Drainage enhancement effects on a waterlogged Rhode Island (USA) salt marsh.

ABSTRACT: Drainage enhancement (e.g., ditch digging, open-marsh water management, runnelling) has long been used to reduce tidal marsh soil waterlogging and surface ponding to promote salt hay production and mosquito control. Now it is also being used as a tool to enhance marsh resilience to sea-level rise despite a lack of studies that evaluate its effectiveness as an intervention approach. We therefore conducted a controlled field experiment to evaluate short-term responses to drainage enhancement of a Rhode Island (USA) salt marsh. Drainage enhancement elicited rapid physical changes in portions of the marsh including declines in water levels and marsh elevation, but the biological components examined (e.g., vegetation and bird community composition) were largely unaffected. In two of the four ar

SUBMITTER: Raposa KB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11363153 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature