Salt marshes are intertidal wetlands characterized by their high rates of primary productivity, organic matter mineralization, and nutrient cycling. They provide a broad range of ecosystem services to local and global human populations such as estuarine water purification, coastal protection from storm surges, sediment erosion control, maintenance of fisheries, carbon sequestration, and much more. However, salt marshes are threatened by the effects of climate change. Extreme climatic events, such as drought and flooding, are increasing in frequency triggering salt marsh dieback events. The accelerated rate of sea level rise also endangers the fate of salt marsh ecosystems that may not increase elevation at the same pace.
We have working projects in the Gulf of Mexico and the US Southeast assessing adaptive management practices that could improve the resilience of salt marsh ecosystems to climate change. We are part of several collaborations studying, among other things:
- The extension, causes and proposed restoration of a extensive long-term marsh dieback area in Charleston, SC.
- The ecology and biogeochemistry of a chronosequence of thin layer placement (i.e., the beneficial use of dredge material to increase marsh elevation) in a salt marsh ecosystem in Sabine, LA
- The establishment of best practices in the nursery production of smooth cordgrass to support habitat restoration and erosion protection in coastal Georgia
- The ecosystem-level response of replacing built infrastructure to allow marsh migration in Sapelo Island, GA
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