Grayson Nolan

Collaborators: Jordan Lavin, Erick Rivas, Alyssa Huff, and Shiran Levi

From Seeds to Shoreline Lab Report

Clean Energy Innovations

4/29/22
Introduction

The experiment that is being conducted is whether or not the harvest location and gowing

environment affects how well the Spartina grows. This experiment is being conducted to replant

Spartina grass in the salt marsh through a program called “From Seeds to Shoreline”. Through

this experiment I hope to learn how to harvest, germinate, grow, and replant Spartina. The salt

marsh provides many ecosystem services so it is important that it be protected. The salt marsh is

a home and breeding ground for many animals including birds, snails, oysters, and crabs. These

animals also provide services such as food and organisms such as oysters help to filter the water.

The dead Spartina provides food to organisms by breaking down into detritus. Another important

service that the salt marsh provides is a storm buffer meaning that it withstands the impact and

water from storms which helps there to be less severe impact on land. The pluff mud in the salt

marsh acts as a sponge and absorbs water which helps to prevent flooding. When beginning the

experiment I predicted that the Spartina that was harvested from Oyster Landing and being

grown in the greenhouse would grow the best. I predicted that the Spartina from Oyster Landing

would grow the best because it was harvested from a less polluted area and more of the seeds

harvested from Oyster Landing had germinated. I believe that the Spartina seeds harvested from

Oyster Landing were harvested from a less polluted area than the seeds harvested from Withers

Swash because the Withers Swash is located near an amusement park in the middle of the city of

Myrtle beach. I believe that Oyster Landing is located in a less polluted area because it is a part

of Huntington Beach State Park and is in a more remote location. I predicted that the Oyster

Landing seeds being grown in the greenhouse would grow better because a greenhouse is used to

help plants grow and I believed that since it would be warmer and the plants would have access

to sunlight they would grow better in the greenhouse.

Methods and Materials

The materials that were used for the experiment were the Spartina seeds, long, plastic

storage bins to put plants in, sticky notes for labeling, the Grow Cart, the greenhouse, rulers to

measure the plants, and pots and soil to plant the seeds.The Spartina seeds that are being grown

were harvested from two different locations. Seeds were harvested from Wither Swash in Myrtle

Beach, SC and Oyster Landing in Murrells Inlet, SC. The Wither Swash location was more

polluted than the Oyster Landing location. The seeds from Wither Swash were harvested on

November 22nd, 2021 and the seeds from Oyster Landing were harvested on December 14th,

2021. After the seeds were harvested they were placed in Ziplock bags and put in the refrigerator

to simulate winter and help them to germinate. On January 24th, 2022 the seeds were taken out

of the bags and rinsed off. After the seeds were rinsed off the seeds for each location were

separated into four bags and placed on a Grow Cart to help them germinate. Figure 2 shows how

the process of rinsing off of the seeds looked. The grow light was left on from around 8 a.m - 3

p.m from January 24th- 31st and the first signs of germination was on January 31st. Starting on

February first the grow light was left on all day. Also on February 1st the seeds began to be

planted and the last seeds were planted on February 23rd. Figure 1 shows the class harvesting

and planting the seeds that were germinated. For this experiment the class was split up into two

groups: one group planted seeds from Withers Swash and the other group planted seeds from

Oyster Landing. I was in the group that planted seeds from Oyster Landing. There were

approximately 31,600 seeds that did not germinate and my group planted around 439 seedlings

from Oyster Landing. The seeds were counted by taking a small pinch of seeds and counting

how many seeds were in a pinch and then multiplying the seeds in one pinch by how many

pinches were in the bag of ungerminated seeds. Based on the data presented above the
percentage germinated for Withers Swash was 2.94% and the percentage germinated for Oyster

Landing was 1.47%. Even though more seedlings from Oyster Landing were planted the

percentages germinated was higher in the seedlings from Withers Swash. Thirty-two seeds that

were planted from each location were kept in the classroom under the grow light and the rest of

the seeds were grown in the greenhouse. A few weeks after the plants started growing each

group measured their plants. The plants were measured once a week, every week. The first day

that the plants were measured in the greenhouse and the classroom was 2/14/22. Figure 1.5

shows the class measuring the height of the Spartina plants. The last day the plants in the

greenhouse were measured was 4/18/22 and the last day that the plants in the classroom were

measured was 2/25/22. The large bins that the plants were stored in were also kept halfway filled

with water. Figure 2.5 shows the Spartina when they first started to grow in the greenhouse.

Figure 1
Figure 1.5

Figure 2
Figure 2.5

Results and Analysis

The results that were found while planting the seeds were that the seeds harvested from

Oyster Landing were germinating faster and more abundantly than the seeds harvested from

Withers Swash. The data that has been gathered so far shows that although more seeds harvested

from Oyster Landing germinated, the seeds harvested from Withers Swash are growing taller

than the seeds harvested from Oyster Landing. The results that I have seen so far in the growing

of the plants overall are that the Spatina that is growing in the greenhouse is growing better than

the Spartina that is growing in the classroom on the Grow Cart. The plants in the greenhouse are

taller than the plants in the classroom. By the measurements taken of the plants it can be seen

that the plants in the greenhouse are growing better than the plants in the classroom. Also,

visually it can be seen that the plants in the classroom are drastically smaller and more dried out

than the plants in the greenhouse. The height of the tallest plant grown in the greenhouse from

Withers Swash was 79 cm and the height of the tallest plant from Oyster Landing was 74 cm.
The height of the tallest plant grown in the classroom from Withers Swash was 43 cm and the

height of the tallest plant from Oyster Landing was 37.5 cm.

