Eastern Maine Conservation Initiative

EMCI is thrilled to learn that our grantee, Professor Pete Avis (UMaine), and his colleague, Evan Warburton, recently had their paper, “The ectomycorrhizal fungal communities of 9000-year-old red spruce forests on a coastal island of northeastern North America,” published in the journal Mycorrhiza. This paper documents the work our funding supported, and we send them our hearty congratulations!

Dr. Avis has prepared the following summary for us:

What are “Ectomycorrhizal Fungi”?

Trees don’t grow in a vacuum; they rely heavily on underground networks of fungi called ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi. These fungi attach to tree roots, effectively acting as an extended root system. In a mutual “trade,” the fungi absorb water and vital nutrients from the soil for the tree, and in return, the tree gives the fungi sugars it creates through photosynthesis.

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What Did the Study Investigate?

While these underground networks are well-studied inland, researchers wanted to look at how they behave in ancient, isolated environments. They traveled to a coastal island in Maine, USA, to study four ancient red spruce forest sites (where spruce trees have continuously grown for about 9,000 years) and compared them to a nearby beech-birch forest site.

They took DNA samples from:

• The roots of young seedlings
• The roots of mature, grown trees
• The “bulk soil” surrounding them (where no roots were present)

Key Findings

• The Big Three: The ancient red spruce networks are heavily dominated by three specific types of fungi: Cenococcum, Piloderma, and Cortinarius.
• Family Resemblance: Within the spruce forests, the same dominant fungi were found across the board—whether they looked at baby seedlings, mature trees, or the bare soil. This means the helpful fungi are firmly established everywhere in the forest floor, waiting to support the next generation of trees.
• Tree Identity Matters: There was almost zero overlap between the fungi found in the red spruce forests and the fungi found in the beech-birch forest. This proves that the types of trees growing above ground strictly dictate what kind of fungal community lives below ground, much like how it works on the mainland.

Why Does This Matter?

Island ecosystems and old-growth forests are incredibly vulnerable to climate change and human disruption. By mapping out these 9,000-year-old underground partnerships, scientists can better understand how to protect these ancient coastal forests and help them regenerate.

AUTHOR BIOS:

Pete Avis lives in Orono and is Assistant Professor of Ecosystem Genetics with the School of Ecology and Biology at the University of Maine and formerly an associate professor of Biology at Indiana University Northwest. His PhD is from the University of Minnesota. He’s studied mycorrhizal fungi for over 30 years.

Evan Warburton graduated from the University of Maine a few years ago. He worked at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Washington and now lives and works in Philadelphia. He remains enthusiastic about mycorrhizal fungi and how they interconnect forests belowground.

A few pictures and captions below: Top left – Evan and Pete catching the boat from Roque Bluffs; Top right – the reproductive part of one ectomycorrhizal fungus, a chantarelle. Lower left – mushrooms of another ectomycorrhizal fungus in the genus Cortinarius. Lower right – roots of a spruce seedling colonized by ectomycorrhizal fungi.

Our 2026 grants support projects spanning marine science, biodiversity, fisheries, scientific infrastructure, and cultural preservation, totaling over $80,000 in investment in the people and places that define Downeast Maine.

 MARINE SCIENCE & CLIMATE MONITORING

Intertidal Seaweed Inventory  |  Maine Natural History Observatory

Seaweeds are among the ocean’s most sensitive indicators of environmental change. This project establishes baseline data on seaweed diversity across fifteen tidal cycles from April to October, using DNA barcoding and microscopy to capture rare species alongside common ones. The result: a long-term monitoring foundation that can detect shifts in coastal ecosystems driven by climate change, pollution, and sea-level rise before they become irreversible.

Marine Mammals & Seabirds at Mount Desert Rock  |  Allied Whale / College of the Atlantic

Twenty-five miles offshore, a 3-acre island has served as a sentinel station for nearly three decades. This project sustains longitudinal research on humpback, minke, and fin whale populations; seal colonies; and seabird communities in waters that are warming faster than almost anywhere on Earth. Expanding the student research crew ensures this irreplaceable long-term dataset continues, training the next generation of marine scientists in the field.

