Researchers with the [U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) St.
USGS Science Contributes to Plan to Conserve South Atlantic Salt Marshes
By St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
May 17, 2023
A new plan titled, “Marsh Forward” outlines what it would take to protect a million-acre salt marsh ecosystem in the South Atlantic region of the U.S. USGS coastal science was used to contribute to the immense body of knowledge used to inform the plan’s coastal adaptation strategies.
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These modeling capabilities can be applied to other salt marsh ecosystems such as those along the South Atlantic U.S. coast to predict marsh vulnerability to sea-level rise.
Explore modeling efforts for Grand Bay in this geonarrative.
The South Atlantic region of the U.S. (North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida) harbors approximately one million acres of salt marshes that benefit wildlife, communities, the economy and national defense. Partners working to sustain this valuable resource in the face of persistent threats require robust scientific knowledge to make decisions on how to effectively enhance long-term salt marsh abundance, health, and resilience. A regional effort and non-regulatory partnership, the South Atlantic Salt Marsh Initiative (SASMI) brings together leaders from the Southeast Regional Partnership for Planning and Sustainability (SERPPAS) and other local, state, and federal partners, communities, and nongovernmental organizations to determine the greatest threats to the salt marsh ecosystem, and opportunities to ensure its survival in the four-state region.
USGS conducts science to track how marsh shorelines are changing over time, study how sediment moves between marshes and other coastal environments, and predict how marshes respond to rising water levels. This science can be used to better understand and address how these ecosystems are changing due to short-term events (e.g., storms) as well as model long-term processes like sea-level rise over large geographic scales. Coastal scientists at USGS are also initiating a new project in the South Atlantic region to assess marsh vulnerability, predict marsh productivity under future scenarios of sea level rise, and assess the ability of natural and nature-based features to mitigate marsh loss under sea level rise.
Learn more about USGS Estuarine and Marsh Geology research.
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Estuarine and MaRsh Geology Research Project
The goal of the Estuarine and MaRsh Geology (EMRG) Research Project is to study how and where short- and long-term marsh and estuarine coastal processes interact, how they influence coastal accretion or erosion, and how they pre-condition a marsh’s resiliency to storms, sea-level change, and human alterations along the northern Gulf of Mexico (Grand Bay and Point aux Chenes, Mississippi and St...
A Changing Marsh: The Past, Present, and Future of Grand Bay
Researchers with the [U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) St.
Marsh lateral shoreline erosion and shore-proximal sediment deposition
Salt marshes provide important economic and ecologic services but are vulnerable to habitat loss, particularly due to shoreline erosion from storms and sea level rise. Sediments eroded at the marsh edge are either delivered onto the marsh platform or into the estuary, the latter resulting in a net loss to the marsh sediment budget and released soil carbon.
Salt marshes provide important economic and ecologic services but are vulnerable to habitat loss, particularly due to shoreline erosion from storms and sea level rise. Sediments eroded at the marsh edge are either delivered onto the marsh platform or into the estuary, the latter resulting in a net loss to the marsh sediment budget and released soil carbon.
Related Content
Estuarine and MaRsh Geology Research Project
The goal of the Estuarine and MaRsh Geology (EMRG) Research Project is to study how and where short- and long-term marsh and estuarine coastal processes interact, how they influence coastal accretion or erosion, and how they pre-condition a marsh’s resiliency to storms, sea-level change, and human alterations along the northern Gulf of Mexico (Grand Bay and Point aux Chenes, Mississippi and St...
Marsh lateral shoreline erosion and shore-proximal sediment deposition
Salt marshes provide important economic and ecologic services but are vulnerable to habitat loss, particularly due to shoreline erosion from storms and sea level rise. Sediments eroded at the marsh edge are either delivered onto the marsh platform or into the estuary, the latter resulting in a net loss to the marsh sediment budget and released soil carbon.
Salt marshes provide important economic and ecologic services but are vulnerable to habitat loss, particularly due to shoreline erosion from storms and sea level rise. Sediments eroded at the marsh edge are either delivered onto the marsh platform or into the estuary, the latter resulting in a net loss to the marsh sediment budget and released soil carbon.
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