Overexploitation of predators has been linked to the collapse of a growing number of shallow-water marine ecosystems. However, salt-marsh ecosystems are often viewed and managed as systems controlled by physical processes, despite recent evidence for herbivore-driven die-off of marsh vegetation. Here we use field observations, experiments, and historical records at 14 sites to examine whether t...

The US South Atlantic Bight (SAB) is a lowlatitude shallow continental shelf bordered landward by abundant salt marshes and rivers. Based on previously published data on sea surface partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2) and new dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) data, a model analysis is presented to identify and quantify the contributions of various terrest...

Research at 10 locations in coastal subtropical Queensland, Australia, has shown that salt marshes contained heterogeneous distributions of eggshells of the pest and vector mosquito Aedes vigilax (Skuse) (Diptera:Culicidae). The eggshell distribution was related to specific vegetation assemblages, with a mix of the grass, Sporobolus virginicus (L.) Kunth (Poales: Poaceae), and the beaded glassw...

Salt marshes play a key role in attenuating wave energy and promoting sedimentation necessary to potentially adapt sea level rise. The changes the soil surface elevation, as result of spatially temporally varied pattern, affect hydrodynamics, marsh edge extension so rate. Little attention has yet been paid medium-term sedim\entation under influence extension. To fill this gap, we performed 6-ye...

Direct and indirect human impacts on coastal ecosystems have increased over the last several centuries, leading to unprecedented degradation of coastal habitats and loss of ecological services. Here we document a two-century temporal disparity between salt marsh accretion and subsequent loss to indirect human impacts. Field surveys, manipulative experiments and GIS analyses reveal that crab bur...