LTER-PIE: The Impact of Changing Landscapes and Climate on Interconnected Coastal Ecosystems

This project extends ongoing research at the Plum Island Ecosystems (PIE) Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) site. The overall objective of the long-term project is to develop a predictive understanding of the responses of a linked watershed-marsh-estuarine system in northeastern Massachusetts to rapid environmental change. Clark University’s role in the project is to create time series land cover maps for the coastal wetland and to analyze the maps concerning changes in geomorphology, vegetation, and wildlife habitat in the context of an urbanizing landscape and climate-induced sea-level rise. Previous work shows that advancements in remote sensing technology allows for finer spatial resolutions, providing more details concerning map patches at individual time points, but also causes challenges in characterizing changes over time because seasons, storms, and tides all cause fluctuations that are now captured by remote imagery. This project will address how to evaluate the configuration of landscape dynamics across various time intervals using newly developed methods and data available from the National Agriculture Imagery Program. The project will also develop new computer programs that allow for the application of these new methods to any landscape.