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References is a Moving Target in Sea-Level Controlled Wetlands

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Concepts and Controversies in Tidal Marsh Ecology

Abstract

Central to the restoration of wetlands is the concept of reference. Wetlands are grouped within a reference domain of the same hydrogeomorphic subclass and compared to reference standards of the least impacted members of the subclass. Restoration decisions can be based within this context. Sea-level controlled wetlands, including salt marshes, provide a challenge to establishing reference standards because they progressively change in response to rising sea-level and associated stressors. The natural progression of change is distinct from that induced by human activities. We review geomorphic classifications for sea-level controlled wetlands to identify a spatial scale appropriate for restoration. This scale encompasses an ecosystem state change model which accounts for the natural progression. We emphasize the importance of more proximal causes of change than sea-level rise itself (e.g., access to fresh and sea water, sediment, and space for transgression). Through examples from several marshes, we highlight the consequences of movement, note distinctions between low and high marshes, and describe the transition between them. These distinctions are made for hydrology in an intertidal and nontidal portion of a marsh and for nitrogen cycling in a northern and a southern marsh on the Atlantic coast of the USA. Further, we describe the nature of one change in state as the turf of a high marsh becomes unstable, producing a hollow and hummock pattern that is expected to transform into low marsh. Recognition of the consequences of movement to more explicit, hydrogeomorphology-based reference systems helps place restoration in a perspective which will improve both project design and probability of success.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, 27858, USA

    Robert R. Christian, Laura E. Stasavich, Cassondra R. Thomas & Mark M. Brinson

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  1. Robert R. Christian
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  2. Laura E. Stasavich
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  3. Cassondra R. Thomas
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  4. Mark M. Brinson
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. New Jersey Marine Sciences Consortium, Fort Hancock, NJ, USA

    Michael P. Weinstein

  2. Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Daniel A. Kreeger

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© 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers

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Christian, R.R., Stasavich, L.E., Thomas, C.R., Brinson, M.M. (2002). References is a Moving Target in Sea-Level Controlled Wetlands. In: Weinstein, M.P., Kreeger, D.A. (eds) Concepts and Controversies in Tidal Marsh Ecology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-47534-0_35

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-47534-0_35

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-7923-6019-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-0-306-47534-4

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