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Coastal biogeochemistry

Plant traits and marsh fate

Nature Geoscience volume 16, pages 4–5 (2023)Cite this article

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Some coastal marshes may have a hard time building soil elevation under future climate conditions, although this may reduce methane emissions, according to four years of field manipulation of warming and elevated CO2 in a coastal wetland.

The survival of coastal marshes under global environmental change is determined by the rate of soil elevation gain relative to local sea level rise3. Marsh accretion under sea level rise is driven by an ecogeomorphic feedback in which increased water depth and inundation time increases sediment deposition and stimulates plant growth, which in turn enhances sediment trapping4. Inland sediment supply and plant production of belowground biomass are critical determinants of marsh survival under sea level rise. In estuaries where sediment supply is low, elevation gain is driven by belowground productivity, making marsh plant responses to environmental forcing an important determinant of marsh resilience.

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Fig. 1: A marsh on the Chesapeake Bay in the USA.

Westend61 GmbH/Alamy Stock Photo.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Baruch Institute of Coastal Ecology & Forest Science, Georgetown, SC, USA

    Thomas L. O’Halloran & Georgia S. Seyfried

  2. Department of Forestry & Environmental Conservation, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA

    Thomas L. O’Halloran

Authors
  1. Thomas L. O’Halloran
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  2. Georgia S. Seyfried
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Correspondence to Thomas L. O’Halloran.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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O’Halloran, T.L., Seyfried, G.S. Plant traits and marsh fate. Nat. Geosci. 16, 4–5 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-022-01108-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-022-01108-9

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