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The Search for Causes

---Part 4 of a 6-Part Series---

Perhaps the central, "$64,000 question" that the Brown Marsh Project aimed to answer, the search for causes looked at numerous environmental stressors in the field, in laboratories, and in greenhouses: salinity levels, hydrology, soil biogeochemistry, and "climatic drivers" such as rainfall and sustained high temperatures.

4.1 The Question of Climate
An in-depth analysis of the 2000-2001 climate data and a look at the historical record to determine the parameters and anomalies of the drought.

4.2 Field Studies
Examinations of the various soil types, their hydrologies, plant densities, plant vigor, and the recolonization, by cordgrass and other species, of mud flats.

4.3 Laboratory Studies
Laboratory studies are examining a variety of plant stressors in isolation, then moving on to examine their effects in various combinations.

4.4 Greenhouse Studies
Greenhouse studies are recreating the drought under controlled conditions, using simulated tidal, salinity and rainfall patterns across a variety of soil types.

4.5 Computer Modeling
Drawing on numerous experts, a computer model is built upon landscape level data, segmented hydrological models, and smooth cordgrass growth simulations