A rapid method to assess salt marsh condition and guide management decisions

Kutcher, Thomas E.; Raposa, Kenneth B.; Roman, Charles T.

doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2022.108841

Cited by 7 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…An 8.9-ha subsection of the overall study site exhibits signs of SLR and inundation stress including large areas of marsh platform die-off, in both low and high marsh. Die-off areas are distinct from natural pools and pannes in that they are shallow impounded surface depressions containing combinations of bare peat, open water, stunted vegetation, and filamentous algae ( Kutcher et al, 2022 ). In other areas, stunted S. alterniflora intermixes with high marsh grasses, providing evidence of ongoing SLR effects on the marsh.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The marsh is unditched with a small number of remnant pools on the marsh platform. The control marsh is also exhibiting SLR stress including stunted vegetation, waterlogged soils and expanding marsh surface die-off areas ( Kutcher et al, 2022 ). Surface salinity can exceed 35 ppt, likely due to tidal water evaporation in shallow die-off areas ( Mikula et al, 2019 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Study Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

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Laying it on thick: Ecosystem effects of sediment placement on a microtidal Rhode Island salt marsh

Raposa

Bradley

Chaffee

et al. 2022

Front. Environ. Sci.

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Heightened recognition of impacts to coastal salt marshes from sea-level rise has led to expanding interest in using thin-layer sediment placement (TLP) as an adaptation tool to enhance future marsh resilience. Building on successes and lessons learned from the Gulf and southeast U.S. coasts, projects are now underway in other regions, including New England where the effects of TLP on marsh ecosystems and processes are less clear. In this study, we report on early responses of a drowning, microtidal Rhode Island marsh (Ninigret Marsh, Charlestown, RI) to the application of a thick (10–48 cm) application of sandy dredged material and complimentary extensive adaptive management to quickly build elevation capital and enhance declining high marsh plant species. Physical changes occurred quickly. Elevation capital, rates of marsh elevation gain, and soil drainage all increased, while surface inundation, die-off areas, and surface ponding were greatly reduced. Much of the marsh revegetated within a few years, exhibiting aspects of classic successional processes leading to new expansive areas of high marsh species, although low marsh Spartina alterniflora recovered more slowly. Faunal communities, including nekton and birds, were largely unaffected by sediment placement. Overall, sediment placement provided Ninigret Marsh with an estimated 67–320 years of ambient elevation gain, increasing its resilience and likely long-term persistence. Project stakeholders intentionally aimed for the upper end of high marsh plant elevation growth ranges to build elevation capital and minimize maintenance costs, which also resulted in new migration corridors, providing pathways for future marsh expansion.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Laying it on thick: Ecosystem effects of sediment placement on a microtidal Rhode Island salt marsh

Raposa

Bradley

Chaffee

et al. 2022

Front. Environ. Sci.

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“…Area to edge ratio + more core and less edge represents less exposure to erosion through wave action [46,55] Unvegetated edge ratio -more unvegetated edge represents more risk to tidal currents and RSLR [31,47,56] Land Cover/Use in watershed % impervious -more impervious can negatively impact runoff/habitat [48,49] % natural + more natural areas can absorb runoff/protect habitat [52][53][54] % agricultural -more agriculture can negatively impact runoff/habitat [50,51] Vulnerability Erosion Soil erodibility -high erosion potential represents greater risk of loss of sediment from marsh [45,57] Tides Tidal range + a larger tidal range represents more resilience to RSLR, since plant elevational distribution is broader [30,32,37,58,59] % marsh below MHHW -more marsh below MHHW represents more risk of converting high marsh to low marsh with RSLR [24,60] % marsh below MTL -more marsh below MTL represents more area at risk of excessive inundation in the face of RSLR [45,56,61] Adaptive Capacity Shoreline Hardened shoreline -more hardened shoreline represents more impediments to migration and decreased sediment supply [4,62,63] Shoreline complexity + the more complex the shoreline the more opportunity for diverse habitats to support greater biodiversity [38,64,65] Migration Ability Marsh migration space + more migration space in low-lying uplands adjacent to marsh represents a larger potential future area for marsh to move into [9,35,36,66] Wetland "connectedness" + marshes that are more connected to each other in the future are able to support species migrations…”

Section: Marsh Configurationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…MEM, WARMER, SLAMM) that are not always accessible for managers to employ on a local scale due to complexity or absence of required data inputs [32][33][34][35]. Conversely, many other studies are focused on a local or regional scale with metrics that are not applicable across geographic areas [36][37][38]. Many evaluation tools focus on marsh assessment and fail to provide recommended approaches to managers [15,37,[39][40][41].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Marsh migration and beyond: A scalable framework to assess tidal wetland resilience and support strategic management

Stevens,

Shull,

Carter

et al. 2023

PLoS ONE

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Tidal wetlands are critical but highly threatened ecosystems that provide vital services. Efficient stewardship of tidal wetlands requires robust comparative assessments of different marshes to understand their resilience to stressors, particularly in the face of relative sea level rise. Existing assessment frameworks aim to address tidal marsh resilience, but many are either too localized or too general, and few directly translate resilience evaluations to recommendations for management strategies. In response to the deficiencies in existing frameworks, we identified a set of metrics that influence overall marsh resilience that can be assessed at any spatial scale. We then developed a new comprehensive assessment framework to rank relative marsh resilience using these metrics, which are nested within three categories. We represent resilience as the sum of results across the three metric categories: current condition, adaptive capacity, and vulnerability. Users of this framework can add scores from each category to generate a total resilience score to compare across marshes or take the score from each category and refer to recommended management actions we developed based on expert elicitation for each combination of category results. We then applied the framework across the contiguous United States using publicly available data, and summarized results at multiple spatial scales, from regions to coastal states to National Estuarine Research Reserves to finer scale marsh units, to demonstrate the framework’s value across these scales. Our national analysis allowed for comparison of tidal marsh resilience across geographies, which is valuable for determining where to prioritize management actions for desired future marsh conditions. In combination, the assessment framework and recommended management actions function as a broadly applicable decision-support tool that will enable resource managers to evaluate tidal marshes and select appropriate strategies for conservation, restoration, and other stewardship goals.

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Pattern changes and early risk warning of Spartina alterniflora invasion: a study of mangrove-dominated wetlands in northeastern Fujian, China

et al. 2023

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A rapid method to assess salt marsh condition and guide management decisions

Cited by 7 publications

References 44 publications

Laying it on thick: Ecosystem effects of sediment placement on a microtidal Rhode Island salt marsh

Laying it on thick: Ecosystem effects of sediment placement on a microtidal Rhode Island salt marsh

Marsh migration and beyond: A scalable framework to assess tidal wetland resilience and support strategic management

Pattern changes and early risk warning of Spartina alterniflora invasion: a study of mangrove-dominated wetlands in northeastern Fujian, China

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