Tidal Current Modeling for Machias, Englishmen’s & Chandler Bays  |  University of Rhode Island Oceanography

A graduate student’s thesis work is becoming a powerful tool for coastal managers. This project refines a predictive hydrodynamic model that tracks nutrient flows, dissolved oxygen, and aquaculture impacts across three interconnected Downeast bays. Two peer-reviewed journal manuscripts will translate the findings for researchers, regulators, and communities trying to sustain healthy coastal waters under growing pressures.

 COASTAL BIODIVERSITY & HABITAT CONSERVATION

Island Vegetation Baseline |  Maine Natural History Observatory

This project documents every vascular plant species across 86 acres of an island in Chandler Bay using a standardized grid system, creating a replicable database baseline for future conservation planning and long-term stewardship of Maine’s coastal island ecosystems.

Salt Marsh Biodiversity in Cobscook Bay  |  Center for Ecological Teaching and Learning, Husson University

Salt marshes store carbon, buffer shorelines, and harbor biodiversity, but they are disappearing. This pilot study documents vegetation across two Cobscook Bay marshes and tests hypotheses about low marsh die-off, including the role of invasive green crabs. The baseline data will inform Maine’s blue carbon strategy and coastal resilience planning.

Bryophyte Flora Inventory  |  Jeff Pengel & Helen Koch, Independent Botanists

Mosses, liverworts, and hornworts are foundational to forest-floor ecology, yet much of island bryophyte flora remains undocumented. Building on earlier work that added 50 species to the regional checklist, this project surveys outlying islands from April to October, targeting boggy areas, cliff faces, shell middens, and areas with distinct geology. The findings will expand knowledge of rare mosses and contribute to a definitive georeferenced checklist to support future ecological research and conservation planning.

Terrestrial Mammals in Coastal Habitats  |  Maine Rockweed Coalition

Cameras placed at the edge of the sea are capturing something unexpected: moose, deer, river otters, and other land mammals using rockweed beds and salt marshes in ways that are poorly understood. Expanding this camera trap networ across Cobscook Bay builds a richer picture of how coastal and terrestrial ecosystems are interconnected, helping with conservation planning on both sides of the tide line.

 FISHERIES & COASTAL STEWARDSHIP

Shellfish Restoration & Green Crab Mitigation  |  Roque Island Homestead

Invasive green crabs are decimating soft-shell clam populations along the Maine coast. This project conducts the first systematic benthic stock assessment in three Island coves. The project will measure clam density before populations decline further and deploy targeted trapping to reduce green crab pressure. The findings will anchor a Restoration Roadmap to rebuild shellfish populations and restore this traditional coastal economy.

Water Quality Monitoring for Oyster Aquaculture  |  Downeast Institute for Applied Marine Research

A real-time monitoring buoy deployed in a Downeast lobster pound will collect continuous data on temperature, dissolved oxygen, salinity, turbidity, and chlorophyll across an active oyster aquaculture operation. This data helps farmers make better decisions and builds evidence for sustainable shellfish farming in changing coastal conditions.

Narraguagus River Water Quality Baseline  |  Hancock County Soil & Water Conservation District

Atlantic salmon once thrived in the Narraguagus. Acid rain has altered river chemistry for decades. This project collects baseline water quality data — pH, alkalinity, dissolved CO₂ — needed to design a future liming treatment that could restore salmon populations, recover aquatic biodiversity, and demonstrate a replicable model for ecosystem restoration in acid-impacted rivers across the region.

 SCIENTIFIC INFRASTRUCTURE & EDUCATIONAL ASSETS

High-Precision GNSS Base Station |  University of New England

Funding of a permanent GPS base station at a coastal pre-contact archaeological site that will improve the mapping accuracy needed to model coastal erosion, shell midden loss, and adjacent habitat change. A single piece of infrastructure that will multiply precision and the value of years of future research.

Geologic Tours of Washington County  |  Washington County Soil & Water Conservation District

Six self-guided tour pamphlets will unlock the deep geological story written in Washington County’s beaches, parks, and public lands, making world-class science accessible to residents, students, and visitors, and deepening appreciation for the natural processes that shaped this coastline.

 CULTURAL HERITAGE PRESERVATION

Eastport Sentinel Digitization Project  |  Washington County Historical and Genealogical Society

The Eastport Sentinel, published from 1818 to 1945, is an irreplaceable record of life along the Downeast coast. To compensate for unexpected funding losses, EMCI is supporting the final year of digitization needed to make the full archive publicly accessible. This will restore the community’s ability to research family histories, trace local events, and connect students to firsthand historical accounts from one of Maine’s most storied maritime communities.

