View the agenda, abstracts, and presentations from:
The Sea Grant Annual Science Symposium on the Shallow Marine Ecosystems of Southern RI
Part 1: Hydrology, nutrient & bacteria dynamics
December 9, 2002

View the agenda and abstracts from Part 2: Sediment dynamics, habitat changes & fish resources.

Rhode Island's south shore salt ponds, or coastal lagoons, and their attendant watersheds continue to experience population growth and residential development.  These new residences will rely primarily on septic systems to process household effluent.  The resulting nitrogen-enriched groundwater will ultimately enter the salt ponds.  The ecological effects of nitrogen enrichment upon these coastal lagoons remain uncertain.  This project will develop and use diagnostic tools to assess such impacts, providing valuable information to coastal managers for formulating regulations in these critical watershed regions.  Project objectives include measuring growth, abundance, and vitality of eelgrasses and concentrations of ¹⁵N in macroalgae tissue in the coastal lagoons.

Special Area Management Plans for the Salt Pond Region (1999), the Narrow River (1999), and the Pawcatuck River Estuary (1992) are excellent summaries of information as well as state policies and regulations for these coastal ecosystems.

Related site: URI-GSO Coastal Habitat Research