Hatches Harbor, Cape Cod. Photo source: ©© Lydia Mann
Excerpts;
Salt marshes have been disintegrating and dying over the past two decades along the U.S. Eastern seaboard and other highly developed coastlines, without anyone fully understanding why.
This week in the journal Nature, MBL Ecosystems Center scientist Linda Deegan and colleagues report that nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus from septic and sewer systems and lawn fertilizers, can cause salt-marsh loss…
Read Full Article, Science Daily
Coastal eutrophication as a driver of salt marsh loss, Original Study / Nature Journal
“Salt marshes are highly productive coastal wetlands that provide important ecosystem services such as storm protection for coastal cities, nutrient removal and carbon sequestration. Despite protective measures, however, worldwide losses of these ecosystems have accelerated in recent decades. Here we present data from a nine-year whole-ecosystem nutrient-enrichment experiment. Our study demonstrates that nutrient enrichment, a global problem for coastal ecosystems, can be a driver of salt marsh loss…”
Salt Marsh Carbon May Play Role in Slowing Climate Warming
A warming climate and rising seas will enable salt marshes to more rapidly capture and remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, possibly playing a role in slowing the rate of climate change, according to a new study led by a University of Virginia environmental scientist.
