scholarly journals NATURE-BASED COASTAL PROTECTION: WAVE DAMPING BY FLEXIBLE SALT MARSH VEGETATION

2020 ◽  
pp. 9
Author(s):  
Thomas J van Veelen ◽  
Harshinie Karunarathna ◽  
William G Bennett ◽  
Tom P Fairchild ◽  
Dominic E Reeve
Keyword(s):  
Salt Marsh ◽  
Salt Marshes ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Coastal Vegetation ◽  
Coastal Protection ◽  
Coastal Zones ◽  
Wave Damping ◽  
Marsh Vegetation ◽  
Efficient Manner ◽  
Wave Energy Dissipation

The ability of coastal vegetation to attenuate waves has been well established (Moller et al., 2014). Salt marshes are vegetated coastal wetlands that can act as nature- based coastal defenses. They exhibit a range of plant species, which have been shown to differ in the amount of wave damping they provide (Mullarney & Henderson, 2018). Recent studies have shown that plant flexibility is a key parameter that controls wave energy dissipation (Paul et al., 2016). Yet, no model exists that includes plant flexibility in computationally efficient manner for large-scale coastal zones. Therefore, we have developed a new model for flexible vegetation based on the key mechanisms in the wave-vegetation interaction and applied it to an estuary with diverse salt marsh vegetation.Recorded Presentation from the vICCE (YouTube Link): https://youtu.be/AjnFx3aFSzs

Salt marsh vegetation of the southern tundra subzone of Western Siberia: An example of the Baydaratskaya Bay coasts in the Kara Sea

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-68
Author(s):  
Luydmila M. Morozova ◽  
Svetlana N. Ektova
Keyword(s):  
Salt Marsh ◽  
Salt Marshes ◽  
Salt Water ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
Kara Sea ◽  
Coastal Vegetation ◽  
Salt Marsh Vegetation ◽  
Marsh Vegetation ◽  
Tidal Salt Marsh ◽  
Southern Tundra

The study is focused on the description of the vegetation and the general environment all characteristics of the salt marshes along coasts in the Baydaratskaya Bay there are of the Kara Sea in the southern tundra subzone of Russian Arctic. In tidal salt marsh habitats, several successional stages and types of communities depending on part of tidal zone. The plant communities study areas located close to research stations were represented by 50 species of vascular plant, 15 mosses and 3 lichens. The coastal vegetation tends to be floristically intermediate between the species composition of typical salt marshes communities (obligate and facultative halophytes) and species from adjacent tundra plains which can be able to tolerate occasional flooding by salt water. Zonation of salt marsh vegetation and floristic diversity were compared with the data for northern area of Kara Sea coasts.

Coastal salt-marshes plant communities of the Salicornietea fruticosae class in Apulia (Italy)

Biologia ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Saverio Sciandrello ◽  
Valeria Tomaselli
Keyword(s):  
Salt Marsh ◽  
Plant Communities ◽  
Salt Marshes ◽  
Field Work ◽  
Salt Marsh Vegetation ◽  
Marsh Vegetation ◽  
Apulia Region ◽  
Coastal Salt Marshes ◽  
Ecological Features ◽  
Halocnemum Strobilaceum

AbstractAn overview of the salt-marsh herbland and scrub vegetation belonging to the class Salicornietea fruticosae Br.-Bl. et Tx. ex A. Bolòs y Vayreda 1950 in Apulia is presented. Data available from literature have been supplemented with original relevés performed in different locations of the Apulia region. On the basis of a total of 297 relevés, fifteen communities have been defined, according to the traditional phytosociological system based on dominant and/or diagnostic taxa. For comparison purposes, the salt-marsh vegetation has been classified using numerical methods. The results obtained show that most of the clusters correspond to specific associations, and confirm the division into vegetation alliances and orders. Numerical analysis also allowed us to assign the proper allocation of some associations and plant communities drawn from literature. Five alliances, with plant communities characterized by specific ecological features, have been discriminated: Sarcocornion alpini and Arthrocnemion glauci (lower marshes), Salicornion fruticosae (middle marshes), Inulion crithmoidis and Suaedion brevofoliae (upper marshes). In addition, during the field work, a population of Halocnemum strobilaceum (Arthrocnemo-Halocnemetum strobilacei), new record for the Apulia region, has been found.

scholarly journals Climate changes in mangrove forests and salt marshes

2016 ◽  
Vol 64 (spe2) ◽  
pp. 37-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yara Schaeffer-Novelli ◽  
Eduardo Juan Soriano-Sierra ◽  
Claudia Câmara do Vale ◽  
Elaine Bernini ◽  
André Scarlate Rovai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Salt Marsh ◽  
Early Warning ◽  
Salt Marshes ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Level Energy ◽  
Mangrove Forests ◽  
Coastal Zones ◽  
Coastal Habitat ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Salt Marsh Species

