Human Actions Alter Tidal Marsh Seascapes and the Provision of Ecosystem Services

Tidal marshes are a key component of coastal seascape mosaics that support a suite of socially and economically valuable ecosystem services, including recreational opportunities (e.g., fishing, birdwatching), habitat for fisheries species, improved water quality, and shoreline protection. The capaci...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Estuaries and coasts 2021-09, Vol.44 (6), p.1628-1636
Main Authors: Gilby, Ben L., Weinstein, Michael P., Baker, Ronald, Cebrian, Just, Alford, Scott B., Chelsky, Ariella, Colombano, Denise, Connolly, Rod M., Currin, Carolyn A., Feller, Ilka C., Frank, Alyssa, Goeke, Janelle A., Goodridge Gaines, Lucy A., Hardcastle, Felicity E., Henderson, Christopher J., Martin, Charles W., McDonald, Ashley E., Morrison, Blair H., Olds, Andrew D., Rehage, Jennifer S., Waltham, Nathan J., Ziegler, Shelby L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bird watching
Climate change
Coastal Sciences
Community composition
Earth and Environmental Science
Ecology
Ecosystem services
Ecosystems
Environment
Environmental Management
Environmental protection
Eutrophication
Fisheries
Fishing
Food chains
Food webs
Freshwater & Marine Ecology
Habitat loss
Habitats
Human influences
Introduced species
Invasive species
Marshes
Mosaics
Plant communities
Rain
Rainfall
Restoration
Sea level changes
Sea level rise
Shore protection
Shoreline protection
Shorelines
Special Issue: Concepts and Controversies in Tidal Marsh Ecology Revisited
Threatened species
Tidal marshes
Urbanization
Water and Health
Water quality
Weather patterns
Wetlands
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Summary:Tidal marshes are a key component of coastal seascape mosaics that support a suite of socially and economically valuable ecosystem services, including recreational opportunities (e.g., fishing, birdwatching), habitat for fisheries species, improved water quality, and shoreline protection. The capacity for tidal marshes to support these services is, however, threatened by increasingly widespread human impacts that reduce the extent and condition of tidal marshes across multiple spatial scales and that vary substantially through time. Climate change causes species redistribution at continental scales, changes in weather patterns (e.g., rainfall), and a worsening of the effect of coastal squeeze through sea level rise. Simultaneously, the effects of urbanization such as habitat loss, eutrophication, fishing, and the spread of invasive species interact with each other, and with climate change, to fundamentally change the structure and functioning of tidal marshes and their food webs. These changes affect tidal marshes at local scales through changes in plant community composition, complexity, and condition and at regional scales through changes in habitat extent, configuration, and connectivity. However, research into the full effects of these multi-scaled, interactive stressors on ecosystem service provision in tidal marshes is in its infancy and is somewhat geographically restricted. This hinders our capacity to quickly and effectively curb loss and degradation of both tidal marshes and the services they deliver with targeted management actions. We highlight ten priority research questions seeking to quantify the consequences and scales of human impacts on tidal marshes that should be answered to improve management and restoration plans.
ISSN:1559-2723
1559-2731
DOI:10.1007/s12237-020-00830-0