Patterns and Processes of Saltmarsh Area Change at Three Spatial Scales

Patterns and Processes of Saltmarsh Area Change at Three Spatial Scales PDF Author:
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Languages : en
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Patterns and Processes of Saltmarsh Area Change at Three Spatial Scales

Patterns and Processes of Saltmarsh Area Change at Three Spatial Scales PDF Author:
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Languages : en
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Patterns and Processes of Saltmarsh Area Change at Three Spatial Scales

Patterns and Processes of Saltmarsh Area Change at Three Spatial Scales PDF Author: Cai Ladd
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Languages : en
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Patterns and Processes of Saltmarsharea Change at Three Spatial Scales

Patterns and Processes of Saltmarsharea Change at Three Spatial Scales PDF Author: Cai J. T. Ladd
Publisher:
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Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Ecosystems around the globe are being degraded by anthropogenic activity. Coastalecosystems are considered especially vulnerable given that human populations areconcentrated at the coast. Extensive areas of saltmarsh habitat have already been lost to landreclamation, and the continued existence of natural marsh systems is in question.Understanding how saltmarsh plants interact within a changing coastal environment is seen asa vital step in protecting remaining habitat and delivering successful restoration. This thesisexamines patterns of saltmarsh change across Great Britain (GB), and the biological andenvironmental drivers responsible for change, in order to better understand marsh persistence.Studies have tended to assess marsh persistence based on their capacity to grow verticallywith sea level rise. Long-term horizontal marsh dynamics are often overlooked. Chapter 2examines 100 years of saltmarsh area change across GB and found that sea level rise andsediment supply determined whether saltmarshes expanded or eroded. All marshes werekeeping pace with sea level rise, highlighting the importance of considering horizontaldynamics in long-term marsh change.Identifying the limits on horizontal saltmarsh growth onto tidal flats has been valuable inassessing potential impacts of coastal change on open-coast marsh systems, however little workhas been done on identifying limits of marsh extent within estuaries. Chapter 3 examinessaltmarsh extent change between 1948 and 2013 in three sheltered estuaries along western GB,and shows that changes in the position of tidal channels limited marsh extent. Channelsperiodically migrated across the estuary causing marsh erosion. On the opposite bank, marshestended to expand, indicating the capacity of marshes to cycle between phases of expansion anderosion retaining a dynamic persistence within estuaries.Horizontal erosion of saltmarsh creeks causes vegetated marsh debris to accumulate at thecreek base. Indications are that these deposits limit further erosion and promote recoverythrough trapping sediment if they persist. However, biotic and abiotic controls on debrislongevity are unclear. Chapter 4 examines monthly creek change over a year and shows thatfailed bank debris with high root content slow debris erosion rates, thereby promoting sedimenttrapping and recovery. Thus, plant growth plays an important role on saltmarsh stability.By investigating marsh change over different spatio-temporal scales, a picture emerges ofhow biological and environmental drivers collectively influence change in saltmarsh extent.This offers important insight into how management interventions could target the drivers ofmarsh change at each scale in order to build marsh resilience, and is discussed in chapter 5.

Concepts and Controversies in Tidal Marsh Ecology

Concepts and Controversies in Tidal Marsh Ecology PDF Author: M.P. Weinstein
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 0792360192
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 862

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Tidal salt marshes are viewed as critical habitats for the production of fish and shellfish. As a result, considerable legislation has been promulgated to conserve and protect these habitats, and much of it is in effect today. The relatively young science of ecological engineering has also emerged, and there are now attempts to reverse centuries-old losses by encouraging sound wetland restoration practices. Today, tens of thousands of hectares of degraded or isolated coastal wetlands are being restored worldwide. Whether restored wetlands reach functional equivalency to `natural' systems is a subject of heated debate. Equally debatable is the paradigm that depicts tidal salt marshes as the `great engine' that drives much of the secondary production in coastal waters. This view was questioned in the early 1980s by investigators who noted that total carbon export, on the order of 100 to 200 g m-2 y-1 was of much lower magnitude than originally thought. These authors also recognized that some marshes were either net importers of carbon, or showed no net exchange. Thus, the notion of `outwelling' has become but a single element in an evolving view of marsh function and the link between primary and secondary production. The `revisionist' movement was launched in 1979 when stable isotopic ratios of macrophytes and animal tissues were found to be `mismatched'. Some eighteen years later, the view of marsh function is still undergoing additional modification, and we are slowly unraveling the complexities of biogeochemical cycles, nutrient exchange, and the links between primary producers and the marsh/estuary fauna. Yet, since Teal's seminal paper nearly forty years ago, we are not much closer to understanding how marshes work. If anything, we have learned that the story is far more complicated than originally thought. Despite more than four decades of intense research, we do not yet know how salt marshes function as essential habitat, nor do we know the relative contributions to secondary production, both in situ or in the open waters of the estuary. The theme of this Symposium was to review the status of salt marsh research and revisit the existing paradigm(s) for salt marsh function. Challenge questions were designed to meet the controversy head on: Do marshes support the production of marine transient species? If so, how? Are any of these species marsh obligates? How much of the production takes place in situ versus in open waters of the estuary/coastal zone? Sessions were devoted to reviews of landmark studies, or current findings that advance our knowledge of salt marsh function. A day was also devoted to ecological engineering and wetland restoration papers addressing state-of-the-art methodology and specific case histories. Several challenge papers arguing for and against our ability to restore functional salt marshes led off each session. This volume is intended to serve as a synthesis of our current understanding of the ecological role of salt marshes, and will, it is hoped, pave the way for a new generation of research.

