Document Type
Article
Department/Program
Virginia Institute of Marine Science
Publication Date
11-6-2017
Journal
Ecosystem Health and Sustainability
Volume
3
Issue
10
Abstract
Introduction: Marshes contribute to habitat and water quality in estuaries and coastal bays. Their importance to continued ecosystem functioning has led to concerns about their persistence.
Outcomes: Concurrent with sea-level rise, marshes are eroding and appear to be disappearing through ponding in their interior; in addition, in many places, they are being replaced with shoreline stabilization structures. We examined the changes in marsh extent over the past 40 years within a subestuary of Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the United States, to better understand the effects of sea-level rise and human pressure on marsh coverage.
DOI
doi:10.1080/20964129.2017.1396009
Keywords
Chesapeake Bay, climate change, coastal resilience, marsh change, salt marsh, sea-level rise, tidal wetlands
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Mitchell, Molly; Herman, Julie; Bilkovic, Donna M.; and Hershner, Carl, Marsh persistence under sea-level rise is controlled by multiple, geologically variable stressors (2017). Ecosystem Health and Sustainability, 3(10).
doi:10.1080/20964129.2017.1396009
