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Summary Salt marshes provide ecosystem services and functions that benefit humans and the environment. Medouie Creek salt marsh is located on the northeast portion of Nantucket Island along Polpis Harbor. Physical changes have affected Medouie over time and a restoration project has been implemented to restore the hydrology of the area. This project uses a GIS analysis to show the physical habitat alterations that have occurred by comparing aerial photographs from 1938 to 2012. GIS is also used to assess the current Nantucket Conservation Foundation (NCF) restoration project and to advance management techniques for future restoration successes. Results • To determine physical habitat loss and alteration over time of Medouie Creek salt marsh driven by both natural systems and human activities; • To asses salt marsh status, trends and changes in related ecosystem services; • To learn from the ongoing NCF restoration project to reestablish the ecological function of the salt marsh. • Dr. Anamarija Frankic • Dr. Crystal Schaaf • Dr. Jennifer Karberg • Dr. Robyn Hannigan • Dr. Sarah Oktay h • Use Arc GIS 10 to analyze Medouie aerial photographs ranging from 1938 to 2012; • Assess physical changes by using the georeference tool which overlays and compares images by matching specific geographic points; • Groundtruth the aerial photographs by visiting the site and exploring future management techniques; • Produce final maps by overlaying historical and recent aerial images. Methodology Status & Trends of Medouie Creek Salt Marsh, Nantucket Island Travis M. Lowery [email protected] School for the Environment, The LivingLabs: Nantucket Majors: Environmental, Earth & Ocean Science (EEOS), & Sociology Certificate: Geographic Information Technology (GIT) • CAPS • Eddie Saenz • Jesse Bean • ReMain • Steve Nye Jr. Found specific points in this 2003 aerial photo that are consistent over time such as ditches and roads Data from the four specific points chosen in the previous aerial photograph while georeferencing • Results show substantial physical salt marsh habitat change along the coastline, brackish pond, mosquito ditches, dike road and north of the studied area; • Assessing the changes is important to understand the salt marsh degradation and identify innovative ways to adapt to environmental issues (e.g. biomimicry); • Potentially, there is an opportunity to design and implement floating islands to fill in the 70+ year old mosquito ditches on the site. Goals & Objectives Discussion Acknowledgements Photograph by Floating Island International Photograph by Dr. Sarah Oktay
