Effects of Impoundment on Vertical Accretion of Coastal Marsh

Marsh Loss Due to Cumulative Impacts of Hurricane Isaac and the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in Louisiana

“…Several studies have shown that the physical characteristics of the impacted site can have an influence on the effect of both oil-spills and hurricanes [5,6,62]. We hypothesized that shores of narrow land masses were likely to be more susceptible to erosion and show slower recovery compared to shores of wider islands.…”

A Model Approach for Estimating Colony Size, Trends, and Habitat Associations of Burrow-Nesting Seabirds

“…As with armoring, these barriers alter the transport and distribution of sediments to and within deltas, coastal marshes and tidal channels (Thom 1992;Barrett and Niering 1993;Brockmeyer et al 1997;Bryant and Chabreck 1998;Hood 2004). These impacts in turn alter the formation and maintenance of tidal flow channels, and hence the overall structural integrity of river deltas.…”

“…The structure of embayments, whose boundaries are dependent on persistent replenishment of sediments from both tidal and more upland flows, is frequently modified by the changes in sediment transport induced by tidal barriers (Schlenger et al, in review). Such shifts particularly alter or disrupt the morphology and vegetation composition of nearshore marshes (Barrett and Niering 1993;Bryant and Chabreck 1998;Hood 2004), and limit the availability of detrital nutrients used by aquatic organisms (Schlenger et al, in review).…”

Effects of a drawdown on plant communities in a freshwater impoundment at Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge, Louisiana

“…These findings suggested that reduced sediment deposition in the impounded marshes would result in a shorter life expectancy for those marshes. Other studies have also identified lower sedimentation and lower surface elevation in impounded marshes compared to marshes that retained hydrologic connectivity (Reed and others, 1997;Bryant and Chabreck, 1998;Gabrey and Afton, 2001). Bryant and Chabreck (1998), however, found that a permanently flooded freshwater impoundment (that is, no active water management was applied) had greater accretion than did a nearby natural marsh.…”