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Tidelands research buoyed by grants

Scott Warren, Jean C. Tempel ´65 Professor of Botany, is in the sixth and final year of his research.

September 06, 2006

Scott Warren, Jean C. Tempel ´65 Professor of Botany, has received grants from the state Department of Environmental Protection and the Nature Conservancy to complete the final year of research on Phragmites control within tidelands of the lower Connecticut River.  Fifty-one percent of the total of $54,070 in award funds was provided by federal agencies.

Warren´s work, performed with two Connecticut College alumni, a professor from Westfield State College in Massachusetts and an environmental consultant from Litchfield, involves control of the invasive plant Phragmites australis, reed grass that replaces native vegetation in brackish tidelands. Reed grass is a highly invasive, European strain that can disrupt natural marsh communities, negatively impact fish, degrade wildlife habitats and provide breeding ground for mosquitoes.

Warren´s research is aimed at understanding the ecological impacts of Phragmites control efforts by the state and the Nature Conservancy.  These were undertaken with the goal of restoring natural habitats and ecological values with in the Lower Connecticut River Estuary - especially Great Island, Upper Island and the Lieutenant River.

In this final year of the six-year project, Warren has sampled marsh invertebrates and vegetation in areas that were treated three and five years ago as well as untreated sites. Fish using the marshes were assessed by trapping, counting and measuring in the field.

A final report including 2006 findings, management recommendations and recommendations for future research and monitoring will be made in March. Findings also will be presented at a meeting of the New England Estuarine Research Society.

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For more information contact: Amy Sullivan (860) 439-2526; amy.sullivan@conncoll.edu