Abstract This synthesis is framed within the scope of the Brazilian Benthic Coastal Habitat Monitoring Network (ReBentos WG 4: Mangroves and Salt Marshes), focusing on papers that examine biodiversity-climate interactions as well as human-induced factors including those that decrease systemic resilience. The goal is to assess difficulties related to the detection of climate and early warning signals from monitoring data. We also explored ways to circumvent some of the obstacles identified. Exposure and sensitivity of mangrove and salt marsh species and ecosystems make them extremely vulnerable to environmental impacts and potential indicators of sea level and climate-driven environmental change. However, the interpretation of shifts in mangroves and salt marsh species and systemic attributes must be scrutinized considering local and setting-level energy signature changes; including disturbance regime and local stressors, since these vary widely on a regional scale. The potential for adaptation and survival in response to climate change depends, in addition to the inherent properties of species, on contextual processes at the local, landscape, and regional levels that support resilience. Regardless of stressor type, because of the convergence of social and ecological processes, coastal zones should be targeted for anticipatory action to reduce risks and to integrate these ecosystems into adaptation strategies. Management must be grounded on proactive mitigation and collaborative action based on long-term ecosystem-based studies and well-designed monitoring programs that can 1) provide real-time early warning and 2) close the gap between simple correlations that provide weak inferences and process-based approaches that can yield increasingly reliable attribution and improved levels of anticipation.

scholarly journals Using Multispectral Drone Imagery for Spatially Explicit Modeling of Wave Attenuation through a Salt Marsh Meadow

Drones ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 25
Author(s):  
Antoine Mury ◽  
Antoine Collin ◽  
Thomas Houet ◽  
Emilien Alvarez-Vanhard ◽  
Dorothée James
Keyword(s):  
Salt Marsh ◽  
Salt Marshes ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Wave Attenuation ◽  
Coefficient Of Determination ◽  
Coastal Protection ◽  
Surface Model ◽  
Red Edge

Offering remarkable biodiversity, coastal salt marshes also provide a wide variety of ecosystem services: cultural services (leisure, tourist amenities), supply services (crop production, pastoralism) and regulation services including carbon sequestration and natural protection against coastal erosion and inundation. The consideration of this coastal protection ecosystem service takes part in a renewed vision of coastal risk management and especially marine flooding, with an emerging focus on “nature-based solutions.” Through this work, using remote-sensing methods, we propose a novel drone-based spatial modeling methodology of the salt marsh hydrodynamic attenuation at very high spatial resolution (VHSR). This indirect modeling is based on in situ measurements of significant wave heights (Hm0) that constitute the ground truth, as well as spectral and topographical predictors from VHSR multispectral drone imagery. By using simple and multiple linear regressions, we identify the contribution of predictors, taken individually, and jointly. The best individual drone-based predictor is the green waveband. Dealing with the addition of individual predictors to the red-green-blue (RGB) model, the highest gain is observed with the red edge waveband, followed by the near-infrared, then the digital surface model. The best full combination is the RGB enhanced by the red edge and the normalized difference vegetation index (coefficient of determination (R2): 0.85, root mean square error (RMSE): 0.20%/m).

Impact of salt marsh and seagrass beds on the sediemnt buget and resilience of coatsal areas

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicoletta Leonardi ◽  
Carmine Donatelli ◽  
Xiahoe Zhang ◽  
Neil Ganju ◽  
Sergio Fagherazzi
Keyword(s):  
Salt Marsh ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Salt Marshes ◽  
Numerical Models ◽  
Sediment Budget ◽  
Coastal Protection ◽  
Seagrass Beds ◽  
Geophysical Research ◽  
Coastal System ◽  
Depositional Patterns

<p>Salt marshes and seagrass beds can offer sustainable coastal protection solutions and several ecosystem co-benefits. The delicate balance regulating salt marsh stability depends on several factors including the sediment added to and removed from the coastal system (<em>Donatelli et al., 2018, 2019; Zhang et al., 2019</em>).  Despite the importance of these sediment budget dynamics, many feedbacks between salt marsh presence and sediment availability are still unclear. Here, we use numerical models to simulate changes in depositional patterns of six estuaries along the U.S. coastline to investigate how salt marsh and seagrass beds removal and restoration can alter the sediment budget and resilience of coastal environments. </p><p><em>Donatelli, C., Ganju, N.K., Kalra, T.S., Fagherazzi, S. and Leonardi, N., 2019. Changes in hydrodynamics and wave energy as a result of seagrass decline along the shoreline of a microtidal back-barrier estuary. Advances in Water Resources, 128, pp.183-192.</em></p><p><em>Zhang, X., Leonardi, N., Donatelli, C. and Fagherazzi, S., 2019. Fate of cohesive sediments in a marsh-dominated estuary. Advances in water resources, 125, pp.32-40.</em></p><p><em>Donatelli, C., Ganju, N.K., Fagherazzi, S. and Leonardi, N., 2018. Seagrass impact on sediment exchange between tidal flats and salt marsh, and the sediment budget of shallow bays. Geophysical Research Letters, 45(10), pp.4933-4943.</em></p>

scholarly journals Changes in salt-marsh vegetation weakly affect top consumers of aquatic food webs

