Constraints on the adjustment of tidal marshes to accelerating sea level rise
Much uncertainty exists about the vulnerability of valuable tidal marsh ecosystems to relative sea level rise. Previous assessments of resilience to sea level rise, to which marshes can adjust by sediment accretion and elevation gain, revealed contrasting results, depending on contemporary or Holocene geological data. By analyzing globally distributed contemporary data, we found that marsh sediment accretion increases in parity with sea level rise, seemingly confirming previously claimed marsh resilience. However, subsidence of the substrate shows a nonlinear increase with accretion. As a result, marsh elevation gain is constrained in relation to sea level rise, and deficits emerge that are consistent with Holocene observations of tidal marsh vulnerability.
Citation Information
| Publication Year | 2022 |
|---|---|
| Title | Constraints on the adjustment of tidal marshes to accelerating sea level rise |
| DOI | 10.1126/science.abo7872 |
| Authors | Neil Saintilan, Katya E. Kovalenko, Glenn R. Guntenspergen, Kerrylee Rogers, James C. Lynch, Donald Cahoon, Catherine E. Lovelock, Daniel A. Friess, Erica Ashe, Ken Krauss, Nicole Cormier, Tom Spencer, Janine Adams, Jacqueline Raw, Carles Ibanez, Francesco Scarton, Stijn Temmerman, Patrick Meire, Tom Maris, Karen M. Thorne, John Brazner, Gail L. Chmura, Tony Bowron, Vishmie Palepitiya Gamage, Kimberly Cressman, Charlie Endris, Christina Marconi, Pamela Marcum, Kari St. Laurent, William G. Reay, Kenneth B. Raposa, Jason A. Garwood, Nicole Kahn |
| Publication Type | Article |
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Series Title | Science |
| Index ID | 70239298 |
| Record Source | USGS Publications Warehouse |
| USGS Organization | Western Ecological Research Center; Wetland and Aquatic Research Center; Eastern Ecological Science Center |
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Constraints on marsh response to accelerating sea level rise
Here we provide data used to report on changes in tidal marsh elevation in relation to our network of 387 fixed benchmarks in tidal marshes on four continents measured for an average of 10 years. During this period RSLR at these marshes reached on average 6.6 mm yr-1, compared to 0.34 mm yr-1 over the past millennia. While the rate of sediment accretion corresponded to RSLR, the loss of elevation - Connect
Karen Thorne, Ph.D.
Research EcologistEmailPhone