Person:
Menzmer, Austin

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https://www.husson.edu/directory/austin_menzmer
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Assistant Professor, College of Science and Humanities
Last Name
Menzmer
First Name
Austin
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Degrees Held
Ph.D. Plant Biology, 2024, University of Georgia
M.S. Biology, 2019, Andrews University
B.S. Biology, 2017, Southern Adventist University

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    HERBACEOUS PLANT COMPOSITION IN THE HUSSON UNIVERSITY FOREST PRIOR TO INVASION BY EMERALD ASH BORER
    (2026-04-16) Talbott, Rowan; Menzmer, Austin; McKnight, Aly; Crowley, Katherine
    The Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis, EAB) is an invasive species quickly killing ash trees across the eastern United States. With the EAB soon to arrive on our campus forest, we proposed a study to establish baseline pre-invasion data on woody, herbaceous, avian, and small mammal populations. Husson’s ash forest contains both upland deciduous forest and wetlands. We established six sites in the forest, each with multiple ash trees present: three in the upland and three in the wetland. Following the collection of pre-invasion herbaceous data in July 2025, we analyzed the diversity, composition, and canopy openness between site types. We found a significant difference in composition between the upland and wetland sites, but no difference in diversity or canopy openness. The lack of difference in diversity between upland and wetland plots may be due to an overall low number of species throughout the forest, while the lack of difference in canopy openness suggests that the cause of the compositional difference between the upland and wetland is not related to varying levels of light reaching the forest floor. Indicator species analysis revealed five species that represented the upland (p=0.01, 0.03, 0.03, 0.04, 0.04) and two species that represented the wetland (p=0.01, 0.001). We recommend monitoring the water table and measuring nutrient availability as a possible means to explain the compositional difference between the wetland and upland environments. Collecting data earlier in the season may reveal the presence of transient wetland species. Research post-invasion should focus on the species identified as indicators of their respective environments.
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    DOCUMENTING SALT MARSH BIODIVERSITY, INCLUDING LOW MARSH DIE-OFF, IN COBSCOOK BAY, MAINE: IMPLICATIONS FOR MAINE’S BLUE CARBON STRATEGY
    (2026-04-16) Menzmer, Austin; Seeley, Robin Hadlock
    The health of Cobscook Bay salt marshes, particularly low marshes, in Washington County, Maine, has declined over the past decade (R. H. Seeley, pers. observation and Seeley and McCullough, unpublished data). Maine’s blue carbon strategy counts on healthy coastal salt marshes to sequester carbon, but there is no published work yet on these marshes in decline. We propose a first-year pilot study to document salt marsh vegetation from the forest edge to the low marsh intertidal zone in two Cobscook Bay marshes, and thereby set the stage for a long-term study describing, quantifying, and analyzing the causes of low marsh die-off. We will establish four vertical transects at each of two marshes: one in Dennysville and one in Edmunds. Along each transect, each month of the year, we will photo-document (and later analyze in the lab) plant species in 0.5 m2 quadrats, spaced regularly along each vertical transect. Plant species samples will be collected and retained as voucher specimens at the University of Maine Herbarium. In addition, we will collect water temperature and salinity data at each marsh through monitoring units fixed in the marsh. Documenting the patterns of microgeographic and seasonal variation in salt marsh vegetation will establish a baseline for testing hypotheses after 2026 about the mechanisms that underlie those patterns.