Jonesport Historical Society Archives  |  Jonesport Historical Society

With over 230 gigabytes of archives (50,000+ artifacts, 87,000 genealogical names, 4,500 cemetery records, and video interviews with 75 senior residents) the Jonesport Historical Society maintains one of the most sophisticated community history databases in Washington County. EMCI’s support for replacing failed hardware ensures these irreplaceable records remain accessible to families, filmmakers, and researchers who depend on them.

EMCI granted over $50,000 in 2025 to support a wide variety of projects conducted in Washington County, Maine, including:

1. An innovative tidal/current modeling project of Chandler Bay and other adjacent water bodies, to understand the impacts of aquaculture on the health of the ecosystem and traditional fishing grounds.
2. Passamaquoddy leadership efforts to educate their community and others about ancestral petroglyphs.
3. Habitat restoration of tidal flats critical to local shellfish harvesters, with supporting research to explore the impact of rising sea levels on the substrates that support shellfish growth.
4. Cataloging of bryophyte diversity in Eastern Maine, to serve as a baseline to understand the impact of environmental changes.
5. Preservation of a historical park and central meeting house structure in a culturally significant area of Downeast Maine.
6. Revitalization of a historical ‘fisheries trail’ documenting the evolving heritage of the fishing community in coastal Washington County.
7. Rescue excavations and geological analysis on a significant and newly identified Indigenous lithic quarry site by archeologists, which is perhaps the only intact, coastal, Indigenous quarry site in Maine.
8. Scholarships for a graduate-level summer internship to support riverine restoration in the effort to rehabilitate Atlantic salmon.  

All of this work is made possible by the generous support of our donor community! Please join us.

The Gulf of Maine and its coastal regions, including Downeast Washington County, are experiencing rapid ecological changes due to climate change. While the information below is daunting, research and conservation projects like those we support at EMCI are making a difference by helping improve management and adaptation plans. It is critical that work like this continues to get funded in order to protect the unique ecosystems and traditional industries that support the communities in Washington County. Please consider making a donation to help us continue our support of projects that preserve this beautiful and underserved region.

Here’s a consolidated overview of the key issues:

Warming Waters and Sea Level Rise

The Gulf of Maine is warming 97% faster than the global ocean, with water temperatures rising 3 times faster than the global average. This warming trend is accompanied by accelerated sea level rise, which has nearly doubled in the past 30 years. These changes resulted in massive storms in early January 2024 that severely impacted local communities, particularly the fishing community which experienced enormous loss of their working waterfront infrastructure.

Marine Biodiversity & Ecosystem Shifts

The Gulf’s rich biodiversity, home to over 3,300 species of marine plants and animals, is under threat:

• Warming waters are becoming too warm for cod and kelp forests.
• Kelp forests are declining, with some areas witnessing a 36.2% decrease between 1987 and 2015.
• In Downeast Washington County, kelp forests are transitioning to red algae turf reefs, altering habitat structures and potentially impacting fish communities. They now cover 50-60% of the ocean floor in some areas.
• Coastal mudflats in Washington County have seen drastic reductions in species diversity since the 1980s. Shellfish populations, crucial for local economies, are threatened by increasing ocean acidification.
• Other important commercial species like American lobster, Atlantic cod, and sea scallops are affected by changing conditions, which put additional pressure on the livelihood of traditional fishing communities. Cunner (also known as Tautog) and Pollock, fish species of less market value are now becoming dominant.
• The critically endangered North Atlantic right whale, among 30 at-risk species in the Gulf, faces challenges due to seasonal mismatches affecting food availability.

