I am broadly interested in understanding how coastal wetlands respond to sea level rise. Current research focuses on:

1. Plant community composition and soil genesis as salt marshes move overland into upland ecosystems as sea level rises.

2. The contribution of plant roots to marsh surface elevation change and soil organic matter content.

3. Quantification of soil component content including living roots, peat, air, water, sand, and rock and shell through the use of Computer-aided X-ray Tomography (CAT-scans).

*Note to potential graduate students: I am no longer taking on new graduate students.

PUBLICATIONS

• Response and resilience of Spartina alterniflora to sudden dieback
  2016; Journal of Coastal Conservation; Marsh, A. | Blum, L.K. | Christian, R.R. | Ramsey, E. | Rangoonwala, A.
• Below the salt marsh surface: Visualization of plant roots by computer-aided to mography
  2013; Oceanography; Blum, L.K. | Davey, E.
• Estuarine Microbial Ecology
  2012; Estuarine Ecology; Blum, L.K. | Mills, A.L.
• On the Relationship Between Sea Level and Spartina alterniflora Production
  2012; Ecosystems; Kirwan, M.L. | Christian, R.R. | Blum, L.K. | Brinson, M.M.
• Enhanced decomposition offsets enhanced productivity and soil carbon accumulation in coastal wetlands responding to climate change
  2011; Biogeosciences; Kirwan, M.L. | Blum, L.K.
• Importance of the fiddler crab Uca pugnax to salt marsh soil organic matter accumulation
  2010; Marine Ecology Progress Series; Thomas, C.R. | Blum, L.K.
• Distribution of microbial communities associated with the dominant high marsh plants and sediments of the United States East Coast
  2004; Microbial Ecology; Blum, L.K. | Roberts, M.S. | Garland, J.L. | Mills, A.L.
• A geostatistical analysis of small-scale spatial variability in bacterial abundance and community structure in salt marsh creek bank sediments
  2002; FEMS Microbiology Ecology; Franklin, R.B. | Blum, L.K. | McComb, A.C. | Mills, A.L.
• A stormflow/baseflow comparison of dissolved organic matter concentrations and bioavailability in an Appalachian stream
  2001; Biogeochemistry; Buffam, I. | Galloway, J.N. | Blum, L.K. | McGlathery, K.J.
• Determining replication for discrimination among microbial communities in environmental samples using community-level physiological profiles
  2000; FEMS Microbiology Ecology; Lowit, M.B. | Blum, L.K. | Mills, A.L

TEACHING

Practical Concepts in Environmental Sciences (EVSC 1020)
Practical concepts and problem solving in environmental sciences through demonstrations, hands-on activities, structured discussions, and problem sets beyond those of traditional lectures or discussion groups. Emphasizes experience and critical thinking in the four core areas: geology, hydrology, atmospheric sciences, and ecology.

Restoration Ecology (EVSC 4240)
This course examines the science of restoration ecology and the practice of ecological restoration through lectures and in-class discussion. Emphasis is on application of ecological concepts, models, and methodologies to restoration of degraded and impaired ecosystems. The potential for exploiting restoration projects as large-scale ecosystem experiments and the importance of grounding restoration efforts in basic ecological theory are discussed.