Marsh

Abstract: [1] Wetlands represent the largest component of the terrestrial biological carbon pool and thus play an important role in global carbon cycles. Most global carbon budgets, however, have focused on dry land ecosystems that extend over large areas and have not accounted for the many small, scattered carbon-storing ecosystems such as tidal saline wetlands. We compiled data for 154 sites in mangroves and salt marshes from the western and eastern Atlantic and Pacific coasts, as well as the Indian Ocean, Mediterranean Ocean, and Gulf of Mexico. The set of sites spans a latitudinal range from 22.4°S in the Indian Ocean to 55.5°N in the northeastern Atlantic. The average soil carbon density of mangrove swamps (0.055 ± 0.004 g cm−3) is significantly higher than the salt marsh average (0.039 ± 0.003 g cm−3). Soil carbon density in mangrove swamps and Spartina patens marshes declines with increasing average annual temperature, probably due to increased decay rates at higher temperatures. In contrast, carbon sequestration rates were not significantly different between mangrove swamps and salt marshes. Variability in sediment accumulation rates within marshes is a major control of carbon sequestration rates masking any relationship with climatic parameters. Globally, these combined wetlands store at least 44.6 Tg C yr−1 and probably more, as detailed areal inventories are not available for salt marshes in China and South America. Much attention has been given to the role of freshwater wetlands, particularly northern peatlands, as carbon sinks. In contrast to peatlands, salt marshes and mangroves release negligible amounts of greenhouse gases and store more carbon per unit area.

Abstract: Global climate change is recognized as a threat to species survival and the health of natural systems. Scientists worldwide are looking at the ecological and hydrological impacts resulting from climate change. Climate change will make future efforts to restore and manage wetlands more complex. Wetland systems are vulnerable to changes in quantity and quality of their water supply, and it is expected that climate change will have a pronounced effect on wetlands through alterations in hydrological regimes with great global variability. Wetland habitat responses to climate change and the implications for restoration will be realized differently on a regional and mega-watershed level, making it important to recognize that specific restoration and management plans will require examination by habitat. Floodplains, mangroves, seagrasses, saltmarshes, arctic wetlands, peatlands, freshwater marshes and forests are very diverse habitats, with different stressors and hence different management and restoration techniques are needed. The Sundarban (Bangladesh and India), Mekong river delta (Vietnam), and southern Ontario (Canada) are examples of major wetland complexes where the effects of climate change are evolving in different ways. Thus, successful long term restoration and management of these systems will hinge on how we choose to respond to the effects of climate change. How will we choose priorities for restoration and research? Will enough water be available to rehabilitate currently damaged, water-starved wetland ecosystems? This is a policy paper originally produced at the request of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands and incorporates opinion, interpretation and scientific-based arguments.

Abstract: Foreword. Dedication. Preface. Retrospective on the Salt Marsh Paradigm. Tidal marshes as outwelling/pulsing systems E.P. Odum. Salt marsh values: etrospection from the end of the century J.M. Teal, B.L. Howes. Sources and Patterns of Production. Role of salt marshes as part of coastal landscapes I. Valiela, et al. Spatial variation in process and pattern in salt marsh plant communities in eastern North America M.D. Bertness, S.C. Pennings. Eco-physiological controls on the productivity of Spartina alterniflore I.A. Menselssohn, J.T. Morris. Community structure and functional dynamics of benthic microalgae in salt marshes M.J. Sullivan, C.A. Currin. Structure and productivity of microtidal Mediterranean coastal marshes C. Ibanez, et al. Development and structure of salt marshes: community patterns in time and space A.J. Davy. Fate of Production Within Marsh Food Webs. Microbial secondary production from salt marsh-grass shoots, and its known and potential fates S.Y. Newell, D. Porter. Trophic complexity between producers and invertebrate consumers in salt marshes D.A. Kreeger, R.I.E. Newell. Trophic linkages in marshes: ontogenetic changes in diet for young-of-the-year mummichog, Fundulus heteroclitus K.J. Smith, et al. Habitat Value: Food and/or Refuge. Factors influencing habitat selection in fishes with a review of marsh ecosystems J.K. Craig, L.B. Crowder. Salt marsh ecoscapes and production transfers by estuarine nekton in the southeastern U.S. R.T. Kneib. Salt marsh linkages to productivity of penaeid shrimps and blue crabs in the northern Gulf of Mexico R.J. Zimmerman, et al. Ecophysiological determinants ofsecondary production in salt marshes: a simulation study J.M. Miller, et al. Salt marsh ecosystem support of marine transient species L.A. Deegan, et al. Biogeochemical Processes. Benthic-pelagic coupling in marsh-estuarine ecosystems R.F. Dame, et al. Twenty more years of marsh and estuarine flux studies: revisiting Nixon (1980) D.L. Childers, et al. The role of oligohaline marshes in estuarine nutrient cycling J.Z. Merrill, J.C. Cornwell. Molecular tools for studying biogeochemical cycling in salt marshes L. Kerkhof, D.J. Scala. Nitrogen and vegetation dyamics in European salt marshes J. Rozema, et al. Modeling Nutrient and Energy Flux. A stable isotope model approach to estimating the contribution of organic matter from marshes to estuaries P.M. Eldrige, L.A. Cifuentes. Types of salt marsh edge and export of trophic energy from marshes to deeper habitats G. Cichetti, R.J. Diaz. Silicon is the link between tidal marshes and estuarine fisheries: a new paradigm C.T. Hackney, et al. Tidal Marsh Restoration: Fact or Fiction? Self-design applied to coastal restoration W.J. Mitsch. Functional equivalency of restored and natural salt marshes J.B. Zedler, R. Lindig-Cisneros. Organic and inorganic contributions to vertical accretion in salt marsh sediments R.E. Turner, et al. Landscape structure and scale constraints on restoring estuarine wetlands for Pacific coast juvenile fishes C.A. Simenstad, et al. Ecological Engineering of Restored Marshes. The role of pulsing events in the functioning of coastal barriers and wetlands: implications for human impact, management and the response to sea level rise J.W. Day, et al. Influences of vegetation and abiotic environmental f

Abstract: Understanding the scale, location and nature conservation values of the lands over which Indigenous Peoples exercise traditional rights is central to implementation of several global conservation and climate agreements. However, spatial information on Indigenous lands has never been aggregated globally. Here, using publicly available geospatial resources, we show that Indigenous Peoples manage or have tenure rights over at least ~38 million km2 in 87 countries or politically distinct areas on all inhabited continents. This represents over a quarter of the world’s land surface, and intersects about 40% of all terrestrial protected areas and ecologically intact landscapes (for example, boreal and tropical primary forests, savannas and marshes). Our results add to growing evidence that recognizing Indigenous Peoples’ rights to land, benefit sharing and institutions is essential to meeting local and global conservation goals. The geospatial analysis presented here indicates that collaborative partnerships involving conservation practitioners, Indigenous Peoples and governments would yield significant benefits for conservation of ecologically valuable landscapes, ecosystems and genes for future generations.