Search the EPA Research Database

Project title

Salt Marshes as Nature-Based Solutions Under Altered Climate and Inundation Conditions

Primary Funding Agency

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Co-Funding Organisation(s)

n/a

Lead Organisation

Irish Research Council (TCD)

Lead Applicant

Jennifer Clarke

Project Abstract

Salt marshes are coastal habitats that form globally in intertidal zones and develop in response to local and regional-scale ecological, hydrodynamic, and sedimentary processes [7-9]. These habitats provide valuable ecosystem services such as coastal protection, carbon sequestration, and habitat provision [7, 9-14]. Climate change-induced stressors, including increases in atmospheric temperature and CO2 concentrations and sea level rise (SLR) [15], threaten global salt marshes and their ability to provide such services [7, 8, 12, 16]. The ability of an individual salt marsh to survive rests primarily on its ability to accrete laterally or vertically [8, 12]. Lateral accommodation space may become limited during the twenty-first century due to increasing population growth and anthropogenic modification of coastal areas [12]. Therefore, vertical accretion may be of greater importance. Near-surface vertical accretion is controlled by geomorphological factors, such as minerogenic sediment supply, and biological factors, such as above and belowground plant biomass, alongside sea level (inundation periods and duration (hydroperiod)) [7, 17]. Where continued tidally introduced minerogenic sediment supply cannot be guaranteed, plants may struggle to survive under high SLR scenarios [18, 19]. Climate change may thus affect vegetative community composition and aspects of physical plant structure, such as stem flexibility [10, 17, 20]. The impact of such changes on vertical accretion is poorly understood. Moreover, global-scale assessments regularly neglect to include biophysical feedbacks, often overestimating the vulnerability of salt marshes as a result [12]. Therefore, it is necessary to assess the biophysical response of individual species to altered growing conditions and how this influences vertical accretion at local and regional scales. This research will determine the effects of increased temperature, CO2 concentration, and hydroperiod, on root biomass, aboveground biomass and stem mechanical properties (stiffness, strength and toughness) of Spartina anglica, Puccinellia maritima, and Atriplex portulacoides and the resultant impact on vertical accretion.

Grant Approved

€124,000.00

Research Hub

Protecting and Restoring Our Natural Environment

Research Theme

n/a

Start Date

01/09/2024

Initial Projected Completion Date

31/08/2028