This project uses a systems approach to explore environmental and economic trade-offs and synergies connected to land use decisions in the Massachusetts cranberry industry. Building upon ongoing research on the science of cranberry bog restoration, this work integrates socioeconomic data with environmental impact modeling, and presents the results in a web-based decision-support tool that allows stakeholders to interact with and explore the impacts of different land use scenarios.

This project involves using area search and audio broadcast survey techniques to document bird populations at cranberry bog restoration sites in SE Massachusetts. Initial surveys began in May 2022, with priority sites including Indian Brook Cranberry Bogs, Tidmarsh Wildlife Sanctuary, Foothills Preserve, South Meadow, and Pinnacle Watercourse.

This project explores the use of a COSMOS sensor to measure landscape-scale soil moisture. COSMOS measures the cosmic rays that penetrate and bounce off the top 15-cm of the land surface in a radius of 500-meters. The signal is changed by the presence of water: standing water, soil water, and plant water – and returns an integrated signal of all water in the root zone, both above and below the shallow surface. As the landscape surface is transformed into a wetland, we hope the COSMOS data will document the increasing moisture at and near the land surface needed for the survival of wetland plants.

This project explores groundwater flowpaths, surface water mixing, underground thermal regimes and soil moisture monitoring. We use distributed temperature sensing (DTS) along fiber optic cables at multiple depths beneath the ground to map out the interconnected web of hydrology and ecology beneath the surface.

This project involves research and development of a web-based education program designed to help stakeholders learn about wetland restoration in a way that is relevant to them.  The primary goal of the restoration masterclass is to blend findings from the latest research with voices from a variety of perspectives and expertise to help people from a range of backgrounds learn what ecological restoration is, how and why we do it, and what we can expect after a site is restored. The program will include specific guidance to help landowners evaluate their options after farm retirement, including an action plan and connections for pursuing ecological restoration. In short, the restoration masterclass will weave voices together with current research findings on the science, practice, economics, and policy of cranberry farm restoration, to create a curriculum that is widely accessible, engaging, and useful.

Ms. Conroy's AP Biology class at Plymouth South HS is participating in a reciprocal citizen science study to understand how temperature regime of seed source locations may affect growth of AWC seedings. The project designed by Rob Atkinson, faculty at Christopher Newport College, the project seeks to replace fear of climate change with hope through meaningful engagement in research. In 2023, Ms. Conroy's class planted and is measuring 10 AWC seedlings grown in Virginia and 10 AWC seedlings grown at Living Observatory's Native Plant Nursery. Monitoring will continue in 2024 and beyond.

In this project, we share information about raising AWC trees from seed with the goal of providing this species to wetland restoration projects in Southeastern Ma. Updates include best practice for stratifying, germinating, and transplanting, as well as updates about survival and growth rates of young trees once they have been planted.

The Living Observatory Sensor Network explores how low-power wireless sensor networks can be used to learn from, share, and improve the process of wetland restoration.

This group of research projects investigates how key soil features and ecosystem functions change over time in sites that are developing under different management scenarios. Specifically, we compare the development of soil properties and functions associated with nitrogen cycling and greenhouse gas flux across sites that fall along a restoration trajectory across active cranberry farms, young retired farms, old retired farms, flooded former farms, ecologically restored former farms, and natural reference wetlands with no history of cranberry farming. Results of this work inform not only our understanding of how ecosystems develop and function over time under different hydrologic and management scenarios, but also informs the practice of restoration.

Seven years post restoration, 51 people from 21 organizations assembled at Tidmarsh to explore and learn how the site has responded to the restoration intervention. The event was co-hosted by Mass Audubon and Living Observatory.

This project seeks to understand how amphibian and reptile communities respond to ecological restoration. We conduct a comprehensive survey on herpetofauna (amphibians and reptiles) at restored and retired former cranberry bogs using a combination of passive and active sampling techniques. We survey both wetland and upland habitats to document and ultimately, understand (1) how different amphibian and reptile species colonize restored wetland complexes; (2) how the community structure of amphibians and reptiles change before and after restoration; and (3) how the habitat structure and community composition change with time after the active restoration intervention.

This project involves development of a standardized monitoring plan for physical, chemical, and biological monitoring of cranberry bog wetland restoration projects in DER’s Cranberry Bog Program. We expect that the monitoring plan will be finalized on or before June 30, 2022.

