A field experiment has been initiated in August 2008 to determine if the vegetation of a coastal marsh is in synchrony with hydrologic conditions that have developed with rising sea-level. The hypothesis being tested is that plant community structure will persist in existing zones of vegetation in the face of sea-level rise unless disturbance provides opportunities for species change under more frequent tidal inundation. This experiment contributes to answering a guiding question of the VCR-LTER project - How do short term disturbances interact with long term drivers to alter ecosystem dynamics and ultimately state change? The three zones being examined – a spring-tidal zone where Spartina alterniflora is dominant, a flood-tidal zone where a S. patens-Distichlis spicata mix is dominant, and an intermediate transition zone where the two communities are mixed. A combination of five replicated treatments in each zone is comprised of control, fertilization, clipping alone, and simulated wrack disturbance with and without fertilization in 3m x 3m plots. Wrack simulation, the result of clipping and covering with dark plastic from August 2008 to March 2009 is used as an analogue for wrack disturbance, and fertilization is considered a stress-relief in a zone where species composition may be out of phase with inundation patterns. The work builds on previous findings at the Upper Phillips Creek across marsh zones including observations of high resistance to augmented inundation by Spartina patens and Distichlis spicata, high vulnerability of Juncus roemerianus to wrack disturbance, and a die-off in the low marsh interior in 2004 that is undergoing recovery.