Principles of Tidal Sedimentology

Principles of Tidal Sedimentology PDF Author: Richard A. Davis Jr.
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9400701233
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 622

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Book Description
This book presents a comprehensive, contemporary review of tidal environments and deposits. Individual chapters, each written by world-class experts, cover the full spectrum of coastal, shallow-marine and even deep-marine settings where tidal action influences or controls sediment movement and deposition. Both siliciclastic and carbonate deposits are covered. Various chapters examine the dynamics of sediment transport by tides, and the morphodynamics of tidal systems. Several chapters explore the occurrence of tidal deposits in the stratigraphic context of entire sedimentary basins. This book is essential reading for both coastal geologists and managers, and geologists interested in extracting hydrocarbons from complex tidal successions.

Spatial and Temporal Dynamics of Salt Marsh Vegetation Across Scales

Spatial and Temporal Dynamics of Salt Marsh Vegetation Across Scales PDF Author: Daehyun Kim
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Biogeographic patterns across a landscape are developed by the interplay of environmental processes operating at different spatial and temporal scales. This research investigated dynamics of salt marsh vegetation on the Skallingen salt marsh in Denmark responding to environmental variations at large, medium, and fine scales along both spatial and temporal spectrums. At the broad scale, this research addressed the importance of wind-induced rise of the sea surface in such biogeographic changes. A new hypothetical chain was suggested: recent trends in the North Atlantic Oscillation index toward its positive phase have led to increased storminess and wind tides on the ocean surface, resulting in increased frequency, duration, and magnitude of submergence and, hence, waterlogging of marsh soils and plants, which has retarded ecological succession. At the mid-scale, spatial patterns of vegetation and environmental factors were examined across tidal creeks. Sites closer to tidal creeks, compared to marsh interiors, were characterized by the dominance of later-successional species, higher bulk density, and lower nutrient contents and electrical conductivity. This finding implies that locations near creeks have experienced a better drainage condition than the inner marshes, which eventually facilitated the establishment of later-successional plants that are intolerant to physical stress. At the micro-scale, this research examined how the extent and mode of facilitation and competition vary for different combinations of plant species along physical gradients. Both positive and negative relationships were spatially manifested to a greater degree on the low marsh than on the mid marsh. This insight extends our current knowledge of scale-dependent interactions beyond pioneer zones to higher zones. On the low marsh, different types of bivariate point pattern (i.e., clustered, random, and regular) were observed for different combinations of species even at similar spatial scales. This finding implies that it is difficult to generalize at which scales competition and facilitation occur. To conclude, this research stresses the need for a holistic approach in future investigations of salt marsh biogeography. For example, based on results of this current research, it would be meaningful to develop a comprehensive simulation model that incorporates salt marsh ecology, geomorphology, and hydrology observed across scales.

Coastal Wetlands

Coastal Wetlands PDF Author: Gerardo M.E. Perillo
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 0080932134
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 975

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Book Description
Coastal wetlands are under a great deal of pressure from the dual forces of rising sea level and the intervention of human populations both along the estuary and in the river catchment. Direct impacts include the destruction or degradation of wetlands from land reclamation and infrastructures. Indirect impacts derive from the discharge of pollutants, changes in river flows and sediment supplies, land clearing, and dam operations. As sea level rises, coastal wetlands in most areas of the world migrate landward to occupy former uplands. The competition of these lands from human development is intensifying, making the landward migration impossible in many cases. This book provides an understanding of the functioning of coastal ecosystems and the ecological services that they provide, and suggestions for their management. In this book a CD is included containing color figures of wetlands and estuaries in different parts of the world. Includes a CD containing color figures of wetlands and estuaries in different parts of the world.

Handbook of Halophytes

Handbook of Halophytes PDF Author: Marius-Nicusor Grigore
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9783030576349
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Highlights the potential of biosaline agriculture in a changing environment Covers all important topics related to halophyte biology including biochemistry, genetics and genomics Provides information on potential use of halophytes Each topic is explained in detail and examined from various angles More than 100 contributions by international experts

Towns, Ecology, and the Land

Towns, Ecology, and the Land PDF Author: Richard T. T. Forman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107199131
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 637

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Book Description
A pioneering book highlighting the dynamic environmental dimensions of towns and villages and spatial connections with surrounding land.

Salt Marshes

Salt Marshes PDF Author: Duncan M. FitzGerald
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107186285
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 499

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Book Description
A multidisciplinary review of salt marshes, describing how they function and respond to external pressures such as sea-level rise.