Coastal Wetlands StudiesAviva Lerman
2026 The Garden Club of America Award in Coastal Wetlands Studies
Cascading Effects of Shorebird Biodiversity Loss on Burrowing Ecosystem Engineers and Their Impacts on Salt Marsh Ecosystem Functions
Shorebirds in salt marshes are declining across North America, with expedited rates of decline occurring along the mid-Atlantic. Declines in shorebird populations likely have important consequences for tidal marsh ecosystems, as shorebirds are important predators of engineering organisms, like the fiddler crab, Minuca pugnax. This experiment, deployed in Barnegat Bay, New Jersey, seeks to understand how the continuous reduction of shorebird populations may affect M. pugnax burrowing behavior and the implications for this altered relationship on tidal marsh ecological functioning.
School: Drexel University
The Garden Club of America Award in Coastal Wetlands Studies
To promote, expand, and enrich the body of research concerning the coast by actively supporting graduate students in the field of coastal wetlands science.
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