Background

Taxonomy & Nomenclature

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Plantae - Autotrophic, eukaryotic, multicellular, organism

Phylum: Spermatophyta - Reproduce via seeds

Class: Monocotyledonae

Order: Cyperales

Family: Poaceae

Genus: Spartina / Sporobolus

Species: Spartina alterniflora / Sporobolus alterniflorus - Cause of some debate over the past decade...

Common name: Smooth Cordgrass

Habitat/qualities

• Colonies are often found growing parallel along the southeast coast in wetlands and salt marshes.

• PERIANNUAL: Does best in warm weather (July-Nov.)

• EXTREMELY ADAPTIVE: Resilient to extreme salinity, flooding, and temperatures

  • • • Due to growth of Aerenchyma throughout plant stem/leaves/roots

Growth Patterns

• Control:

  • typically reach 24-72 inches

Primary Literature

1. Hypothesis: If there is high amounts of oil introduced to the soil, then it will negatively impact the growth of our organism.

2. Testing: Measure impact of oil saturation on biomass growth.

3. Methodology: 10 different dosages of No. 2 oil, growth tracked over a 3 month period. Control included.

4. Analysis: Using a measurement of belowground biomass, we can correlate with phytoremediation processes.

5. Connections: Phytoremediation / restoration of shoreline after environmental disaster, such as the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill of 2010.

6. Conclusion: Intensity of oil damage depends on a multitude of factors such as amount of oil, extent of coverage, season of spill, weather conditions and soil composition

*** Note: Transplant shock was severe, resulting in ~50% mortality for all treatments after a week.

Secondary Literature/Connections

Conclusion

There is a possibility that the introduction of Spartina alterniflora to an oil-rich environment could be beneficial, as phytoremediation doesn’t come to a complete halt.

However, the process would be slow and this organism is already no native to the western coast of the U.S. making any attempt at this difficult, given it would be an invasive species.

References

Photos / Introduction

○ https://wmap.blogs.delaware.gov/2019/12/05/spartina-a-name-of-the-past/

○ ©John M. Randall/The Nature Conservancy/Bugwood.org - CCBY-NC 3.0 US

Photo 2 - Stem

○ ©Joseph M. DiTomaso/University of California-Davis/Bugwood.org - CC BY-NC 3.0 US

Photo 3 - seeds

○ Blog | The Lodge on Little St. Simons Island (littlestsimonsisland.com)

Photo 4 - Rhizosome growth

○ Spartina alterniflora|saltmarsh cordgrass|Poaceae – (plantsofsuburbia.com)

Photo 5 - Shoreline Erosion protectant

○Photo-courtesy-of-VIMS-CCrM_fig1_238447142

● Journal Article / Primary Source

○ Qianxin Lin, Irving A Mendelssohn, Makram T Suidan, Kenneth Lee, Albert D

Venosa, The dose-response relationship between No. 2 fuel oil and the growth of

the salt marsh grass, Spartina alterniflora, Marine Pollution Bulletin, Volume 44,

Issue 9, 2002, Pages 897-902, ISSN 0025-326X,

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0025-326X(02)00118-2.

Deepwater Horizon

○ https://www.mmc.gov/priority-topics/offshore-energy-development-and-marine-

mammals/gulf-of-mexico-deepwater-horizon-oil-spill-and-marine-mammals/

● Secondary Source

• Phytoremediation/Simbiosys: Rolando, Jose & Kolton, Max & Song, Tianze & Kostka, Joel. (2022). The core root microbiome of Spartina alterniflora is predominated by sulfur-oxidizing and sulfate-reducing bacteria in Georgia salt marshes, USA. Microbiome. 10. 37. 10.1186/s40168-021-01187-7.