Document Details

Title Resistance and resilience: Tidal freshwater marsh response and recovery to acute and chronic saltwater intrusion
Archive All Files / Documents / Publications / Journal Articles
Abstract

The ability to both resist and recover from disturbances like storm surge and saltwater intrusion plays a key role in shaping the structure and function of tidal marshes. In this study, porewater chemistry, vegetation, and soil elevation change were measured in field plots of a tidal freshwater marsh exposed to four years of experimental press (chronic) and pulse (acute) brackish water additions followed by five years of recovery to assess their resistance and resilience to saltwater intrusion. Press additions produced significant, widespread changes in marsh structure and function including increased porewater N and P, reduced macrophyte cover and species richness, and loss of soil surface elevation whereas pulse additions had little effect. Once dosing ceased, porewater chemistry, vegetation and soils in press plots recovered at differing rates, with porewater N and P declining to background levels after one year, plant cover and species richness increasing within two to four years, and soil surface elevation increasing to similar levels found in control plots after five years. The plant community in the press treatment converged with the other treatments after 3-4 years, though macrophyte species exhibited varying rates of recovery. Ground cover (Ludwigia repens) and soft stem species (Persicaria) that declined first, recovered faster than Zizaniopsis miliacea that was more resistant but less resilient to brackish water intrusion. While tidal freshwater marshes are resistant and resilient to pulses such as those that stem from hurricanes and storm surges, continued long-term intrusion events like sea level rise (SLR) will likely lead to conversion into brackish marsh. Understanding long-term responses and tradeoffs in resistance and recovery as shown in this experiment offers insight into the future trajectory of tidal freshwater marshes as well as broader ecosystem responses to disturbance and recovery crucial to management and restoration.

Contributors Madeleine Thompson, Steven C. Pennings, Joseph P. Schubauer-Berigan, Ellen Herbert, Galen Costomiris and Christopher B. Craft
Citation

Thompson, M., Pennings, S.C., Schubauer-Berigan, J.P., Herbert, E., Costomiris, G. and Craft, C.B. 2024. Resistance and resilience: Tidal freshwater marsh response and recovery to acute and chronic saltwater intrusion. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science. (DOI: 10.1016/j.ecss.2024.108911)

Key Words Biological resistance, Disturbance, Ecosystem resilience, Saltwater intrusion, Sea level rise, Student Publication, Tidal freshwater marsh, UGAMI Publication
File Date 2024
Web Link Web link
view/download Web link
LTER
NSF

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under grants OCE-9982133, OCE-0620959, OCE-1237140 and OCE-1832178. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in the material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.