Additional Information

Related Links:

NWRC

Select Bibliography:

Krauss, K.W., and Whitbeck, J.L., 2012, Soil greenhouse gas fluxes during wetland forest retreat along the lower Savannah River, Georgia (USA): Wetlands, v. 32, 73-81.

Krauss, K.W., Duberstein, J.A., Doyle, T.W., Conner, W.H., Day, R.H., Inabinette, L.W., and Whitbeck, J.L., 2009, Site condition, structure, and growth of baldcypress along tidal/non-tidal salinity gradients: Wetlands, v. 29, p. 505-519.

Noe, G.B., and C.R. Hupp, 2009, Retention of riverine sediment and nutrient loads by coastal plain floodplains: Ecosystems, v. 12, p. 728-746.

Conner, W.H., Doyle, T.W., and Krauss, K.W., 2007, Ecology of Tidal Freshwater Forested Wetlands of the Southeastern United States: Springer. [Reviewed in Ecology, v. 89, p. 2967]

Sea Level Rise and Conversion of Wetland Forests to Marsh

Tidal swamp forest adjacent to a marsh along
the Sampit River, South Carolina [top image].
Baldcypress swamp at Jean Lafitte National
Historical Park and Preserve (Louisiana)
transitioning to oligohaline marsh
[bottom image].

We are documenting shifts in coastal forest condition and hydrological attributes of healthy and degraded forests as they convert to marsh in the Southeastern United States. Our working hypothesis is that carbon sequestration and nutrient biogeochemical processes and rates are expected to vary in different coastal environments in predictable ways. Wetland ecological processes, therefore, are expected to change considerably during the radical shift in balance (loss/gain, uptake/release) at the onset and duration of forest dieback, such that restoration of these ecosystems would be more complex than simply planting trees or diverting water. We are currently leading a series of integrated process-based studies in order to tie directly into structural equation model (and later landscape simulation model) development in prediction of how coastal forest loss may translate into important shifts in ecosystem services associated with carbon, nutrients, and water cycling with sea-level rise and salinity incursion. Our studies are currently centered on select coastal swamp forest transitions in Louisiana, South Carolina, Georgia, and Maryland.

Why is this research important?

Thoroughly understanding the extent to which natural coastal systems can respond to environmental change and continue to provide essential services to society increases the likelihood that adaptation efforts will be successful. Our research addresses how tidal freshwater forested wetlands are expected to shift inland with sea-level rise, and what consequences this has for carbon and nutrient cycling, and the vulnerability of coastal wetlands in general.

Principal Investigator: Ken W. Krauss, National Wetlands Research Center

Project Team: Gregory B. Noe, Christopher M. Swarzenski, Donald R. Cahoon, Camille L. Stagg, Cliff Hupp, James B. Grace