Quantify the effect of aquatic and floodplain vegetation on sediment and nutrient budgets along several dimensions of hydrologic connectivity (longitudinally, laterally, and temporally) in the Difficult Run floodplain watershed; Determine if long term trends in anthropogenic nutrients are linked to improvements in submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) diversity and abundance in other less urban estuaries, as they were in the highly urban, Potomac River; and Habitat evaluation and restoration of coastal wetlands and estuaries in the face of climate change and other stressors such as exotic species and eutrophication.
