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Accepted (AM)Open Access (License Unspecified), Open
Journal article
Anthropocene Survival of Southern New England's Salt Marshes
Estuaries and coasts, v 40(3), pp 617-625
01 May 2017
PMID: 30271312
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
In southern New England, salt marshes are exceptionally vulnerable to the impacts of accelerated sea level rise. Regional rates of sea level rise have been as much as 50 % greater than the global average over past decades, a more than fourfold increase over late Holocene background values. In addition, coastal development blocks many potential marsh migration routes, and compensatory mechanisms relying on positive feedbacks between inundation and sediment deposition are insufficient to counter inundation increases in extreme low-turbidity tidal waters. Accordingly, multiple lines of evidence suggest that marsh submergence is occurring in southern New England. A combination of monitoring data, field re-surveys, radiometric dating, and analysis of peat composition have established that, beginning in the early and mid-twentieth century, the dominant low-marsh plant, Spartina alterniflora, has encroached upward in tidal marshes, and typical high-marsh plants, including Juncus gerardii and Spartina patens, have declined, providing strong evidence that vegetation changes are being driven, at least in part, by higher water levels. Additionally, aerial and satellite imagery show shoreline retreat, widening and headward extension of channels, and new and expanded interior depressions. Papers in this special section highlight changes in marsh-building processes, patterns of vegetation loss, and shifts in species composition. The final papers turn to strategies for minimizing and coping with marsh loss by managing adaptively and planning for landward marsh migration. It is hoped that this collection offers lessons that will be of use to researchers and managers on coasts where relative sea level is not yet rising as fast as in southern New England.
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Details
- Title
- Anthropocene Survival of Southern New England's Salt Marshes
- Creators
- E. B. Watson - Environmental Protection AgencyK. B. Raposa - Narragansett Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Prudence Island, USAJ. C. Carey - Marine Biological LaboratoryC. Wigand - Environmental Protection AgencyR. S. Warren - Connecticut College
- Publication Details
- Estuaries and coasts, v 40(3), pp 617-625
- Publisher
- Springer Nature
- Number of pages
- 9
- Grant note
- EPA999999 / Intramural EPA
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Biodiversity, Earth, and Environmental Science (BEES)
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000398772900001
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-84990832629
- Other Identifier
- 991019182765404721
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InCites Highlights
Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:
- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Environmental Sciences
- Marine & Freshwater Biology