Remedial habitat creation: does Nereis diversicolor play a confounding role in the colonisation and establishment of the pioneering saltmarsh plant, Spartina anglica ?

Emmerson, Mark

doi:10.1007/s101520050009

Cited by 24 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…The sediment used in the pots (with a D50 of 31.58 μ m) was collected from the top 20 cm of a salt marsh pioneer mudflat near Rilland‐Bath, Oosterschelde estuary, the Netherlands. To prevent possible seedling loss due to grazing by benthic macro‐invertebrates (Emmerson ), all collected sediment was put under airtight and waterlogged conditions for 2 weeks to kill the macrobenthos. Ten randomly chosen pots were sieved to ensure that this treatment was long enough to indeed kill all worms.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of sediment disturbance regimes onSpartinaseedling establishment: Implications for salt marsh creation and restoration

Cao

Zhu

Balke

et al. 2017

Limnology & Oceanography

155

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Seedling establishment is an important process relevant for the restoration of salt marsh within the framework of sustainable coastal defense schemes. Recent studies have increasingly highlighted how the short-term (i.e., the day-to-day) sediment dynamics can form major bottlenecks for seedling establishment. Until recently, studies on quantifying the threshold values of such short-term sediment dynamics for marsh seedlings remain rare. As accretion/erosion trends and dynamics may differ greatly under global change, we study the effects of short-term sediment disturbance-regimes on seedling establishment of two globally distributed foundation species: Spartina alterniflora and Spartina anglica. Seedlings with different disturbance-free periods were exposed to a set of different accretion/erosion-regimes in the laboratory. Seedling survival appeared to be much more sensitive to erosion than accretion, seedlings with short disturbance-free periods were more sensitive than seedlings with longer ones, and S. alterniflora was more sensitive than S. anglica. Seedlings were less sensitive to gradual changes in sediment height (accretion/erosion) than to abrupt changes where time for morphological adjustment is lacking. Critical erosion depth (the maximum erosion that seedlings are able to withstand) was shown to mainly depend on sedimentation history. Our results confirm that the establishment of Spartina seedlings requires a flooding disturbance-free "window of opportunity" and that sediment disturbances affect their survival both directly and via morphological adjustment. These results provide fundamental insights into seedling establishment that can be used for designing engineering measures to create suitable conditions and enable marsh creation/restoration for nature goals or as part of coastal defense schemes under global change.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of sediment disturbance regimes onSpartinaseedling establishment: Implications for salt marsh creation and restoration

Cao

Zhu

Balke

et al. 2017

Limnology & Oceanography

155

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Laboratory-based experiments have also demonstrated significant negative effects of N. diversicolor abundance on the survival of Spartina anglica seeds (Emmerson, 2000). The extent of the area of unvegetated shore is also crucial to the regeneration of saltmarshes.…”

Section: Mud Flats and Saltmarshesmentioning

confidence: 98%

Plant community responses to Scotland's changing environment

Crawford

2001

Botanical Journal of Scotland

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The ecological dangers of global climatic change are frequently discussed in relation to their threat to biodiversity. Oceanic Scotland, however, differs in many respects from elsewhere, both in the nature of the current climatic change and the biodiversity of the flora on which it reacts. Scottish habitats, such as those in the more peripheral regions, are rarely rich in species and biodiversity may not be a relevant concept for assessing the impact of environmentaI change. In species-poor habitats ecosystem health may be a more useful measure of potential survival capacity than species wealth. Examination of the homeostatic properties of plant communities, and their ability to withstand environmental change, could provide a more practical method of predicting which sections of the Scottish flora are at risk from climatic change as well as indicating possible remedial action. Case histories from coastal, wetland, forest and mountain sites are discussed in terms of their present ecological robustness and future potential for surviving expected changes in the Scottish environment.

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“…(Paramor & Hughes 2004), Zostera noltii (Hughes et al . 2000) and Spartina anglica (Emmerson 2000). These laboratory experiments, however, were highly artificial (i.e.…”

Section: The Role Of Nereis In Saltmarsh Erosionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Saltmarsh erosion and restoration in south‐east England: squeezing the evidence requires realignment

Wolters

Bakker

Bertness

et al. 2005

Journal of Applied Ecology

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Summary1. Saltmarshes in south-east England have been eroding rapidly since 1960. Recently, and Morris et al . (2004) have presented contrasting views on the extent to which physical and biological processes might contribute to the erosion. There are three contentious issues: (i) saltmarsh erosion is the result of coastal squeeze, where sea walls prevent a landward migration of a saltmarsh in response to sea level rise; (ii) saltmarsh erosion is linked to bioturbation and herbivory of seedlings by the ragworm Nereis diversicolor ; (iii) new saltmarshes will not develop on managed realignment sites where existing sea walls have been removed because of the effects of ragworms. 2. In this paper, we provide a literature review of physical and biological processes relevant to the above three issues, and discuss the relative importance of these processes at different spatial and temporal scales. 3. Our synthesis shows that, at a regional scale, the combination of strong winds, high tides and increased wave height appears to be responsible for the increased rate of marsh erosion and creek dissection recorded in the 1970s. There is also some laboratory evidence that bioturbation and herbivory from populations of Nereis can lead to sediment instability and loss of pioneer plant species, such as Salicornia spp. However, the field evidence is more equivocal and has been conducted at small spatial scales. 4. At a large number of different managed realignment sites there is strong evidence that even if bioturbation and herbivory by Nereis have occurred, overall the effects have been insufficient to restrict plant succession of exposed sediment. Synthesis and applications.There is an urgent need for long-term field studies that integrate and quantify physical and biological processes and the related feedbacks at different spatial and temporal scales. Until this is completed, terms such as coastal squeeze will remain contentious and management decisions will invite criticism.

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Remedial habitat creation: does Nereis diversicolor play a confounding role in the colonisation and establishment of the pioneering saltmarsh plant, Spartina anglica ?

Cited by 24 publications

References 42 publications

Effects of sediment disturbance regimes onSpartinaseedling establishment: Implications for salt marsh creation and restoration

Effects of sediment disturbance regimes onSpartinaseedling establishment: Implications for salt marsh creation and restoration

Plant community responses to Scotland's changing environment

Saltmarsh erosion and restoration in south‐east England: squeezing the evidence requires realignment

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