Journal article
Wetland Loss Patterns and Inundation-Productivity Relationships Prognosticate Widespread Salt Marsh Loss for Southern New England
Estuaries and coasts, v 40(3), pp 662-681
01 May 2017
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Tidal salt marsh is a key defense against, yet is especially vulnerable to, the effects of accelerated sea level rise. To determine whether salt marshes in southern New England will be stable given increasing inundation over the coming decades, we examined current loss patterns, inundation-productivity feedbacks, and sustaining processes. A multi-decadal analysis of salt marsh aerial extent using historic imagery and maps revealed that salt marsh vegetation loss is both widespread and accelerating, with vegetation loss rates over the past four decades summing to 17.3 %. Landward retreat of the marsh edge, widening and headward expansion of tidal channel networks, loss of marsh islands, and the development and enlargement of interior depressions found on the marsh platform contributed to vegetation loss. Inundation due to sea level rise is strongly suggested as a primary driver: vegetation loss rates were significantly negatively correlated with marsh elevation (r (2) = 0.96; p = 0.0038), with marshes situated below mean high water (MHW) experiencing greater declines than marshes sitting well above MHW. Growth experiments with Spartina alterniflora, the Atlantic salt marsh ecosystem dominant, across a range of elevations and inundation regimes further established that greater inundation decreases belowground biomass production of S. alterniflora and, thus, negatively impacts organic matter accumulation. These results suggest that southern New England salt marshes are already experiencing deterioration and fragmentation in response to sea level rise and may not be stable as tidal flooding increases in the future.
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Details
- Title
- Wetland Loss Patterns and Inundation-Productivity Relationships Prognosticate Widespread Salt Marsh Loss for Southern New England
- Creators
- Elizabeth Burke Watson - Environmental Protection AgencyCathleen Wigand - Environmental Protection AgencyEarl W. Davey - Environmental Protection AgencyHolly M. Andrews - Environmental Protection AgencyJoseph Bishop - Environmental Protection AgencyKenneth B. Raposa - Narrangansett Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Prudence Island, USA
- Publication Details
- Estuaries and coasts, v 40(3), pp 662-681
- Publisher
- Springer Nature
- Number of pages
- 20
- Grant note
- US Environmental Protection Agency; United States Environmental Protection Agency
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Biodiversity, Earth, and Environmental Science (BEES)
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000398772900005
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-84957644488
- Other Identifier
- 991019182645904721
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Environmental Sciences
- Marine & Freshwater Biology