Background
Spartina alterniflora, also known as smooth cordgrass or oyster grass, dominates regularly flooded saline marshes along the Gulf of Mexico and the eastern United States coastline. This highly productive ecosystem provides critical habitat and nutrition for many avian, fish, and invertebrate species. In the spring of 2000, fishermen and scientists noticed that certain areas of coastal marsh in south Louisiana were turning brown. While patchy areas of dieback have been noticed in the past, the size of the current dieback area is unprecedented. The areas most affected are the salt marshes between the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers. Since the initial site visits in the early summer, the area of the marsh dieback has increased, and little recovery has been noted in affected areas. Inspections of roots and rhizomes indicate that this event is not simply a dieback of aboveground plant material but can also result in death of belowground portions of the grass.
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