The presence and continued existence of tidal morphologies, and in particular of salt marshes, is intimately connected with biological activity, especially with the presence of halophytic vegetation. Here, we review recent contributions to tidal biogeomorphology and identify the presence of multiple competing stable states arising from a two-way feedback between biomass productivity and topogra...

Secondary succession plays a critical role in driving community structure in natural communities, yet how succession dynamics vary with environmental context is generally unknown. We examined the importance of seedling and vegetative recruitment in the secondary succession of coastal marsh vegetation across a landscape-scale environmental stress gradient. Replicate bare patches were initiated i...

Seasonal sedimentation, measured with the aid of artificial marker horizons, was markedly different in deteriorating as compared with stable marshes in the Mississippi River deltaic plain. Deteriorating marshes receive most sediment during storm events, whereas stable marshes receive substantial amounts of sediments during the spring river flood. The deteriorating marshes are accreting at a fas...

BLUE CARBON IN FRESHWATER / BRACKISH MARSHES ON THE BARRIER ISLANDS OF VIRGINIA: ABOVEGROUND NET PRIMARY PRODUCTIVITY AND CARBON POOLS Emily Caitlin Adams Old Dominion University, 2015 Director: Dr. Frank P. Day “Blue carbon” is a relatively new concept describing carbon distributed tidally and sequestered via net production within coastal ecosystems, including seagrass beds, mangrove forests, ...

Roads, bridges, and dikes constructed across salt marshes can restrict tidal flow, degrade habitat quality for nekton, and facilitate invasion by non-native plants including Phragmites australis. Introduced P. australis contributes to marsh accretion and eliminates marsh surface pools thereby adversely affecting fish by reducing access to intertidal habitats essential for feeding, reproduction,...

The species composition and abundance of larval mosquitoes were studied in the vegetated regions of 2 types of experimental constructed wetlands: one-phase marshes, which have continuous vegetation throughout the marsh, and 3-phase marshes, which have 2 vegetated regions separated by a region of comparatively deeper open water. Larvae of Culex spp. were significantly more abundant in one-phase ...

UNLABELLED PREMISE OF THE STUDY A microcosm unit with tidal simulation was developed to address the challenge of maintaining ecologically relevant tidal regimes while performing controlled greenhouse experiments on smooth cordgrass, Spartina alterniflora. • METHODS AND RESULTS We designed a simple, inexpensive, easily replicated microcosm unit with tidal simulation and tested whether S. al...

Tidal salt marshes provide important ecological services, habitat, disturbance regulation, water quality improvement, and biodiversity, as well as accumulation and sequestration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in vegetation and soil organic matter. Different management practices may alter their capacity to provide these ecosystem services. We examined soil properties (bulk density, percent organic C, p...

Cordgrass die-offs in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA, salt marshes have challenged the view that the primary production of New England salt marshes is controlled by physical factors. These die-offs have increased dramatically over the last decade and are caused by the common herbivorous marsh crab Sesarma reticulatum, but other factors that control crab impacts remain unclear. We examined the inf...

Living shorelines are a type of estuarine shoreline erosion control that incorporates native vegetation and preserves native habitats. Because they provide the ecosystem services associated with natural coastal wetlands while also increasing shoreline resilience, living shorelines are part of the natural and hybrid infrastructure approach to coastal resiliency. Marshes created as living shoreli...