Media Category: PIE

PIE_LTER_2025_PhDPosition Plum Island Ecosystems LTER grad student 2025

Study author Kayla Martinez-Soto takes GPS coordinates of burrows in the PIE-LTER.

View of the Rowley River and surrounding salt marshes in the PIE LTER.

Fiddler crab, Minuca pugnax, from Rowley, Massachusetts, which is within the PIE-LTER. This crab, no larger than the size of your thumb, is easily identified as a male due to the presence of its large claw. The small claw is used for eating, while the large claw is used for competition among males. These large claws can account for up to 40% of the crab’s mass, yet they aren’t strong enough to cause harm.

Illustration by Mary Linabury.

Spartina alterniflora dominates the lower-elevations of salt marshes in the eastern United States. Living within its tissues are many fungal endophytes, which Kylea and Mya cultured.