Figures 4-8 picture the averages of the data that was collected during the time the

Spartina was measured. The line graphs pictured in Figures 4-8 have error bars to give a more

accurate depiction of the average of the heights measured. Figure 7 pictures a bar graph

comparing the average of the height data for each growing and harvest location for the spartina.

The graphs show that the Spartina that was harvested from Withers Swash had a higher overall

average height in both growing locations (the greenhouse and classroom) than the Spartina that

was harvested from Oyster Landing, although more seeds were planted from the Oyster Landing

harvest location. The data for the average height in the plants could be skewed because more

seedlings were planted from the location. Some of the seedlings that were planted from each

location may have been younger causing the average to be lower due to their small size. The

team also calculated the percent change from Week3 -Week 6 for each graph that shows the

average height of the Spartina each week that we measured them. The percent change for the

Wither Swash greenhouse measurements was a 360% increase, Wither Swash classroom was a

621% increase, Oyster Landing greenhouse was a 198% increase and Oyster Landing classroom

was a 327% increase. We calculated the percent change by subtracting the Week 6 data by the

Week 3 data, dividing it by the Week 3 data, and then multiplying the answer by 100. The

percent change data shows that Wither Swash Spartina had a greater increase in height in both

growing locations than the Spatina harvest from Oyster Landing. The data also shows that the

Spartina that was harvested from Withers Swash and grown in the classroom had a highest

height increase. All of the data shows that the Spartina harvested from Withers Swash that was

grown in the classroom grew better than all of the other plants. The data also shows that the
Spartina harvested from both locations that was grown in the classroom grew better than the

Sparina grown in the greenhouse, although they were of a much lesser quality. The Sparina that

was grown in the greenhouse looked healthier than the Spartina that was grown in the classroom.

Figure 3 shows the Spartina after it was fully grown inthe greenhouse and Figure 3.5 shows the

Spartina fully grown in the classroom.

Figure 3

Figure 3.5
Figure 4

Figure 5
Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8
 The class also grew Spartina using the hydroponics growing method in the greenhouse.

The Spartina that was grown using this method did not look as healthy and did not grow as tall

as the Spartina grown in soil in the greenhouse or in the classroom.The tallest plant that was

grown using hydroponics was 11 cm tall. This data shows that although Spartina needs a lot of

water and can grow in flooded conditions, the nutrients in the soil are important for their growth.

Figure 9 shows the setup and end results of the Spartina that was grown using hydroponics.

Figure 9
 The reasoning for the results from the data collected is that the greenhouse is a warmer

environment that gives the plants access to sunlight, which may be why the Spartina is growing

better in the greenhouse than in the classroom. Another reason why the plants in the greenhouse

are growing better is because they do not have access to sunlight all of the time unlike the plants

in the classroom, which have access to the grow light all of the time. The consistent light shining

onto the plants may cause them to dry out and not grow. The reason why the Spatina that were

harvested from Withers Swash were growing better than the Spartina harvested from Oyster

Landing may be that plants from Withers Swash have developed larger algal blooms in their

containers than the plants from Oyster Landing. The plants from Withers Swash have more

access to nutrients than the plants from Oyster Landing causing them to grow larger. The greater

access to nutrients for the Withers Swash seeds may have come from them being located in a

more polluted area.

Conclusion

If I were asked to perform this experiment again, something that I would do differently is

count the seeds more accurately. I would make sure that I planted all of the germinated seeds so

that they are not included in the number of ungerminated seeds. Then I would measure the

amount of seeds in the pinches I made more accurately so that they would be the same size.

Another thing that I would do differently is water the seeds in the classroom more so they do not

dry out. I learned that you harvest the Spartina seeds from the Spatina growing in the salt marsh

and they can be stored in the refrigerator to simulate winter, which may help the seeds to

germinate. I also learned that the seeds can be placed in sunlight to germinate and when you

plant Spartina seeds you must keep them in a container filled up halfway with water because it

simulates the conditions of the marsh. The data supports my hypothesis that the Spartina
growing in the greenhouse would grow better than the Spaina growing on the Grow Cart in the

classroom. The data did not support my hypothesis that the Spartina seeds harvested from Oyster

Landing would grow better than the Spatina seeds harvested from Withers Swash. I believe that

the Spartina seeds that were harvested from Withers Swash grew better than the Spartina seeds

harvested from Oyster Landing because they were exposed to more nutrients than the Spartina

from Oyster. The Spatina that was harvested from Swithers Swash experienced more algal

blooms than the Spartina harvested from Oyster Landing showing that they were exposed to

more nutrients. On May 11th the class is traveling to Huntington Beach State Park to plant the

Spartina in an area at the state park where the Spartina population is depleted in salt marshes.

This event is known as “Restoration Day”. This event is important to take part in because the salt

marsh provides many ecosystem services for coastal communities. The Spartina and pluff mud

in the salt marshes act as a buffer for storms, which help to reduce flooding. The salt marsh is

also the breeding grounds for birds, snails, crabs, and oysters. These organisms also provide

services to coastal communities, such as oysters filtering water. Participating in “Restoration

Day” will help to replenish the salt marshes and benefit the coastal communities.

References

S.C Sea Grant Consortium. (2022). From Seeds to Shoreline. Sea Grant.

https://www.scseagrant.org/from-seeds-to-shoreline/

Sanger, D. & Parker, C. (2016).Guide to the Salt Marsh and Tidal Creeks of the Southern United

States. South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. Columbia, SC: South Carolina

Department of Natural Resources.