Tidal Wetland Resilience to Increased Rates of Sea Level Rise in the Chesapeake Bay: Introduction to the Special Feature

Wetlands ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (6) ◽  
pp. 1667-1671
Author(s):  
Taryn A. Sudol ◽  
Gregory B. Noe ◽  
Denise J. Reed
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Chesapeake Bay ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Tidal Wetland

THE IMPRINT OF SEA-LEVEL RISE AND LAND-USE CHANGE ON OYSTER HABITATS IN A SMALL TRIBUTARY CREEK OF THE UPPER CHESAPEAKE BAY

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soely Luyando-Flusa ◽  
◽  
Christopher J. Hein ◽  
Leslie Reeder-Myers ◽  
Torben Rick ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Use Change ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Chesapeake Bay ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Small Tributary

scholarly journals Contributions of Organic and Mineral Matter to Vertical Accretion in Tidal Wetlands across a Chesapeake Bay Subestuary

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 751
Author(s):  
Jenny R. Allen ◽  
Jeffrey C. Cornwell ◽  
Andrew H. Baldwin
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Chesapeake Bay ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
210Pb Dating ◽  
Sediment Supply ◽  
Mineral Matter ◽  
Tidal Wetlands ◽  
Vertical Accretion ◽  
Inorganic Matter

Persistence of tidal wetlands under conditions of sea level rise depends on vertical accretion of organic and inorganic matter, which vary in their relative abundance across estuarine gradients. We examined the relative contribution of organic and inorganic matter to vertical soil accretion using lead-210 (210Pb) dating of soil cores collected in tidal wetlands spanning a tidal freshwater to brackish gradient across a Chesapeake Bay subestuary. Only 8 out of the 15 subsites had accretion rates higher than relative sea level rise for the area, with the lowest rates of accretion found in oligohaline marshes in the middle of the subestuary. The mass accumulation of organic and inorganic matter was similar and related (R2 = 0.37). However, owing to its lower density, organic matter contributed 1.5–3 times more toward vertical accretion than inorganic matter. Furthermore, water/porespace associated with organic matter accounted for 82%–94% of the total vertical accretion. These findings demonstrate the key role of organic matter in the persistence of coastal wetlands with low mineral sediment supply, particularly mid-estuary oligohaline marshes.

scholarly journals Adaptation, Sea Level Rise, and Property Prices in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed

2019 ◽  
Vol 95 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Walsh ◽  
Charles Griffiths ◽  
Dennis Guignet ◽  
Heather Klemick
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Chesapeake Bay ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Chesapeake Bay Watershed ◽  
Property Prices

Trends in Chesapeake Bay Sedimentation Rates during the Late Holocene

1990 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph F. Donoghue
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Chesapeake Bay ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
Tide Gauge ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Sedimentation Rates ◽  
Relative Sea Level ◽  
The Past ◽  
Relative Sea Level Rise

AbstractTrends are discernible in the estimates of late Holocene rates of sedimentation and sea-level rise for the Chesapeake Bay. During most of the Holocene Epoch sedimentation rates and relative sea-level rise were equal, within the limits of measurement, at approximately 1 mm yr−1. Sedimentation rates measured over the past century, however, are nearly an order of magnitude higher, while the rate of relative sea-level rise for the Chesapeake Bay now averages 3.3 mm yr−1, as measured on long-term tide gauge records. When the acceleration in these rates occurred is uncertain, but it appears to have been confined to the past millennium, and probably to the past few centuries. The rapid sedimentation rates recorded during historic time may be a temporary disequilibrium that has resulted from a recent acceleration in the rate of relative sea-level rise.

scholarly journals Tidal wetland resilience to sea level rise increases their carbon sequestration capacity in United States

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Faming Wang ◽  
Xiaoliang Lu ◽  
Christian J. Sanders ◽  
Jianwu Tang
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
United States ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Accumulation Rate ◽  
C Sequestration ◽  
Tidal Wetlands ◽  
Tidal Wetland ◽  
Climate Change Scenarios

AbstractCoastal wetlands are large reservoirs of soil carbon (C). However, the annual C accumulation rates contributing to the C storage in these systems have yet to be spatially estimated on a large scale. We synthesized C accumulation rate (CAR) in tidal wetlands of the conterminous United States (US), upscaled the CAR to national scale, and predicted trends based on climate change scenarios. Here, we show that the mean CAR is 161.8 ± 6 g Cm−2 yr−1, and the conterminous US tidal wetlands sequestrate 4.2–5.0 Tg C yr−1. Relative sea level rise (RSLR) largely regulates the CAR. The tidal wetland CAR is projected to increase in this century and continue their C sequestration capacity in all climate change scenarios, suggesting a strong resilience to sea level rise. These results serve as a baseline assessment of C accumulation in tidal wetlands of US, and indicate a significant C sink throughout this century.

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