Terrestrial Ecosystem Changes

Climate change is having significant impacts on terrestrial species in Washington County, Maine. Here are some specific effects:

• The treeline and growing season in Washington County’s forests are shifting, with peak fall foliage now occurring almost two weeks later than it did in 1950.
• Climate change, coupled with increased pressure from non-native pathogens, insect pests, and invasive species, is altering the composition of Maine’s forests.
• Cedar and fir trees are sensitive to temperature and precipitation changes in the region. Spruce forests, particularly red spruce, are among the most climate-sensitive ecosystems in Maine. The U.S. Forest Service predicts a 50% decline in red spruce by 2100. Warming temperatures and changing precipitation patterns are also expected to reduce habitat suitability for balsam fir and other spruce species. Even small climatic changes could lead to rapid changes in these forests, as they are at the southern edge of their range. The spruce-fir forest decline could have cascading effects on wildlife, such as the potential loss of 60 bird species in Acadia National Park by 2150

• Beech leaf disease is becoming more visible, with many stands failing to recover after several seasons of canopy loss.
• White pine trees across the state are universally affected by white pine needle disease.
• Eight new wildlife species were added to the Maine State List of Endangered and Threatened Species in 2023, many due to climate change impacts. Newly listed species include the Saltmarsh Sparrow, Bicknell’s Thrush, Blackpoll Warbler, Marginated Tiger Beetle, Cliff and Bank Swallows, the Tricolored Bat, and Ashton’s Cuckoo Bumblebee. (Note: Several of these species live outside the Washington County area).
• Additional species vulnerable to climate change in Washington County include bats, amphibians, turtles, salmonid fish, and moose.
• A quarter of Maine’s at-risk butterflies are threatened by climate change.
• Maine birds are shifting their ranges due to climate change. Two-thirds of short-distance migrants and one-third of long-distance migrants are projected to decrease in the region. The Boreal Chickadee is already moving northward.
• Many of Maine’s insects, foundational to ecosystem food webs, are altering their flight periods due to climate change. These changes are causing mismatches between flowering and pollination, as well as between predators and prey.
• Changes in precipitation and hydrology, especially in ephemeral or vernal pools, are likely impacting Washington County’s amphibians.
• Climate warming is facilitating the establishment and spread of more invasive plant species in Washington County. The county’s biodiverse river shores and floodplains are particularly vulnerable to invasive plant proliferation. Invasive species like Common and Glossy Buckthorn are flourishing in warmer winters and replacing native understory plants.

Your support of projects that help understand and mitigate these impacts has enduring impacts! Thank you.

EMCI granted over $30,000 in 2024 to support a wide variety of projects conducted in Washington County, Maine, including:

1. An inventory of the status and distribution of seaweeds on offshore islands.
2. Support of a local historical society to create a replica 19th century room.
3. A clam recruitment monitoring network in Eastern Maine.
4. A moss inventory on island environments.
5. Establishment of distributional baselines for island land birds in regions of potential climate change refugia.
6. Funding of graduate student summer internship to assist in restoring riverine processes and habitat suitability for Atlantic salmon.  
7. Ongoing mycorrhizal study on island environment.
8. Support for University of Maine at Machias Summer Conservation Internship focusing on coastal observation skill development.
9. Radiocarbon Dating Eroded Archaeological Sites on Falls Island, Pembroke, Maine.
10. Environmental monitoring and conservation of priority coastal Spruce forests in Downeast Maine.
11. Support of local high school program to create a vernal pool and study local ecosystems through inventory of native plants and pollinator conservation.
12. Improving the accuracy of multispectral drone analysis of harvested rockweed beds.
13. Assisting a local museum in the printing of a map and guide that covers local historical sites and cultural information.
14. Support of emergency requisition of industrial saltwater pump system to enable ongoing scallop spat study.
15. Establishment of baseline vegetation data on remote island environment.

In 2023, we granted over $23,000 to support ecological research, conservation, and preservation efforts in the Downeast Washington County region of Maine.

1. Support of a local historical society in its efforts to preserve historical documents and conduct oral history interviews with elderly community members.
2. Funding an ecologically focused professional development workshop for teachers in eastern Washington County. 
3. Erosion audit of archaeological sites on Falls Island, Pembroke, Maine.
4. Support for expansion of coastal observing capacities for fisheries in eastern Washington County. 
5. Development of a new tool for assessing the impacts of rockweed harvesting with multispectral drone analysis.
6. Funding of graduate student summer internship to assist in restoring riverine processes and habitat suitability for Atlantic salmon.  
7. Continued support for the restoration of American Civil War Museum room.
8. Development of a project to engage local community members in assessing seaweed health in Downeast Maine. 

