In 2003, a restoration effort at New York City’s Big Egg Marsh took a major step when National Park Service scientists and 100 volunteers planted 20,000 smooth cordgrass seedlings across an area that had been raised with clean sand.
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that → take → sand
The work was part of an experiment to restore a salt marsh in Jamaica Bay, where marshes had been disappearing for decades.
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marshes → restore → decades
The seedlings faced early setbacks, including grazing by geese, tides and marine debris.
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seedlings → face → geese
The vegetation continued to spread.
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vegetation → continue → ?
Just two years into the restoration, more than 80% of the experiment site was reported to be vegetated and healthy, offering an encouraging result for the damaged marsh.
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% → report → marsh
Once the marsh had been raised, the restoration team needed to establish vegetation across the treated area.
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team → raise → area
In October 2003, National Park Service scientists and 100 volunteers planted 20,000 seedlings of smooth cordgrass, known scientifically as Spartina alterniflora.
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scientists → plant → alterniflora
The planting covered the part of Big Egg Marsh where the sand had been sprayed.
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sand → cover → Marsh
Smooth cordgrass was particularly suited to the difficult conditions of a salt marsh because it can thrive in high-salinity environments.
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it → thrive → environments
According to the National Park Service, the plant’s roots trap sediment, allowing it to build up into nutrient-rich peat.
uncertain
it → accord → peat
That peat creates a stronger foundation for further plant growth, meaning the vegetation could contribute to the longer-term development and stability covering the restored ground.
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vegetation → create → ground
Scientists begin monitoring Big Egg Marsh
The planting was followed by systematic monitoring.
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planting → begin → monitoring
Scientists established one-metre-by-one-metre plots across Big Egg Marsh and repeatedly returned to record elevation, plant numbers, soil characteristics and the animals present.
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Scientists → establish → elevation
This allowed researchers to track changes over time rather than judging the restoration from a single observation.
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researchers → allow → observation
Monitoring began in 2004 and continued several times a year through 2008.
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Monitoring → begin → 2008
Geese ate some of the seedlings, while tides washed others away and marine debris such as logs, bottles, plastic bags and straw buried or suffocated some plants.
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debris → eat → plants
Despite these losses, smooth cordgrass continued to grow, while new seedlings appeared naturally and saltmeadow cordgrass, or salt hay (Spartina patens), also began to establish.
80% of the experiment site becomes healthy
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% → continue → site
Two years into the restoration, the results showed a substantial change across the experiment area.
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results → show → area
The National Park Service reports that over 80% of its experimental site was vegetated and healthy.
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% → report → site
This meant that despite the early losses among planted seedlings, vegetation had successfully become established across most of the restoration site.
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vegetation → mean → site
Monitoring continued to provide information about what happened to the marsh over the longer term.
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what → monitor → term
In 2021, nearly two decades after restoration began in 2002, Dr George W. Frame returned to Big Egg Marsh to examine its condition.
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Frame → begin → condition
The restoration also helped pave the way for other projects in Jamaica Bay, with efforts across the bay eventually restoring more than 150 acres of marshland.
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efforts → pave → marshland
The Aporia
