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Spatially integrative metrics reveal hidden vulnerability of microtidal salt marshes

Salt marshes are valued for their ecosystem services, and their vulnerability is typically assessed through biotic and abiotic measurements at individual points on the landscape. However, lateral erosion can lead to rapid marsh loss as marshes build vertically. Marsh sediment budgets represent a spa...

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Autores principales: Ganju, Neil K., Defne, Zafer, Kirwan, Matthew L., Fagherazzi, Sergio, D'Alpaos, Andrea, Carniello, Luca
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Nature Publishing Group 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5264011/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28112167
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms14156
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author Ganju, Neil K.
Defne, Zafer
Kirwan, Matthew L.
Fagherazzi, Sergio
D'Alpaos, Andrea
Carniello, Luca
author_facet Ganju, Neil K.
Defne, Zafer
Kirwan, Matthew L.
Fagherazzi, Sergio
D'Alpaos, Andrea
Carniello, Luca
author_sort Ganju, Neil K.
collection PubMed
description Salt marshes are valued for their ecosystem services, and their vulnerability is typically assessed through biotic and abiotic measurements at individual points on the landscape. However, lateral erosion can lead to rapid marsh loss as marshes build vertically. Marsh sediment budgets represent a spatially integrated measure of competing constructive and destructive forces: a sediment surplus may result in vertical growth and/or lateral expansion, while a sediment deficit may result in drowning and/or lateral contraction. Here we show that sediment budgets of eight microtidal marsh complexes consistently scale with areal unvegetated/vegetated marsh ratios (UVVR) suggesting these metrics are broadly applicable indicators of microtidal marsh vulnerability. All sites are exhibiting a sediment deficit, with half the sites having projected lifespans of less than 350 years at current rates of sea-level rise and sediment availability. These results demonstrate that open-water conversion and sediment deficits are holistic and sensitive indicators of salt marsh vulnerability.
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spelling pubmed-52640112017-02-03 Spatially integrative metrics reveal hidden vulnerability of microtidal salt marshes Ganju, Neil K. Defne, Zafer Kirwan, Matthew L. Fagherazzi, Sergio D'Alpaos, Andrea Carniello, Luca Nat Commun Article Salt marshes are valued for their ecosystem services, and their vulnerability is typically assessed through biotic and abiotic measurements at individual points on the landscape. However, lateral erosion can lead to rapid marsh loss as marshes build vertically. Marsh sediment budgets represent a spatially integrated measure of competing constructive and destructive forces: a sediment surplus may result in vertical growth and/or lateral expansion, while a sediment deficit may result in drowning and/or lateral contraction. Here we show that sediment budgets of eight microtidal marsh complexes consistently scale with areal unvegetated/vegetated marsh ratios (UVVR) suggesting these metrics are broadly applicable indicators of microtidal marsh vulnerability. All sites are exhibiting a sediment deficit, with half the sites having projected lifespans of less than 350 years at current rates of sea-level rise and sediment availability. These results demonstrate that open-water conversion and sediment deficits are holistic and sensitive indicators of salt marsh vulnerability. Nature Publishing Group 2017-01-23 /pmc/articles/PMC5264011/ /pubmed/28112167 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms14156 Text en Copyright © 2017, The Author(s) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
spellingShingle Article
Ganju, Neil K.
Defne, Zafer
Kirwan, Matthew L.
Fagherazzi, Sergio
D'Alpaos, Andrea
Carniello, Luca
Spatially integrative metrics reveal hidden vulnerability of microtidal salt marshes
title Spatially integrative metrics reveal hidden vulnerability of microtidal salt marshes
title_full Spatially integrative metrics reveal hidden vulnerability of microtidal salt marshes
title_fullStr Spatially integrative metrics reveal hidden vulnerability of microtidal salt marshes
title_full_unstemmed Spatially integrative metrics reveal hidden vulnerability of microtidal salt marshes
title_short Spatially integrative metrics reveal hidden vulnerability of microtidal salt marshes
title_sort spatially integrative metrics reveal hidden vulnerability of microtidal salt marshes
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5264011/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28112167
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms14156
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