, summer 2024. Photo credit: M Alldred.
Project Description
An ongoing collaborative research project investigates the development of nitrogen cycling processes and plant characteristics following marsh reconstruction in urban, eutrophic wetlands of New York City. Using a series of restorations in Jamaica Bay, we employ a space-for-time substitution to determine how restored marshes, and the services they provide, develop over time in a highly urbanized system. We have assessed a variety of restoration techniques and living shoreline designs elsewhere in New York City, including the Living Shoreline Project at Sherman Creek Park.
Project Video
Nathan Morris, graduate student of project partner Liz Alter, and I summarized some of our early findings in a webinar hosted by the
Science and Resilience Institute at Jamaica Bay in July 2017.
Watch the video on youtube!
Collaborators
Chester Zarnoch, Baruch College CUNY
J. Stephen Gosnell, Baruch College CUNY
Timothy Hoellein, Loyola University Chicago
Denise Bruesewitz, Colby College
Liz Alter, California State University Monterey Bay
Jason Smith, New York Restoration Project
Patricia Rafferty, National Park Service
Funding Sources
National Park Service Condition Assessment. PI: Zarnoch
New York Restoration Project PI: Alldred
Hudson River Foundation Grant 013-15A. PI: Zarnoch
Science and Resilience Institute Fellowship. PI: Alldred
Mary Alldred
Associate Professor of Environmental Science
My research interests include nitrogen cycling, wetland ecology, urban ecology, and coastal management and restoration.