Chasing Salt:
Community Science Study
Understanding How Salt Creates Stress in Riparian-Stream Ecosystems
What are we doing?
Scientists at Virginia Tech and the University of Arkansas are chasing salt across watersheds. Globally, soil and streams are getting saltier and they want to know how carbon(C) in forests near streams (also called riparian zones) is influenced by sodium chloride (NaCl) amounts where streamside forests and streams connect. We’re asking teachers, educators, families, and community members to engage in our research so we have more data to support understanding our questions on how salt can stress forests, streams and the microbes, plants and animals that live in them.
Why are we doing it?
Salt can enter a stream through agricultural practices and road salt, and it’s not easy to remove. Ever heard of stress? Streams can get stressed, or become toxic, from too much salt, similar to hypertension in humans. When forests and streams get stressed, food (in the form of carbon (in this case strips of cotton) often gets eaten very fast or very slow–and we want to know just how fast. We can use the rate that carbon is eaten (or deteriorates), and compare that to a global study in forests and streams that don’t have so much stress. Streamside forests are one line of defense for the stream’s health, but more research is needed. That’s where you come in!
Help us collect data!
We’re focusing on sampling sites across a latitudinal geographic area of the United States within the red box on the map.
This includes areas of Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Illinois and Tennessee.
How can you help?
We are asking participants to select a safe and legally accessible stream to do the following:
- Sample soil from the riparian zone
- Sample stream water
- Measure decomposition through the use of cotton strips which act similarly to leaves
Participants will go out (following instructions we will give you) and secure little cotton strips in the riparian zone about 20 feet from the stream and directly in the stream as well as a temperature logger in the stream.
Then, about a month later, you will pick up the strips, process them using the instructions we provide, take a water and soil sample, and ship that all back to us. We will provide the cooler, materials, mailing supplies, and instructions.
Your data will help us figure out how stressed salt makes forests and streams and will be indicated by how fast or slow the cotton strips deteriorate. We are lucky to have data on this around the world and to be contributing to this global effort! See the CELLDEX project led by Dr. Scott Tiegs.
Sign up today!
- Signup by October 20th 2025 through this form – see below section “What kind of streams do you have?” first before submitting to better understand if the stream you would study is agricultural, urban, or rural.
We will send you a kit with all of the research supplies, forms, and protocols. We’ll also pay for the return postage of samples.
We have a limited number of spaces, so please respond as soon as possible.
Timeframe of project:
November – December 2025: Collect the data
January 15, 2026: Return the kits
What kind of streams do you have?
Not sure what type of stream you’re viewing? Use this free online tool to figure it out. https://modelmywatershed.org/draw
Forested streams will have at least 60% forest in the upstream area where you are standing.
Urban streams will have areas with at least 10% impervious surface.
Agricultural streams (cropland, pasture, or a combination) will have at least 25% agriculture.
To figure out the landcover of your watershed, use the online tool mentioned above. This tool will require you to know where you are in the watershed. The stream and riparian zones should (1) have vegetated and stable banks and (2) representative of streams in that region.
Question about the project or what type of stream you might have?
Email Tara Muenz, tmuenz@stroudcenter.org
Social Media
We’d love to see your streams and progress photographs! Tag @communitieschasingsalt and we’ll share them all.
Meet the Team!
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Sergio A. Sabat-Bonilla, Megan Underwood, and Wade Simpson for their contributions to this project.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 2400620. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.