This project seeks to better understand the sources and movement of nitrogen in wetlands. We are primarily interested in how much nitrogen is delivered to wetlands and how much nitrogen is potentially removed by ecological restoration of wetlands. We use a combination of field measurements and computer modeling to answer these questions.

This research aims to compare nutrient uptake capacity of streams associated with active, retired, and restored cranberry farms. This work explores how differences in stream morphology, water chemistry, sediment characteristics, and biota may impact hydrology, transient storage, and nitrogen and phosphorus uptake.

Coastal ecosystems and communities are under direct threat from climate change and sea level rise. Meanwhile, low-lying cranberry farmland with no viable economic future presents an opportunity to create more resilient and adaptable coastlines. Massachusetts has the means to leverage this opportunity, with rich expertise and experience in ecological restoration for these unique sites, and a thriving network of partners to protect and manage public open space. The first goal of this project is to protect and restore coastal wetland habitats within the grant period - and invite future inland marsh migration on retired low-lying cranberry farmland. This project also will provide valuable co-benefits less common in habitat restoration projects.

This project explores the hydrology of the land surface that has been intensively farmed, and the implications of this hydrology on future plant and animal communities. Historical application of sand, ditching, berming, and channel deepening all affect how surface and groundwater move through these areas. Thoroughly understanding the hydrologic function is the first step toward returning this land surface to tis former wetland condition. Piezometer measurements of water level in the bog and stream channels as well as stream flow and rainfall monitoring all contribute to this understanding.

This project explores the hydrology of the land surface that has been intensively farmed, and the implications of this hydrology on future plant and animal communities. Historical application of sand, ditching, berming, and channel deepening all affect how surface and groundwater move through these areas. Thoroughly understanding the hydrologic function is the first step toward returning this land surface to tis former wetland condition. Piezometer measurements of water level in the bog and stream channels as well as stream flow and rainfall monitoring all contribute to this understanding.

Ecological restoration seeks to improve degraded ecosystem functions such as carbon storage, removal of nutrient pollution, and regulation of greenhouse gas emissions. These functions are primarily governed by microbes living in the soil, yet these microbial communities are not explicitly considered or monitored as a part of most restoration efforts. This group of research projects seeks to understand the impact of ecological restoration of cranberry bogs on the structure and function soil microbial communities in restored cranberry bogs. Using genetic and genomic techniques, we can survey the thousands of microbial species residing in the soil; we can monitor how they change over time; and we can associate those changes with functions of interest to understand which restoration methodologies produce the best outcomes.

This group of research projects investigates the potential of soil amendments to stimulate or otherwise influence desirable and undesirable wetland functions such as water quality improvement and climate change functions. Laboratory experiments use highly replicated artificial mini-wetlands called mesocosms to investigate the effects of amendments on key soil-based wetland functions. Based on these results, we determine what types and quantities of amendments to study in real-world restoration sites and monitor for their effect on nitrogen removal, carbon sequestration, and greenhouse gas emissions.

Tidzam is an outdoor acoustic and visual landscape analyzer designed for wildlife detection, identification, and quantification. This deep learning-based networked software uses images and sounds from cameras and microphones deployed on the field to detect wildlife that is often invisible and inaudible by humans.

This project uses temperature as a tracer to find groundwater inflows to the wetland, and map the occurrence of natural groundwater springs. The surface expression of groundwater can help guide restoration planning, and can be used to quantify changes in how water reaches, and travels on the surface of a wetland. We use handheld and drone-mounted Forward Looking InfraRed (FLIR) cameras, and DTS to locate GW springs.

This project quantifies the species composition and cover of plants before and after active restoration of cranberry bogs. We measure vegetation in fixed 3 x 3 meter plots located on the former bog surfaces and return to these plots year after year. We classify plant life history, origin (native, non-native) and wetland statuses to evaluate the success of restoration in promoting native and wetland-dependent plant species.

This study quantified vegetation in a chronosequence of 23 discontinued cranberry bogs in Southeastern Massachusetts. The study identified soil characteristics that led to the formation of diverse naturalized wetlands after farming was discontinued, and conditions that lead to  the formation of more upland communities dominated by pitch pine, red maple and other similar species. This information will be used to predict where active restoration activities are more likely yield the greatest benefits in the formation of naturalized wetlands.