We are grateful to have been able to fund so many excellent projects this year! In 2022 we granted over $20,000 to support research, conservation, and preservation efforts initiated by local organizations in the Downeast Region of Maine. The projects include: 

1. A project to educated local landowners and their communities about rockweed harvesting, including how to recognize it, and their options for legal response. (Center for Ecological Training)
2. Support of acquisition of a drone to help in monitoring remote easements. (Downeast Coastal Conservancy)
3. A project, in cooperation with NERACOOS, to monitor the water quality in the Saint Croix River. (Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries)
4. A survey of owls in Downeast, Maine both to understand migration and habitat ranges.  (Maine Natural History Observatory)
5. Support of an intern to help with the digitization of historical records. (Sullivan Sorrento Historical Society)
6. The hiring of an independent archeologist to review a historical tide mill. (Tide Mill Institute)
7. Financing support for final phase of a significant restoration project of Civil War murals. (Tides Institute)
8. Water quality monitoring in the Chandler Bay Area.
9. Development of a CEM ROMS tidal current model for areas of coastal Washington Country from Machias Bay to Moosabec Reach.

We are grateful to have received so many excellent grant applications this year! The following projects have been funded in our 2021 grant cycle.

1. A project to gather and assess the concentrations of floating microplastics and understand their associated risks to seabird colonies in Eastern Maine. (Shaw Institute)
2. An experiential learning program for high school students focusing on water quality monitoring. (Cobscook Institute)
3. The production of a digital resource for identifying and classifying the seaweeds of eastern Maine. (Glen Mittlehauser, Maine Natural History Observatory)
4. A survey of steams–focusing on water quality and density of aquatic organisms–to be completed by the Passamaquoddy Wildlife Department and be used as input in the management plan for a 55,000 acre protected forest.  (Downeast Lakes Land Trust)
5. Production of a short documentary film to help communicate the model of a successful community-based marine research facility that has achieved national recognition while addressing the local economic and environmental conditions. (Downeast Institute)
6. Development and dissemination of an “Environmental Stewardship Guide” for Taunton Bay Watershed which can be used as a model for other communities. (Friends of Taunton Bay)
7. Hardware upgrade and software support for small local historical society in the process of digitizing their archives. (Jonesport Historical Society)
8. An immersive study by local high school students to gauge the “true impact and value of lobsters” to their local community. (Jonesport High School)
9. Interviews and meetings with a cross-section of stakeholders in Washington Country, ME to understand the social complexities of the local fishing communities, their economic dependencies, and their deep knowledge of their local marine ecologies. (Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries)
10. Supplies and storage solutions to support the archiving of historical documents in a small community that had previously not had any historical society. (Roque Bluffs Historical Society)

EMCI awarded approximately $21,000 in grants in 2019, all going to great projects that directly support the Eastern Maine region.

We wish the best of luck to all applicants, and look forward to seeing the progress reports of our grant recipients as they come in.

2019 Awards

Washington Academy, Atlantic Salmon Conservation School Network. A school program in Washington county that will allow local children to participate in a cross-cultural program – with children from other ‘northern’ nations – focusing on the sustainability and conservation of Atlantic Salmon in Eastern Maine.

Downeast Salmon Federation. A project with the goal of determining a holistic approach to ecosystem-based Atlantic Salmon habitat restoration in the Machias River. The results of this project will be disseminated to key state agencies to help in developing management processes.

University of Maine Machias. William Otto. Seventh Annual Roque Island Lecture.

Jonathan Keller. A novelist in Addison, Maine who writes about local fishermen, their lives on the coast of Eastern Maine, and the challenges they face. This novelist engages closely with the local community, elevating their sense of self-worth through his literature. 

Project Share, Eastport. Restoration of riverine processes and habitat suitability in the Upper Narraguagus River and Northern Stream.

Maine Natural History Observatory. The final layout and preparation of a multi-volume Field Guide to Maine Wildflowers that will be published in 2019. 

Tides Institute. Support of a local historical society to restore a rare book that includes first-hand accounts of Eastern Maine’s soldiers’ involvement in the Civil War. 

Schoodic Institute. A research project assessing the effects of rockweed on the physical characteristics in the rocky intertidal zone. Rockweed is the most common seaweed in Eastern Maine, providing a vital habitat for marine animals. 

Sullivan-Sorrento Historical Society. Support of local historical society to hire a local student intern to reorganize their collection and develop displays for school children to become familiar with their historical heritage.