Tidal wetlands after Hurricane Sandy: baseline restoration assessment and future conservation planning

Tidal wetlands after Hurricane Sandy: baseline restoration assessment and future conservation planning Saltmarsh Habitat and Avian Research Program (SHARP) project is a collaborative effort to assess risks and set response priorities for tidal-marsh dependent bird species from Virginia to maritime Canada.

With more than 1,500 sampling sites for estimating bird abundance and plant community composition, 22 sampling sites for estimating species fecundity and survival, and 651 sampling points for measuring salt marsh elevation, the Saltmarsh Habitat and Avian Research Program is an unprecedented undertaking to characterize threats to tidal-marsh dependent bird species along the entire mid-Atlantic coastline.

Originally initiated in 2011 by a team of scientists looking to align efforts towards understanding threats to salt marsh birds across the region SHARP had enough data in hand to develop a clear snapshot of tidal marshes before the Hurricane Sandy struck the coast in 2012, and a baseline for understanding future impacts of climate change to these systems.

Though the team had used all of their initial funding to carry out the two-year data-collection effort, money from the National Science Foundation came through to enable another survey in 2013, and then Department of the Interior Hurricane Sandy Funding coordinated by the North Atlantic LCC and Fish and Wildlife Service Divisions of Migratory Birds and Refuges came through to support additional field seasons through 2016.

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