We might not think much about what happens to road salt after the snow and ice melt, but it can have powerful effects on ecosystems along the roadway. At the Great Marsh, the PA Turnpike is a major source of salt through the winter. In 2023 Ben Langey, a Masters student at West Chester University, took samples from groundwater and soil along the turnpike and studied the plants growing in that soil. Ben found that Phragmites australis, a difficult-to-control invasive plant, was associated with saltier soil (though not saltier groundwater).

Read his thesis to learn more, and check out this video of Ben at work.