1. (1) Assess benthic faunal colonization on banks (2) Assess trophic status of restored salt marshes Levin Lab Benthic Studies Goal: Develop metrics for healthy salt marsh and subtidal habitat

2. Bank Macrofauna What are macrofauna? small worms, clams, crustaceans and other invertebrates Significance of macrofauna: major agents of sediment stability/instability primary food items for bottom feeding fish, shrimp Strategy: sample macrofauna at time intervals following bank placement Sampling and analysis methods field - sediment coring, vertical sectioning, preservation laboratory - sieving, sorting under dissecting microscope, counting, species identification (~ 1 da/sample) statistical measures of diversity and community structure What we learn: proxy for ecosystem successional state and health

3. Salt Marsh Trophic Function What is Trophic Function? A key ecosystem property, Food web and energy transfer Goal: Develop a method for assessing recovery of trophic function in restored Venice Lagoon salt marshes Rationale: Most measures of recovery examine structural properties rather than function Approach: Use stable isotopic analyses to examine food web organization (isotopic signatures differ for different plants/algae and are passed from food to consumer) Compare food webs in natural and restored salt marshes of different ages Methods: Sample primary producers and consumers, dry and powder Analyze isotopic signatures (  13 C,  15 N) on a mass spectrometer. Use mixing models to establish trophic structure

4. What we learn What forms the base of the food chain in undisturbed marshes? How many trophic levels are present in a healthy marsh? Are these similar in restored marshes? After how many years? Can we develop a functional measure of marsh recovery? Salicornia?Spartina? Limonium? Cyanobacteria? Phytoplankton?