How do insect communities develop in restored marshes? How does plant diversity and nutrient availability influence insect assemblages? Post-doc Chuan-Kai Ho is addressing these questions in a new experiment.
Small mounds of Spartina alterniflora were planted in a brackish marsh restoration project near Port Arthur, Texas. Spartina alterniflora is a common marsh plant, but as the competitive dominant, it may exclude other plant species. Will that impact the insect community?
Small mounds of Spartina alterniflora were planted in a brackish marsh restoration project near Port Arthur, Texas. Spartina alterniflora is a common marsh plant, but as the competitive dominant, it may exclude other plant species. Will that impact the insect community?
Some mounds will be left intact.
Some mounds will be clipped (below) to remove the Spartina alterniflora canopy and (hypothetically) allow other species to colonize the mounds. Some of the clipped and unclipped mounds will be fertilized to evaluate how nutrient supply influences insect assemblages. The red arrows on the photo below point to beetles that live in the marsh canopy. 
A parting shot for the end of the day.
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