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lafage Denis ◽  
Carpentier Alexandre ◽  
Sylvain Duhamel ◽  
Christine Dupuy ◽  
Eric Feunteun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stable Isotopes ◽  
Salt Marsh ◽  
Salt Marshes ◽  
Vegetation Type ◽  
Site Effect ◽  
Salt Marsh Vegetation ◽  
Gut Content ◽  
Marsh Vegetation ◽  
Nitrogen Inputs

AbstractSalt marshes are under high, and increasing, anthropogenic pressures that have notably been reported to affect the diet of several fish species, probably resulting in nursery function alterations. Most of the previous studies in Europe were yet based on gut content analysis of fish, which can be considered a snapshot of immediate impacts of salt-marsh changes, and hardly of long-term effects of disturbances. In this study, we investigated the impact of vegetation type (resulting from both plant invasion and sheep grazing) by assessing trophic network (and especially fish diet and position) of different salt-marsh conditions. Replicated samples of basic sources (particular organic matter and microphytobenthos), dominant vegetation, potential aquatic and terrestrial prey and fish of 3 main species were taken during summer 2010 in two bays from Western France (Mont -Saint-Michel Bay and Seine Estuary) and analysed using C and N stable isotope compositions. All response variables tested (overall trophic organization, trophic niche and trophic position) provided consistent results, i.e. a dominant site effect and a weaker effect of vegetation type. Site effect was attributed to differences in anthropogenic Nitrogen inputs and tidal regime between the two bays, with more marine signatures associated with a higher frequency of flooding events. A second hypothesis is that E. acuta, which has recently totally replaced typical salt-marsh vegetation in Mont Saint-Michel Bay strongly impacted the nursery function. The trophic status of dominant fish species was unchanged by local salt-marsh vegetation, and considered consistent with their diet, i.e. high for predatory species (the sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax and the common goby Pomatoschistus microps) and lower for biofilm grazing species (the thinlip mullet Chelon ramada). This study finally highlights the relevance of stable isotopes analyses for assessing long-term and integrative effects of changes in vegetation resulting from human disturbances in salt marshes.HighlightsCross-ecosystem subsidies are of high functional importance, notably in salt marshesFish are vectors of exchanges, most European studies being based on their gut contentUsing stable isotopes we analysed the effect of surrounding vegetation on food websSurprisingly we found weak vegetation and strong site effects on all metricsNitrogen inputs, site accessibility and loss of nursery function can explain this factAbstract Figure

scholarly journals Long-term invasion dynamics of Spartina increase vegetation diversity and geomorphological resistance of salt marshes against sea level rise

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dirk Granse ◽  
Sigrid Suchrow ◽  
Kai Jensen
Keyword(s):  
Salt Marsh ◽  
Species Diversity ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Salt Marshes ◽  
High Marsh ◽  
Marsh Vegetation ◽  
Vegetation Diversity ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThe cordgrass Spartina anglica C.E. Hubbard (Poaceae) is an invasive transformer in many salt marsh ecosystems worldwide. Relatively little is known about the capacity of Spartina to accelerate salt marsh succession and to protect salt marshes against sea level rise. We analyzed long-term changes in vegetation and elevation in mainland salt marshes of the European Wadden Sea in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, to estimate the impact of non-native Spartina on the geomorphological resistance of salt marshes to sea level rise and on changes in species diversity. From 1989 to 2019, the Spartina-zone shifted and expanded upwards to elevations of the high marsh zone and Spartina increased in frequency in several salt marsh vegetation communities. At sites where Spartina dominated the vegetation already three decades ago, elevation and species diversity increased with a higher rate compared to sites lacking Spartina. The median change rates reached for elevation MHT +8.6 versus +1.5 mm per year, for species richness +3 versus $$\pm$$ ± 0 species per three decades, and for evenness +0.04 versus −0.08 per three decades, regarding plots with versus without former Spartina dominance, respectively. Invasion of salt marshes by Spartina and its continued, long-term presence were associated with increased elevation and species diversity in the face of sea level rise.

