78312 Data Set Published / External 47021 NERRS Project Completed Unknown Unknown 2024-09 Coastal managers in Delaware examined whether biochar input from prescribed burns restores ecosystem services after removal of Phragmites australis, an invasive grass species. The Project Phragmites australis is an invasive grass species that affects many marshes along the U.S east coast, often displacing native grasses. Removing Phragmites has been a decades-long management goal as managers seek to restore native high marsh habitat and ecosystem functions and services. Phragmites removal and restoration efforts have proven beneficial for habitat and biodiversity. However, its removal has potentially negative impacts on water quality and carbon storage, as Phragmites stores nitrogen and phosphorus and accumulates organic carbon more effectively than native marsh vegetation. Tidal wetland managers are left with uncertainties about these tradeoffs of Phragmites removal and their implications for achieving marsh restoration goals. A potential approach for managing tradeoffs associated with Phragmites removal is to use prescribed fire. While prescribed fire is a common method for vegetation removal, there has been limited research on the biogeochemical benefits provided by burned biomass or "biochar". Biochar may increase soil nitrogen removal and carbon and phosphorus storage, which can help to counteract losses in ecosystem services due to Phragmites removal. Collaborating with regional coastal managers, this project team compared salt marshes with and without a history of prescribed burns at Delaware National Estuarine Research Reserve and area marshes to better quantify how fire impacts marshes and their ecosystem services. The team collected and analyzed salt marsh sediment cores at multiple sites and found that the marshes that were more frequently burned had enhanced carbon storage. They also used biochar amendments to learn more about other biogeochemical metrics, like denitrification potential and phosphorus storage, and found that biochar's impact on these metrics were limited. The project convened an Advisory Committee that held productive discussions on current and potential Phragmites management practices, prescribed burn practices, and climate-adaptive decision-making procedures, in the context of the project's findings. These conversations helped inform a comprehensive report on the impacts of prescribed burns on tidal marsh ecosystem services. This report will allow for easier transfer of knowledge among the project's partners, including Delaware NERR, Delaware Natural Resources and Environmental Control, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Center for the Inland Bays, Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, and Delaware Wild Lands. The Impact Developed a better understanding of how prescribed burns impact a larger suite of physical, biogeochemical, recreational, cultural, and socio-economic ecosystem services. Facilitated knowledge sharing at an immersive workshop that brought together over 90 coastal managers and researchers. Identified new and emerging management questions; for example, "What protocol leads to the most successful herbicide-burn management of Phragmites" and "What role do site-specific factors play in marsh management?" Project and Technical Lead Andrew Wozniak, University of Delaware, awozniak@udel.edu Collaborative Lead Mollie Yacano, Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, mollie.yacano@delaware.gov Collaborative Team Member Lynne Pusey, Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, lynne.pusey@delaware.gov Partners: Delaware Natural Resources and Environmental Control; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Center for the Inland Bays; Partnership for the Delaware Estuary; Delaware Wild Lands Theme Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Science Keywords EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > ECOSYSTEMS > MARINE ECOSYSTEMS > COASTAL > SALT MARSH Theme Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Science Keywords EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > SOILS > CARBON Theme Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Science Keywords EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > SOILS > DENITRIFICATION RATE Theme Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Science Keywords EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > SOILS > NITROGEN Theme Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Science Keywords EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > SOILS > PHOSPHORUS Theme biochar Theme prescribed burn Theme thin layer placement Spatial Delaware NERR, DE Data Set As Needed The distributor does not assume liability. 78313 Published / External Other N/A Data Steward 2015 Organization Office for Coastal Management OCM https://ror.org/05v14bq57 2234 South Hobson Avenue Charleston SC 29405-2413 https://www.coast.noaa.gov/ Distributor 2015 Organization Office for Coastal Management OCM https://ror.org/05v14bq57 2234 South Hobson Avenue Charleston SC 29405-2413 https://www.coast.noaa.gov/ Metadata Contact 2017-10-31 Person Cothran, Jeremy jeremy.cothran@gmail.com Originator 2016-11 2019 Person Ralston, David dralston@whoi.edu Ground Condition -75.4342 -75.4181 39.0839 39.0681 Dover, DE NERR -75.6008 -75.5839 39.4361 39.4169 Townsend, DE NERR Range 2021-10 2024-09 Unclassified None Cite this dataset when used as a source: NOAA retains the right to analyze, synthesize and publish summaries of the NERRS/NSC data. The NERRS/NSC retains the right to be fully credited for having collected and process the data. Following academic courtesy standards, the NERR site where the data were collected should be contacted and fully acknowledged in any subsequent publications in which any part of the data are used. The data enclosed within this package/transmission are only as accurate as the quality assurance and quality control procedures that are described in the associated metadata reporting statement allow. The user bears all responsibility for its subsequent use/misuse in any further analyses or comparisons. The Federal government does not assume liability to the Recipient or third persons, nor will the Federal government reimburse or indemnify the Recipient for its liability due to any losses resulting in any way from the use of this data. Requested citation format: NOAA National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS) Science Collaborative(NSC). https://nerrssciencecollaborative.org/project/Wozniak21 2015 Organization Office for Coastal Management https://ror.org/05v14bq57 Wozniak21 Multiple formats https://nerrssciencecollaborative.org/project/Wozniak21 Wozniak21 Online Resource N/A This information is detailed within the project links. This information is detailed within the project links. N/A 1 N/A Organization Office for Coastal Management OCM https://ror.org/05v14bq57 2234 South Hobson Avenue Charleston SC 29405-2413 https://www.coast.noaa.gov/ 78313 Entity gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:78312 Jeremy Cothran 2025-10-02T16:42:13 SysAdmin InPortAdmin 2026-03-04T19:17:17 2025-10-02 Office for Coastal Management OCM 1002 Public No No 2019-11-08 3 Years 2022-11-08