Dr. Serena Moseman-Valtierra, Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Ph.D., Oceanography, 2007
U.C. San Diego, B.S., Ecology, Behavior, Evolution, 2002
I am an assistant professor and salt marsh ecologist at the University of Rhode Island, Kingston. In my research, I combine ecological field experiments, biogeochemical techniques, and molecular tools to understand nitrogen cycling in coastal wetlands. These productive ecosystems purify water, stabilize coasts, and provide habitats for numerous residential and migratory species. Nitrogen is an essential component of coastal wetlands that controls the productivity and structures of plant communities. However, increasing human inputs of nitrogen (from fertilizers and wastewater) can significantly alter wetland communities and they way that they capture, retain, and cycle nutrients. Further, my experiments have suggested that nutrient loading can stimulate release of nitrous oxide, N2O, a potent greenhouse gas, from salt marsh sediments. Therefore, changes in nitrogen cycling may affect the influence of wetlands on global climate. Ultimately, I aim to understand how the structure and function of coastal wetlands can be restored and maintained in the face of increasing human-impacts and global climatic changes.
Links:
Picarro Coolest Scientists
MBL and Partners Awarded $1.3 Million Grant for Climate Change Research in Falmouth Salt Marshes
U.C. San Diego, B.S., Ecology, Behavior, Evolution, 2002
I am an assistant professor and salt marsh ecologist at the University of Rhode Island, Kingston. In my research, I combine ecological field experiments, biogeochemical techniques, and molecular tools to understand nitrogen cycling in coastal wetlands. These productive ecosystems purify water, stabilize coasts, and provide habitats for numerous residential and migratory species. Nitrogen is an essential component of coastal wetlands that controls the productivity and structures of plant communities. However, increasing human inputs of nitrogen (from fertilizers and wastewater) can significantly alter wetland communities and they way that they capture, retain, and cycle nutrients. Further, my experiments have suggested that nutrient loading can stimulate release of nitrous oxide, N2O, a potent greenhouse gas, from salt marsh sediments. Therefore, changes in nitrogen cycling may affect the influence of wetlands on global climate. Ultimately, I aim to understand how the structure and function of coastal wetlands can be restored and maintained in the face of increasing human-impacts and global climatic changes.
Links:
Picarro Coolest Scientists
MBL and Partners Awarded $1.3 Million Grant for Climate Change Research in Falmouth Salt Marshes
Publications
Moseman-Valtierra SM, Quinn R*, Brannon EQ, Martin RM, Egan, K*. (2016). Carbon dioxide fluxes reflect plant zonation and below ground biomass in a coastal marsh. Ecosphere 7(11): e01560. 10.1002/ecs2.1560. Martin, RM. and Moseman-Valtierra SM (2016). Plant manipulations and diel cycle measurements test drivers of carbon dioxide and methane fluxes in a Phragmites australis invaded coastal marsh. Aquatic Botany. (in press). Martin RM, Moseman-Valtierra SM (2015). Greenhouse gas fluxes vary between Phragmites Australis and native vegetations zone in tidal marshes along a salinity gradient. Wetlands. Bresney, SR*, Moseman-Valtierra SM, and N Snyder. (2015) Observations of greenhouse gas and nitrate concentrations in a relatively pristine Maine riverine wetland. Northeastern Naturalist. Northeastern Naturalist, 22(1):120-143. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1656/045.022.0125 Moseman-Valtierra SM, Kroeger KD, Crusius J, Baldwin S, Green A, Brooks T, and E Pugh*. (2015) Substantial nitrous oxide emissions from intertidal sediments and groundwater in anthropogenically-impacted West Falmouth Harbor, MA. Chemosphere. Moseman-Valtierra, SM. (2012) Reconsidering the climatic roles of salt marshes: Are they sinks or sources of GHGs? In: Marshes: Ecology, Management, and Conservation, D. C. Abreu and S. L. de Borbón (eds.), NOVA Science Publishers. p. 1-48. ISBN 978-1-61942-715- 0. Moseman-Valtierra SM, Gonzalez R*, Kroeger K, Tang J, Chun W, Crusius J, Bratton J, Green A, and J Shelton*. (2011) Short-term nitrogen additions can shift a coastal wetland from a sink to a source of N2O. Atmospheric Environment 45: 4390-4397, DOI: 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2011.05.046. Moseman SM, Armaiz-Nolla K*, and LA Levin. (2010) Wetland response to sedimentation and nitrogen loading: diversification and functional decline of nitrogen fixing microbes. Ecological Applications 20 (6): 1556-1568. Larsen LG, Moseman-Valtierra S, Santoro A, Hopfensperger K, and AJ Burgin. (2010). A complex systems approach to predicting effects of sea level rise and N loading on N cycling in coastal wetland ecosystems. In: Eco-DAS VIII Symposium Proceedings, American Society of Limnology and Oceanography. Ch.5, 67-92 Moseman SM, Johnson R*., Zhang R, and PY Qian. (2009) Differences in cordgrass structure between a mature and developing marsh reflect distinct N2-fixing communities. Wetlands 29(3): 919-930. Moseman SM, Zhang R, Qian PY and LA Levin (2008) Diversity and functional responses of nitrogen fixing microbes to three wetland invasions. Invasions Biology. DOI:10.1007/s10530-008-9227-0. Moseman SM (2007) Opposite diel patterns of nitrogen fixation associated with salt marsh plant species (Spartina foliosa and Salicornia virginica) in southern California. Marine Ecology 28(2): 276-287. Moseman SM, Levin LA, Currin CA, and C Forder* (2004) Infaunal colonization, succession and nutrition of macrobenthic assemblages in a restored wetland at Tijuana Estuary, California. Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science 60: 755-770. Manuscripts in review Moseman-Valtierra SM, Levin LA, and R Martin. Anthropogenic impacts on nitrogen fixation rates among restored and natural Mediterranean salt marshes. Marine Ecology- An Evolutionary Perspective (In press). Martin RM, Moseman-Valtierra SM (2015). Different responses of methane and nitrous oxide fluxes to simulated global change drivers in salt marsh Spartina alterniflora and Phragmites australis mesocosms. Journal of Experimental Marine biology and Ecology. (In review) *Undergraduate Author |
Contact:
E-mail: [email protected] Phone: 401-874-7474 Office: CBLS 489 Courses: BIO 102: Introductory Biology II BIO 130: Topics in Marine Biology BIO/NRS 485/585: Salt Marsh Ecology |