Salt marshes also stabilize shorelines and buffer uplands from storms. The transplanting activities of the program give the students and the public an opportunity to take an active role in restoring the environment while promoting education of volunteers on the bay's problems and solutions. Native Spartina alterniflora plugs, or more commonly called smooth cordgrass, are harvested by the students from a natural donor site and then planted into the nursery pond. Students monitor the growth of the grasses and test salinity and pH. At right, a student learns to use a refractometer to test the salinity of the school's nursery. The remaining portion will be replanted into the existing nursery pond for another growing cycle.
Students transplant their school-grown salt marsh plants into a restoration site in Tampa Bay.