Coastal wetland ecosystem dynamics

Coastal wetlands—mangrove forests, tidal marshes, and salt flats—occupy the shifting boundary between land and sea, where biological, physical, and chemical processes interact at unusually high intensity. Researchers study how these systems sequester carbon in their soils, buffer coastlines against storm surge, and support fisheries, while also tracking how accelerating sea-level rise and land-use pressure are degrading or displacing them faster than natural recovery can compensate. A central open question is whether active restoration can reliably rebuild the full suite of ecosystem functions, or whether altered sediment budgets and changed hydrology mean that restored wetlands remain ecologically diminished for decades. Understanding the conditions under which these habitats gain or lose elevation relative to rising seas is increasingly urgent, since it determines whether coastal wetlands persist as living buffers or convert to open water and release their stored carbon.

Works

77,143

Total citations

1,276,132

Keywords

Mangrove ForestsCoastal ProtectionCarbon SequestrationSea-Level RiseEcosystem ServicesWetland Restoration