Competing effects of vegetation density on sedimentation in deltaic marshes.

ABSTRACT: Marsh vegetation, a definitive component of delta ecosystems, has a strong effect on sediment retention and land-building, controlling both how much sediment can be delivered to and how much is retained by the marsh. An understanding of how vegetation influences these processes would improve the restoration and management of marshes. We use a random displacement model to simulate sediment transport, deposition, and resuspension within a marsh. As vegetation density increases, velocity declines, which reduces sediment supply to the marsh, but also reduces resuspension, which enhances sediment retention within the marsh. The competing trends of supply and retention produce a nonlinear relationship between sedimentation and vegetation density, such that an intermediate density yields the maxi

SUBMITTER: Xu Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9360023 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature