Many sea level rise adaptation plans emphasize the protection of adjacent uplands to allow for inland salt marsh migration, but little empirical information exists on this process. Using aerial photos from 1930 and 2006 of Delaware Estuary coastal habitats in New Jersey, I documented the rate of coastal forest retreat and the rate of inland salt marsh migration across 101.1 km of undeveloped sa...

The Portsmouth, Rhode Island Mosquito Control Program used granular Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis to successfully control salt marsh mosquitoes in a 9 acre salt marsh while monitoring for, planning and implementing small scale open marsh water management in the marsh. Single season larviciding costs were roughly 4% that of contracted open marsh water management in this marsh.

Background: The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between soil environmental factors and halophyte distribution in the west coast of South Korea. Soils of our study sites were categorized into two groups: salt marsh and estuary marsh. Results: Salinity was higher in the salt marsh group than that in the estuary marsh group. However, total nitrogen, silt, and clay content...

Understanding themechanisms limiting and facilitating salt marsh vegetation initial establishment is of widespread importance due to the many valuable services salt marsh ecosystems offer. Salt marsh dynamics have been investigated by many previous studies, but the mechanisms that enable or disable salt marsh initial establishment are still understudied. Recently, the “windows of opportunity” (...

Salt marsh ecosystems are widely considered to be controlled exclusively by bottom-up forces, but there is mounting evidence that human disturbances are triggering consumer control in western Atlantic salt marshes, often with catastrophic consequences. In other marine ecosystems, human disturbances routinely dampen (e.g., coral reefs, sea grass beds) and strengthen (e.g., kelps) consumer contro...

Since 2001, patches of dying vegetation have been observed in Georgia marshes, generally during periods of dry or drought conditions. These events are collectively referred to as salt marsh dieback. Salt marsh dieback is characterized by the thinning and browning of Spartina alterniflora and other marsh grasses which eventually leads to plant death. This is a concern because salt marsh habitat ...

This study used Quickbird-2 and Worldview-2, high resolution satellite imagery, in a multi-temporal salt marsh mapping and change analysis of Jamaica Bay, New York. An object-based image analysis methodology was employed. The study seeks to understand both natural and anthropogenic changes caused by Hurricane Sandy and salt marsh restoration, respectively. The objectives of this study were to: ...

Carbon cycling by microbes has been recognized as the main mechanism of organic matter decomposition and export in coastal wetlands, yet very little is known about the functional diversity of specific groups of decomposers (e.g., bacteria) in salt marsh benthic trophic structure. Indeed, salt marsh sediment bacteria remain largely in a black box in terms of their diversity and functional roles ...

Coastal salt marshes are highly sensitive wetland ecosystems that can sustain long-term impacts from anthropogenic events such as oil spills. In this study, we examined the microbial communities of a Gulf of Mexico coastal salt marsh during and after the influx of petroleum hydrocarbons following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Total hydrocarbon concentrations in salt marsh sediments were high...

For the past decade, salt marsh management in Florida has been a central issue in attempts to reconcile mosquito control and natural resource interests. Progress has been made in trying to maintain effective mosquito control while protecting and enhancing salt marsh resources primarily due to: 1) efforts by the Florida Coordinating Council on Mosquito Control and its Subcommittee on Managed Mar...