Man-made salt marshes have less biodiversity than similar naturally occurring habitats, and so are failing to meet European regulations.
Natural salt marshes lost to coastal development or erosion must be replaced with biologically equivalent replicas under European Union law. Hannah Mossman at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, UK, and her team compared the vegetation at 35 salt marshes that had been man-made or created by storm surges with that at 34 naturally occurring marshes across the United Kingdom. The researchers found that the natural habitats were home to many plants, including sea lavender (Limonium vulgare, pictured left), thrift (Armenia maritima) and sea plantain (Plantago maritima), that were often absent in replica habitats (pictured right).
The authors suggest that management of artificial marshes should be improved using measures such as planting extra species.
J. Appl. Ecol. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2664.2012.02198.x (2012)
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Artificial marshes fall short. Nature 489, 476 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/489476a
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/489476a
