Donald Cahoon, Ph.D.
Donald R. Cahoon, PhD, is a senior research ecologist with the U. S. Geological Survey at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Laurel, Maryland and an internationally recognized expert in tidal wetland elevation dynamics and wetland vulnerability to climate change effects (e.g., sea-level rise and storms).
He is a Fellow and Past President of the Society of Wetland Scientists. Trained as a botanist and plant ecologist, he has spent the past 30 years working as a physical geographer. In 1992 he developed a field method for measuring tidal wetland accretion and elevation dynamics (the surface elevation table – marker horizon (SET-MH) method) that is used by scientists in coastal wetlands throughout the United States and in 32 countries for evaluating the critical driving forces and subsurface processes controlling elevation, and the impact of current management and restoration practices on elevation dynamics and wetland stability. His research focuses on the processes and external drivers that control wetland elevation dynamics and wetland sustainability across the broad spectrum of coastal environmental settings.
Education/Training:
- BA, Drew University, 1972, Botany
- MS, University of Maryland, 1975, Plant Ecology
- PhD, University of Maryland, 1982, Plant Ecology
Awards:
- DOI, Distinguished Service Award, 2017
- Merit Award, Society of Wetland Scientists, 2011
- Fellow, Society of Wetland Scientists, 2011
- President, Society of Wetland Scientists, 1997-1998
- USGS, Global Change Research Program funding, 1991-present
- Star Award: 1998, 2001, 2006, 2009
Science and Products
Ecogeomorphology of Spartina patens-dominated tidal marshes: Soil organic matter accumulation, marsh elevation dynamics, and disturbance
Wetland sediment surface elevation in the Florida Everglades: response to surface water stage variation
Storms as agents of wetland elevation change: their impact on surface and subsurface sediment processes
Mass tree mortality leads to mangrove peat collapse at Bay Islands, Honduras after Hurricane Mitch
Changes in wetland sediment elevation following major storms: implications for estimating trends in relative sea-level rise
Differential rates of vertical accretion and elevation change among aerial root types in Micronesian mangrove forests
Global carbon sequestration in tidal, saline wetland soils
Hurricane Mitch: impacts on mangrove sediment elevation dynamics and long-term mangrove sustainability
Estimating the potential for submergence for two wetlands in the Mississippi River Delta
High-precision measurements of wetland sediment elevation. II The rod surface elevation table
High-precision measurements of wetland sediment elevation. I. Recent improvements to the sedimentation--erosion table
Hurricane Mitch: a regional perspective on mangrove damage, recovery, and sustainability
Science and Products
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Filter Total Items: 97
Ecogeomorphology of Spartina patens-dominated tidal marshes: Soil organic matter accumulation, marsh elevation dynamics, and disturbance
Marsh soil development and vertical accretion in Spartina patens (Aiton) Muhl.-dominated tidal marshes is largely dependent on soil organic matter accumulation from root-rhizome production and litter deposition. Yet there are few quantitative data sets on belowground production and the relationship between soil organic matter accumulation and soil elevation dynamics for this marsh type. SpartinaAuthorsDonald R. Cahoon, M.A. Ford, P.F. HenselWetland sediment surface elevation in the Florida Everglades: response to surface water stage variation
No abstract available.AuthorsT. J. Smith, Donald R. CahoonStorms as agents of wetland elevation change: their impact on surface and subsurface sediment processes
Direct measures of the impact of major storms on wetland sediment elevation are rare. Recently developed techniques have enabled simultaneous, quantitative observations of surface and subsurface processes affecting sediment elevation. An analysis of ten wetland sites revealed the following patterns of sediment elevation change after storm passage: (1) elevation change equivalent to sediment accrAuthorsDonald R. CahoonMass tree mortality leads to mangrove peat collapse at Bay Islands, Honduras after Hurricane Mitch
We measured sediment elevation and accretion dynamics in mangrove forests on the islands of Guanaja and Roatan, Honduras, impacted by Hurricane Mitch in 1998 to determine if collapse of underlying peat was occurring as a result of mass tree mortality. Little is known about the balance between production and decomposition of soil organic matter in the maintenance of sediment elevation of mangrove fAuthorsDonald R. Cahoon, P. Hensel, J. Rybczyk, K.L. McKee, C.E. Proffitt, B.C. PerezChanges in wetland sediment elevation following major storms: implications for estimating trends in relative sea-level rise
Hurricanes can be important agents of geomorphic change in coastal marshes and mangrove forests. Hurricanes can cause large-scale redistribution of sediments within the coastal environment resulting in sedimentation, erosion, disruption of vegetated substrates, or some combination of these processes in coastal wetlands. It has been proposed that such sediment pulsing events are important at mainAuthorsDonald R. CahoonDifferential rates of vertical accretion and elevation change among aerial root types in Micronesian mangrove forests
Root systems in mangrove swamps have captured the attention of scientists for decades. Among the postulated roles of root structures include a contribution to the geomorphological stability of mangrove soils through sediment trapping and binding. In this study, we used feldspar marker horizons and sediment pins to investigate the influence of three different functional root types - prop roots in RAuthorsK. W. Krauss, J. A. Allen, Donald R. CahoonGlobal carbon sequestration in tidal, saline wetland soils
Wetlands represent the largest component of the terrestrial biological carbon pool and thus play an important role in global carbon cycles. Most global carbon budgets, however, have focused on dry land ecosystems that extend over large areas and have not accounted for the many small, scattered carbon-storing ecosystems such as tidal saline wetlands. We compiled data for 154 sites in mangroves andAuthorsG.L. Chmura, S.C. Anisfeld, Donald R. Cahoon, J.C. LynchHurricane Mitch: impacts on mangrove sediment elevation dynamics and long-term mangrove sustainability
No abstract available.AuthorsDonald R. Cahoon, Philippe Hensel, John Rybczyk, Brian C. PerezEstimating the potential for submergence for two wetlands in the Mississippi River Delta
We used a combined field and modeling approach to estimate the potential for submergence for one rapidly deteriorating (Bayou Chitigue Marsh) and one apparently stable (Old Oyster Bayou Marsh) saltmarsh wetland in coastal Louisiana, given two eustatic sea level rise scenarios: the current rate (0.15 cm year−1); and the central value predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (48 cmAuthorsJ.M. Rybczyk, Donald R. CahoonHigh-precision measurements of wetland sediment elevation. II The rod surface elevation table
A new high-precision device for measuring sediment elevation in emergent and shallow water wetland systems is described. The rod surface-elevation table (RSET) is a balanced, lightweight mechanical leveling device that attaches to both shallow (< 1 m) and deep (driven to refusal) rod bench marks. The RSET was built to complement the surface-elevation table (SET), a larger and heavier mechanical leAuthorsDonald R. Cahoon, J.C. Lynch, B.C. Perez, B. Segura, R.D. Holland, C. Stelly, G. Stephenson, P. HenselHigh-precision measurements of wetland sediment elevation. I. Recent improvements to the sedimentation--erosion table
The sedimentation-erosion table (SET) developed by Boumans and Day (1993) is herein renamed the surface elevation table (SET) to better reflect the conceptual view of the processes being measured. The SET was designed for making high-resolution measurements of small-scale changes in elevation of loose, unconsolidated sediments in shallow water and mudflat habitats. The SET has undergone three majoAuthorsDonald R. Cahoon, J.C. Lynch, P. Hensel, R. Boumans, B.C. Perez, B. Segura, J.W. DayHurricane Mitch: a regional perspective on mangrove damage, recovery, and sustainability
No abstract available.AuthorsDonald R. Cahoon, Philippe Hensel