Table of Contents

• Coverage
• Dataset Description
  • Methods & Sampling
  • Data Processing Description
  • BCO-DMO Processing Description
• Data Files
• Supplemental Files
• Related Publications
• Related Datasets
• Parameters
• Project Information
• Funding

Location description:  All data for this analysis were collected near Port Fourchon, Louisiana, USA (29.10 °N, 90.19 °W). The marshes around the port are microtidal, with a mean tidal range of ~0.37 m. The site sits at the precise edge of black mangrove expansion into saltmarsh habitats and although some land loss in the areas has occurred, mangroves in the area have been expanding since the 1990s (Osland et al., 2013). 

Methods & Sampling:
     The expansion of mangroves, and many other range expanding species, is catalyzed by increasing winter temperatures (Osland et al., 2013). To verify that the winter temperatures are increasing in Port Fourchon we used data from the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) of Louisiana from the Coastwide Reference and Monitoring System (CRMS)-Wetlands Monitoring Data. We retrieved raw water temperature data from 2005 to 2022 for the CRMS sites closest to the species sampling locations (see files in "15465_CalendarYear_/" within supplemental file temperature_analysis_package.zip which were edited to remove empty columns). In total, we pulled data from 11 stations located in Barataria and Terrebonne Bay marshes (Retrieved from Coastal Information Management System (CIMS) database, 2023; Steyer, 2010). We used a regression analysis on the mean minimum temperature for the winter months (November-February) to determine the trend in temperature from 2005 until 2022 (see "temperature_figure.py" and "Temperature_Analysis_README.md" within temperature_analysis_package.zip).

Data Disclaimers (from State of Louisiana Coastal Protection and  Restoration Authority (CPRA) Data Dictionary v 2.0):

Data and information provided via CIMS has been carefully prepared from the best available sources using documented QA/QC standards. It is intended for general informational purposes only and should not be considered authoritative for navigational, engineering, other site-specific uses, or any other uses. The CPRA does not warrant or guarantee its accuracy, nor does CPRA assume any responsibility or liability for any reliance thereon. Elevation measurements are dependent upon the choices of standards that were used, including: vertical datums, geoids, ellipsoids, and various other factors. These factors should be considered when comparing elevation data between stations. Any CPRA data records that are labeled "Raw" (example:  "Raw Water Level") can potentially contain uncorrected errors.  For analytical purposes, data that are labeled "Adjusted" (Example:  "Adjusted Water Level") should be used whenever available. 

See related publications Folse et al. (2023) and Wager & Haywood (2024) for CPRA and CIMS Data Dictionary v2.0 and standard operation procedures.

The data was processed using python code.  See the Supplemental File temperature_analysis_package.zip which contains  "temperature_figure.py" and "Temperature_Analysis_README.md" as well as source data in the format used by this code.

Dataset 941490 version 1:

- Details clarified by the data submitter were added to Temperature_Analysis_README.md before zipping data and code into temperature_analysis_package.zip and attaching to this dataset as a supplemental file.
- 15465_Read_Me.docx converted to pdf, referenced SOP in this document was added to "Related Publications" section.
- The primary data table dataset 941490_v1_port_fourchon_montly_temps.csv was created by importing "All_sites_by_month_water_temperature.csv" from the processing package and joining coordinates in from "15465_CalendarYear_/15465_Coordinates.csv"
- Column names adjusted to conform to BCO-DMO naming conventions designed to support broad re-use by a variety of research tools and scripting languages. [Only numbers, letters, and underscores.  Can not start with a number]

NSF Award Abstract:
Coastal marshes provide a suite of vital functions that support natural and human communities. Humans frequently take for granted and exploit these ecosystem services without fully understanding the ecological feedbacks, linkages, and interdependencies of these processes to the wider ecosystem. As demands on coastal ecosystem services have risen, marshes have experienced substantial loss due to direct and indirect impacts from human activity. The rapidly changing coastal ecosystems of Louisiana provide a natural experiment for understanding how coastal change alters ecosystem function. This project is developing new metrics and tools to assess food web variability and test hypotheses on biodiversity and ecosystem function in coastal Louisiana. The research is determining how changing habitat configuration alters the distribution of energy across the seascape in a multitrophic system. This work is engaging students from the University of Louisiana Lafayette and Dillard University in placed-based learning by immersing them in the research and local restoration efforts to address land loss and preserve critical ecosystem services. Students are developing a deeper understanding of the complex issues facing coastal regions through formal course work, directed field work, and outreach. Students are interacting with stakeholders and managers who are currently battling coastal change. Their directed research projects are documenting changes in coastal habitat and coupling this knowledge with the consequences to ecosystems and the people who depend on them. By participating in the project students are emerging with knowledge and training that is making them into informed citizens and capable stewards of the future of our coastal ecosystems, while also preparing them for careers in STEM. The project is supporting two graduate students and a post-doc.

The transformation and movement of energy through a food web are key links between biodiversity and ecosystem function. A major hurdle to testing biodiversity ecosystem function theory is a limited ability to assess food web variability in space and time. This research is quantifying changing seascape structure, species diversity, and food web structure to better understand the relationship between biodiversity and energy flow through ecosystems. The project uses cutting edge tools and metrics to test hypotheses on how the distribution, abundance, and diversity of key species are altered by ecosystem change and how this affects function. The hypotheses driving the research are: 1) habitat is a more important indirect driver of trophic structure than a direct change to primary trophic pathways; and 2) horizontal and vertical diversity increases with habitat resource index. Stable isotope analysis is characterizing energy flow through the food web. Changes in horizontal and vertical diversity in a multitrophic system are being quantified using aerial surveys and field sampling. To assess the spatial and temporal change in food web resources, the project is combining results from stable isotope analysis and drone-based remote sensing technology to generate consumer specific energetic seascape maps (E-scapes) and trophic niche metrics. In combination these new metrics are providing insight into species’ responses to changing food web function across the seascape and through time.

This project is jointly funded by Biological Oceanography and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.