SGER: Multi-scale Investigations of Disturbance and Impacts of Hurricane Hugo on an LTER Coastal Landscape

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Hurricane Hugo struck the coast of South Carolina just after midnight on Friday, September 22, 1989. The eye of the hurricane came ashore just north of Charleston, SC and moved northward through the state to Charlotte, NC. Hugo's landfall was near the Baruch Institute's coastal field facility and the North Inlet Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) site. The site received extensive storm damage and a tidal surge that was 4 meters above mean high tide. Salt marsh ecosystems and their adjacent coastal forests have evolved under a regime of gradually rising sea level. A major hurricane such as Hugo may occur only 1-3 times per century. And this kind of disturbance may trigger sudden expansion of marsh into forested areas. To assess the short and long term effects of Hurricane Hugo, researchers at the University of South Carolina will: 1. Map the spatial distribution and elevation of the storm surge in the forested portion of the North Inlet ecosystem. And they will gather information on the storm surge height and the deposition of Spartina detritus (wrack) and marsh mud in the forest floor. 2. Map ground water salinity in forest soils, changes in soil and ground water chemistry, and relate this information to tree mortality and other changes in vegetation. 3. Establish study sites where decomposition of wrack and its effect on underlying soil can be studied. 4. Acquire low altitude, false-color infrared aerial photographs and multispectral Thematic Mapper (satellite) images to document geomorphic and botanical changes caused by Hugo. Follow-up photographs and satellite imagery should be made several times during the next several years to detect changes and recovery of the ecosystem. Work on effects of large disturbances such as Hurricane Hugo address important issues about the response, resilience, and recovery of complex coastal ecosystems. Information gathered by this research should provide data on mechanisms of salt marsh expansion and forest recession in response to salinity and wind stresses. And the work should provide valuable landscape level information on the response of the North Inlet LTER ecosystem to a major disturbance. Dr. Gardner is a very experienced and productive scientist who is well qualified to conduct and direct this research on the impacts of Hurricane Hugo on the North Inlet ecosystem. He will be assisted by Co-Principal Investigators, Kjerfve, Blood, Michener, and Williams. Although the Baruch Institute's field facilities were destroyed by Hugo, field research has continued. In particular, sampling transects and established piezometer networks facilitate the objectives of this research. The University of South Carolina has excellent facilities to support this research effort.