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Study Yields New Clues to Predict Tipping Points for Marsh Survival
https://nicholas.duke.edu/about/news/study-yields-new-clues-predict-tipping-points-marsh-survivalStudy Yields New Clues to Predict Tipping Points for Marsh Survival
February 13, 2019
Contact:
Media Contact: Tim Lucas (919) 613-8084, tdlucas@duke.edu
DURHAM, N.C. -- Sea-level rise, sediment starvation and other environmental woes pose increasing threats to coastal wetlands worldwide. But a massive new Duke University study could help stem these losses by giving scientists a broader understanding of which wetlands are most at risk, and why.
The study, which assessed wetland distribution and resilience in hundreds of U.S. estuaries, found that it’s all a matter of scale.
“At the local level, the persistence or loss of coastal marshes was invariably linked to feedbacks between two factors: erosion, which eats away at marsh edges, and vegetation, which stabilizes them,” said Anna E. Braswell, a PhD graduate of Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment, who conducted the research as part of her 2017 dissertation. “But at broader spatial scales, other key drivers emerged, too.”
…
“Knowing what causes these tipping points to vary from location to location is an important step in identifying where we should expect marshes to be especially vulnerable to future change,” he said. “It also provides a framework for understanding where wetland restoration is likely or not likely to succeed.”
…
https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10021-018-0332-3February 13, 2019
Contact:
Media Contact: Tim Lucas (919) 613-8084, tdlucas@duke.edu
DURHAM, N.C. -- Sea-level rise, sediment starvation and other environmental woes pose increasing threats to coastal wetlands worldwide. But a massive new Duke University study could help stem these losses by giving scientists a broader understanding of which wetlands are most at risk, and why.
The study, which assessed wetland distribution and resilience in hundreds of U.S. estuaries, found that it’s all a matter of scale.
“At the local level, the persistence or loss of coastal marshes was invariably linked to feedbacks between two factors: erosion, which eats away at marsh edges, and vegetation, which stabilizes them,” said Anna E. Braswell, a PhD graduate of Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment, who conducted the research as part of her 2017 dissertation. “But at broader spatial scales, other key drivers emerged, too.”
…
“Knowing what causes these tipping points to vary from location to location is an important step in identifying where we should expect marshes to be especially vulnerable to future change,” he said. “It also provides a framework for understanding where wetland restoration is likely or not likely to succeed.”
…
