Lisa Schile, MS
I'm a fifth year PhD candidate a
nd 2007 CALFED Pre-doctoral Science Fellow. Using remote sensing and field experiments, I incorporate a multidisciplinary approach to understand how tidal wetland plant distributions in San Francisco Bay might change with predicted climate change.
I have a BS in Ecology, Behavior, Evolution from UC San Diego. In 2003, I earned my MS at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette under Dr. Susan Mopper. I studied the effects of salinity stress on the interaction between a native wetland Louisiana iris species and a leafmining fly (Schile and Mopper 2006). I have been researching and exploring wetlands in the San Francisco Bay estuary since 2004 and truly love my work.
Field Experiment
I recently completed a field experiment examining how sea-level rise affects above- and below-growth and competitive interactions of two dominant wetland species, Schoenoplectus acutus, a low marsh species, and S. americanus, a mid marsh species. These species are dominant within brackish and freshwater wetlands and have adjacent overlapping marsh distributions. I incorporated a unique design called the marsh organ to simulate sea-level rise under field conditions at two historic marshes in the San Francisco Bay estuary: Browns Island and Rush Ranch. Each species responded differently to increased inundation and the effect was consistent between sites. Additionally, the effects on above- and below-ground biomass mirrored each other. Schoenoplectus americanus had a significant drop in productivity with increased inundation whereas S. acutus biomass did not reduce dramatically. Competition negatively affected both species, but the magnitude of the effect varied by species and elevation. Stay tuned for published results!
Modeling Experiment
Sea level is expected to rise between 55 and 140 cm in the next century and is likely to have significant effects on the distribution and maintenance of tidal wetlands; however, little is known about the effects of increased sea level on Pacific coast tidal marshes. I am modeling changes in marsh surface elevation for salt, brackish, and oligohaline tidal marshes using the Marsh Equilibrium Model (MEM). This zero-dimensional model incorporates suspended sediment concentrations, tide levels, current marsh elevations, above-ground biomass, and decomposition rates to model organic and inorganic accretion rates under a variety of predicted rates of sea-level rise. Field data from salt, brackish, and oligohaline marshes were collected to create and calibrate specific inputs for each marsh type. A digital elevation model was created using LiDAR data. I am running MEM for each marsh type at different elevation bins altering century sea-level rise and suspended sediment concentrations. I created and used an estuary-wide mask in a GIS to reflect levee boundaries, roads, and other barriers that restrict marsh migration. The modeling results will be applied to the digital elevation model to determine marsh area at select time intervals for each scenario. Preliminary results suggest that changes in the suspended sediment concentration had more of an influence on marsh accretion rates than changes in the contribution of plant biomass and that marsh area decreases with increased sea-level rise. Few upland areas are available for marsh migration.
Contact Info
130 Mulford Hall #3114
Dept of Environmental Science, Policy, and Managment
Berkeley, CA 94720-3114
lschile (at) berkeley (dot) edu
