Federal Project Grant Award Summary

The Smithsonian Institution received a $600,000 Project Grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Environmental Biology under the Biological Sciences program (CFDA 47.074), awarded June 1, 2026, with completion targeted for May 31, 2031. This Long-Term Research in Environmental Biology (LTREB) renewal project delivers scientific research outputs examining how tidal marshes respond to changing coastal conditions through experimental manipulation of atmospheric carbon dioxide, nutrient enrichment, and water level dynamics. The research leverages a unique 40-year dataset of plant, microbe, and soil responses to environmental fluctuations, extending an AI-ready collection of plant growth measurements, leaf chemistry, soil chemistry, soil elevation change data, and archived genetic samples of marsh vegetation. These scientific outputs—including identification of critical factors for marsh survival, documentation of genotypes valuable for marsh restoration under variable conditions, and biotechnological resources for coastal protection—address the critical environmental challenge of coastal wetland loss affecting fisheries, wildlife habitat, water quality, and human infrastructure protection.

The project comprises three complementary long-term field experiments conducted at the performance location in Edgewater, Maryland, testing the hypothesis that water level changes represent the ultimate driver of resilience in coastal wetlands. Through rigorous long-term experimental design and data collection, the project will generate peer-reviewed research findings, expanded scientific datasets, and genetic resources that advance understanding of ecosystem persistence mechanisms and support development of evidence-based marsh restoration and coastal defense strategies.