Salt marsh climate adaptation: Using runnels to adapt to accelerating sea level rise within a drowning New England salt marsh

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danielle C. Perry ◽  
Wenley Ferguson ◽  
Carol S. Thornber
Keyword(s):  
Salt Marsh ◽  
New England ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
England Salt Marsh

scholarly journals Top-down and bottom-up controls on southern New England salt marsh crab populations

PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e4876 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth B. Raposa ◽  
Richard A. McKinney ◽  
Cathleen Wigand ◽  
Jeffrey W. Hollister ◽  
Cassie Lovall ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Salt Marsh ◽  
New England ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Salt Marshes ◽  
Fiddler Crab ◽  
Water Levels ◽  
Southern New England ◽  
England Salt Marsh ◽  
Crab Abundance

Southern New England salt marsh vegetation and habitats are changing rapidly in response to sea-level rise. At the same time, fiddler crab (Uca spp.) distributions have expanded and purple marsh crab (Sesarma reticulatum) grazing on creekbank vegetation has increased. Sea-level rise and reduced predation pressure drive these changing crab populations but most studies focus on one species; there is a need for community-level assessments of impacts from multiple crab species. There is also a need to identify additional factors that can affect crab populations. We sampled crabs and environmental parameters in four Rhode Island salt marshes in 2014 and compiled existing data to quantify trends in crab abundance and multiple factors that potentially affect crabs. Crab communities were dominated by fiddler and green crabs (Carcinus maenas); S. reticulatum was much less abundant. Burrow sizes suggest that Uca is responsible for most burrows. On the marsh platform, burrows and Carcinus abundance were negatively correlated with elevation, soil moisture, and soil percent organic matter and positively correlated with soil bulk density. Uca abundance was negatively correlated with Spartina patens cover and height and positively correlated with Spartina alterniflora cover and soil shear strength. Creekbank burrow density increased dramatically between 1998 and 2016. During the same time, fishing effort and the abundance of birds that prey on crabs decreased, and water levels increased. Unlike in other southern New England marshes where recreational overfishing is hypothesized to drive increasing marsh crab abundance, we propose that changes in crab abundance were likely unrelated to recreational finfish over-harvest; instead, they better track sea-level rise and changing abundances of alternate predators, such as birds. We predict that marsh crab abundance will continue to expand with ongoing sea-level rise, at least until inundation thresholds for crab survival are exceeded.

Implications of rapid sediment accumulation in a small New England salt marsh

1992 ◽  
Vol 29 (9) ◽  
pp. 2013-2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Scott Anderson ◽  
H. W. Borns Jr. ◽  
D. C. Smith ◽  
C. Race
Keyword(s):  
Salt Marsh ◽  
New England ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Accumulation Rate ◽  
Sediment Accumulation ◽  
Sediment Supply ◽  
Greenhouse Warming ◽  
Accumulation Rates ◽  
Marsh Sediment ◽  
England Salt Marsh

The sediment accumulation rate within a small Spartina alterniflora marsh in Maine has been determined by measuring the amount of peat accretion on top of human-produced boards protruding from an exposed face of the marsh. Boards are at depths of 50–140 cm, suggesting sediment accumulation rates of 6.2–7.0 mm/year. Based on these data and a review of other relevant studies, aggradation in small marshes such as Shipyard Cove should be able to keep pace marginally with the anticipated sea-level rise due to "greenhouse" warming, given sufficient sediment supply. Local 19th century land clearance and subsequent erosion, activities that are greatly reduced today, probably supplied the bulk of the inorganic marsh sediment.

scholarly journals Buying Time with Runnels: a Climate Adaptation Tool for Salt Marshes

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alice F. Besterman ◽  
Rachel W. Jakuba ◽  
Wenley Ferguson ◽  
Diana Brennan ◽  
Joseph E. Costa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Salt Marsh ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Salt Marshes ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Open Water ◽  
Tidal Range ◽  
Management Interventions

AbstractA prominent form of salt marsh loss is interior conversion to open water, driven by sea level rise in interaction with human activity and other stressors. Persistent inundation drowns vegetation and contributes to open water conversion in salt marsh interiors. Runnels are shallow channels originally developed in Australia to control mosquitoes by draining standing water, but recently used to restore marsh vegetation in the USA. Documentation on runnel efficacy is not widely available; yet over the past 10 years dozens of coastal adaptation projects in the northeastern USA have incorporated runnels. To better understand the efficacy of runnels used for restoration, we organized a workshop of 70 experts and stakeholders in coastal resource management. Through the workshop we developed a collective understanding of how runnels might be used to slow or reverse open water conversion, and identified unresolved questions. In this paper we present a synthesis of workshop discussions and results from a promising case study in which vegetation was restored at a degraded marsh within a few years of runnel construction. Despite case study outcomes, key questions remain on long-term runnel efficacy in marshes differing in elevation, tidal range, and management history. Runnel construction is unlikely to improve long-term marsh resilience alone, as it cannot address underlying causes of open water conversion. As a part of holistic climate planning that includes other management interventions, runnels may “buy time” for salt marshes to respond to management action, or adapt to sea level rise.

Accretion of a New England (U.S.A.) Salt Marsh in Response to Inlet Migration, Storms, and Sea-level Rise

1997 ◽  
Vol 45 (6) ◽  
pp. 717-727 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.T. Roman ◽  
J.A. Peck ◽  
J.R. Allen ◽  
J.W. King ◽  
P.G. Appleby
Keyword(s):  
Salt Marsh ◽  
New England ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
And Sea Level

scholarly journals Beyond 2100: Elevation capital disguises salt marsh vulnerability to sea-level rise in Georgia, USA

2020 ◽  
pp. 107093
Author(s):  
Amy K. Langston ◽  
Clark R. Alexander ◽  
Merryl Alber ◽  
Matthew L. Kirwan
Keyword(s):  
Salt Marsh ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Elevation Capital

Nutrients, competition and plant zonation in a New England salt marsh

1998 ◽  
Vol 86 (2) ◽  
pp. 285-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan M. Levine ◽  
J. Stephen Brewer ◽  
Mark D. Bertness
Keyword(s):  
Salt Marsh ◽  
New England ◽  
Plant Zonation ◽  
England Salt Marsh
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