How grazing management can maximize erosion resistance of salt marshes

Marin‐Diaz, Beatriz; Govers, Laura L.; Wal, Daphne van der; Olff, Han; Bouma, Tjeerd J.

doi:10.1111/1365-2664.13888

Cited by 15 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 80 publications

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“…The range of the Y-axis spans the elevation range where salt marshes occur (70-200 cm + NAP; Dijkema et al 2011) ◂ age-dependent autocompaction, whether or not dependent on livestock, but the effect of these terms (an increase in compaction by c. 0.13 cm year −1 ) appears to be smaller than the age-independent autocompaction estimated from the intercepts (c. 0.78 cm year −1 ). These findings are at variance with Elschot et al (2013) and Marin-Diaz et al (2021) who found a strong effect of trampling. Also, Nolte et al (2015) found a significant effect of livestock, at least under certain conditions (high precipitation, high inundation frequency).…”

Section: Precipitation Swelling Shrinkage and Compactioncontrasting

confidence: 40%

“…The general effect of autocompaction is that older marshes, that have a thick clay layer, show a lower accretion rate than young marshes, irrespective of surface elevation (Cahoon et al 1995;Van Wijnen and Bakker 2001). Compaction may be further enhanced by trampling of livestock (Elschot et al 2013;Marin-Diaz et al 2021). We included terms for compaction that is dependent on both marsh-age (as a proxy for clay layer thickness) and the presence of livestock, but we also considered the intercepts of our models as estimates for age-independent autocompaction (see Supplementary Material).…”

Section: Precipitation Swelling Shrinkage and Compactionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Salt Marsh Accretion With and Without Deep Soil Subsidence as a Proxy for Sea-Level Rise

Dobben

Groot²,

Bakker

2022

Estuaries and Coasts

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The relation between salt marsh accretion and flooding regime was quantified by statistical analysis of a unique dataset of accretion measurements using sedimentation-erosion bars, on three barrier islands in the Dutch Wadden Sea over a period of c. 15 years. On one of the islands, natural gas extraction caused deep soil subsidence, which resulted in gradually increasing flooding frequency, duration, and depth, and can thus be seen as a proxy for sea-level rise. Special attention was paid to effects of small-scale variation e.g., in distance to tidal creeks or marsh edges, elevation of the marsh surface, and presence of livestock. Overall mean accretion rate was 0.44 ± 0.0005 cm year−1, which significantly exceeded the local rate of sea-level rise of 0.25 ± 0.009 cm year−1. A multiple regression approach was used to detect the combined effect of flooding regime and the local environment. The most important flooding-related factors that enhance accretion are mean water depth during flooding and overall mean water depth, but local accretion strongly decreases with increasing distance to the nearest creek or to the salt marsh edge. Mean water depth during flooding can be seen as an indicator for storm intensity, while overall mean water depth is a better indicator for storm frequency. The regression parameters were used to run a simple model simulating the effect of various sea-level scenarios on accretion and show that, even under extreme scenarios of sea-level rise, these salt marshes can probably persist for the next 100 years, although the higher parts may experience more frequent inundation.

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Section: Precipitation Swelling Shrinkage and Compactioncontrasting

confidence: 40%

Section: Precipitation Swelling Shrinkage and Compactionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Salt Marsh Accretion With and Without Deep Soil Subsidence as a Proxy for Sea-Level Rise

Dobben

Groot²,

Bakker

2022

Estuaries and Coasts

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“…This was driven by few samples with thick detritus layers, found with Elytrigia atherica , and in muddy samples on the silty marsh edge (silty pioneer marsh) or swampy areas, all having higher dynamic soil deformation. Additionally, livestock grazing may contribute to lower erosion by compacting the soil (Elschot et al, 2013; Keshta et al, 2020; Marin‐Diaz et al, 2021; Pagés et al, 2018). However in this study, grazing does not seem essential to further reduce surface erosion because similar low erosion values were obtained both in grazed and ungrazed marshes (Appendix S1: Table S1).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sediment grain size was determined with a Malvern Mastersizer 2000. Clay‐silt fraction (<63 μm), hereafter called silt content, has been previously related to clay content and soil cohesion in our marine region (Van Ledden et al, 2004) and for reproducibility it was used in this study instead of the clay fraction alone (e.g., Ford et al, 2016; Lo et al, 2017; Marin‐Diaz et al, 2021). For more information on the other soil fractions obtained see Appendix S1: Table S2.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Higher soil salinity has been related to higher belowground biomass (Alldred et al, 2017) and less marsh retreat during hurricanes (Howes et al, 2010). Additionally, large grazers such as livestock can modify the soil properties and belowground biomass, thereby increasing the resistance to lateral erosion (Davidson et al, 2017; Marin‐Diaz et al, 2021; Pagés et al, 2018). The effect of salt marshes on topsoil (surface) erosion resistance (Figure 1a) has, to the best of our knowledge, only rarely been studied under controlled conditions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The importance of marshes providing soil stabilization to resist fast‐flow erosion in case of a dike breach

Marin‐Diaz

Govers

Wal

et al. 2022

Ecological Applications

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Salt marshes provide valuable ecosystem services including coastal protection by reducing wave loading on dikes and seawalls. If the topsoil is erosion resistant to fast-flowing water, it may also reduce breach depth if a dike fails. In this experiment, we quantified the topsoil erosion resistance from marshes and bare tidal flats with different soil types to understand the extent to which they can help reduce breach depth. Intact soil samples were collected from

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Region‐specific drivers cause low organic carbon stocks and sequestration rates in the saltmarsh soils of southern Scandinavia

Leiva‐Dueñas,

Graversen,

Banta

et al. 2024

Limnology & Oceanography

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Saltmarshes are known for their ability to act as effective sinks of organic carbon (OC) and their protection and restoration could potentially slow down the pace of global warming. However, regional estimates of saltmarsh OC storage are often missing, including for the Nordic region. To address this knowledge gap, we assessed OC storage and accumulation rates in 17 saltmarshes distributed along the Danish coasts and investigated the main drivers of soil OC storage. Danish saltmarshes store a median of 10 kg OC m−2 (interquartile range, IQR: 13.5–7.6) in the top meter and sequester 31.5 g OC m−2 yr−1 (IQR: 41.6–15.7). In a global context, these values are comparatively low. Soils with abundant clay (> 20%), older and stable saltmarshes in mesohaline settings, and with low proportion of algal organic material showed higher OC densities, stocks, and accumulation rates. Grazing led to significantly higher OC stocks than neighboring ungrazed locations, likely due to trampling modifying soil abiotic conditions (higher erosion‐resistance and higher clay content) that slow carbon decay. Scaling up, Danish saltmarsh soils, comprising about 1% of the country's area, have the potential to yearly capture up to 0.1% of Denmark's annual consumption‐based CO2 emissions. Our research expands the baseline data needed to advance blue carbon research and management in the Nordic region while highlighting the need for a more comprehensive approach to saltmarsh management that considers the full range of services of these ecosystems and does not only focus on climate benefits.

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How grazing management can maximize erosion resistance of salt marshes

Abstract: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.

Cited by 15 publications

References 80 publications

Salt Marsh Accretion With and Without Deep Soil Subsidence as a Proxy for Sea-Level Rise

Salt Marsh Accretion With and Without Deep Soil Subsidence as a Proxy for Sea-Level Rise

The importance of marshes providing soil stabilization to resist fast‐flow erosion in case of a dike breach

Region‐specific drivers cause low organic carbon stocks and sequestration rates in the saltmarsh soils of southern Scandinavia

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