Snail Consumption of Marsh Grasses in Mesocosms, 2018 and 2020

This experiment evaluated the effects of resource availability via nutrient addition and snail herbivory on the plant traits of Spartina alterniflora. Marsh periwinkles (Littoraria irrorata) and smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) were collected from Cushman's Landing marsh on the Eastern Shore in the summer of 2018 and set up in mesocosm tanks at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science in Gloucester Point, VA. There were four treatments: nutrient addition only, herbivory only, nutrient addition plus herbivory, and a control. At the end of the experiment, plants were analyzed for a series of plant traits. Dried and ground plant tissues were then resuspended in agar and a feeding assay was conducted in the summer of 2020 to evaluate how treatments influenced subsequent snail grazing. Six types of data were collected: 1) Feeding Assay Snail Morphometrics, 2) Final Plant Measurements, 3) Initial Plant Measurements, 4) Mesocosm Snail Morphometrics, 5) Plant Traits and 6) Snail Consumption.