Classification of coastal vegetation of the Rybachiy and Sredniy peninsulas (Barents Sea coast)

2017 ◽  
pp. 77-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. B. Popova ◽  
O. V. Cherednichenko ◽  
A. V. Razumovskaya
Keyword(s):  
Salt Marsh ◽  
Plant Communities ◽  
Salt Marshes ◽  
Barents Sea ◽  
Middle Level ◽  
Coastal Vegetation ◽  
Vegetation Types ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Murmansk Region ◽  
High Level

The Rybachiy and Sredniy peninsulas are situated at the 69th latitude and bounded by the Barents Sea. Their territories belong to the subarctic tundra. Coastal vegetation is the case of the azonal one, which is regularly disturbed by sea. The aim of the study is to find out the coastal plant communities diversity and investigate ecological and floristic features of the vegetation types. The classification, based on 99 original relevés using TWINSPAN algorithm and following analytical revision, was carried out with Braun-Blanquet approach. The plant communities were classified into 5 associations and one community type. These syntaxa belong to 4 alliances, 4 orders, and 3 classes (Cakiletea maritimae R. Tüxen et Preising in R. Tüxen 1950, Honckenyo peploidis–Leymetea arenarii R. Tüxen 1966, Juncetea maritimi Br.-Bl. in Br.-Bl., Roussine et Negre 1952). There is a special change in coastal vegetation while moving away from sea. Therefore, it is a case of local zonality. The halo-nitrophilous communities of ass. Atriplicetum lapponicae on sandy and shingle wash margins with seaweed debris are common for the low-level beaches. Further from sea they are changing by communities of all. Mertensio maritimae–Honcke­nyion diffusae. The sea influence gradually decrea­ses, but amount of seaweed debris is still high on the coastal sand dunes that is a common place for ass. Honckenyo diffusae–Leymetum arenarii. The communities of Ligusticum scoticum–Festuca rubra com. type cover the higher-level beaches. The nitrophilous species are common for low-level beaches but they are almost absent in high-level phytocoenoses which are considered being an intermediate stage between monodominant seashore grasslands of ass. Honckenyo diffusae–Leymetum arenarii and multispecies high-level seashore meadows (Koroleva et al., 2011). The Rybachiy and Sredniy peninsulas coastal ve­getation seems to be common with another arctic/subarctic areas but having more similarities with western coasts. Communities of ass. Atriplicetum lapponicae have not been marked for Murmansk region, and probab­ly do not occur to the east of the peninsulas (Koroleva, 2006; Koroleva et al., 2011; Matveyeva, Lavrinenko, 2011). However, they are common in western areas (Northern Norway and apparently Iceland) (Tüxen, 1970; Thannheiser, 1974). Silty and sandy low-level salt marshes belong to ass. Puccinellietum phryganodis. Ass. Puccinellietum coarctatae (syn. Puccinellietum retroflexae Nordh. 1954) communities are found on the shingle low and middle level salt mar­shes. The further decreasing of salt seawater influence results in ass. Junco gerardii–Caricetum glareosae community formation. They occupy middle and high level of salt marshes. Communities of associations Puccinellietum phryganodis and Puccinellietum coarctatae on low and middle salt marsh levels are widespread in arctic and subarctic zones (Thannheiser, 1974; Koroleva et al., 2011; Matveyeva, Lavrinenko, 2011). There is an interesting notice that communities of widespread ass. Caricetum subspathaceae were not found on the studied area. The diagnostic species of this association – Carex subspathacea – vegetated only in Junco gerardii–Caricetum glareosae communities. The reason of such phenomenon could be a small area occupied by salt marsh communities on the Rybachiy and Sredniy peninsulas, which turns out that all vegetation types cannot completely evolve.

Variability of vegetation in tidal marshes of Maine, U.S.A.

1989 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 230-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather A. Jacobson ◽  
George L. Jacobson Jr.
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Salt Marsh ◽  
Species Composition ◽  
New England ◽  
Salt Marshes ◽  
Tidal Marshes ◽  
Bay Of Fundy ◽  
Marsh Vegetation ◽  
Southern New England ◽  
England Salt Marsh

Systematic studies of vegetation on 18 salt marshes along the coast of Maine show that the vegetation is highly variable in species composition, species richness, and zonation pattern. Marshes with high species richness are found in relatively stable geologic settings, while unstable marshes at the base of erodible bluffs have low species richness. Species composition is influenced by freshwater input. Salt-marsh zonation varies greatly in both the number of zones present per marsh and the species assemblages within zones. With a few notable exceptions, the vegetation of salt marshes in southern Maine is similar to that of marshes in southern New England. Salt-marsh vegetation in northeastern Maine is more similar to that of marshes in the Bay of Fundy region. Key words: tidal marsh, salt marsh, Maine, vegetation, New England, Bay of Fundy.

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