Coastal wetlands fulfil important functions for biodiversity conservation and coastal protection, which are inextricably linked to typical morphological features like tidal channels. Channel network configurations in turn are shaped by bio-geomorphological feedbacks between vegetation, hydrodynamics and sediment transport. This study investigates the impact of two starkly different recruitment strategies between mangroves (fast/homogenous) and salt marshes (slow/patchy) on channel network properties. We first compare channel networks found in salt marshes and mangroves around the world and then demonstrate how observed channel patterns can be explained by vegetation establishment strategies using controlled experimental conditions. We find that salt marshes are dissected by more extensive channel networks and have shorter over-marsh flow paths than mangrove systems, while their branching patterns remain similar. This finding is supported by our laboratory experiments, which reveal that different recruitment strategies of mangroves and salt marshes hamper or facilitate channel development, respectively. Insights of our study are crucial to understand wetland resilience with rising sea-levels especially under climate-driven ecotone shifts.
Mangrove forests inhabiting the margin between land and sea at low latitudes provide crucial ecosystem services to coastal communities including resource provisioning (e.g., timber and fuelwood), coastal protection, organism habitat (e.g., shrimp and fish) and cultural services (Alongi & Mukhopadhyay, 2015;Barbier et al., 2011;Brander et al., 2012). When submerged by tides, mangrove trees dissipate wave energy and reduce tidal currents, protecting the coast from erosion and hydraulic scouring (Temmerman et al., 2013). Reduced hydrodynamic
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