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Disappearing Ponds

October 5, 2018

WHOI biogeochemist Amanda Spivak samples plant matter in the remnants of a small pond in Great Marsh in Barnstable, Mass. In the 1930s, the Cape Cod Mosquito Control Project dug approximately 1500 miles of ditches across marshes on the Cape to help move water at low tide and prevent mosquitos from breeding. As a result, many of the ponds on the marshes slowly filled in. Working with partners at USGS, Spivak is studying how this and other management decisions might have changed the marsh’s ability to capture and store carbon, and protect coasts against sea level rise. (Photo by Laura Castañón, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)