Coastal wetlands can be saved from sea level rise by recreating past tidal regimes
| Autor: | Chris D Drummond, Duncan Rayner, Mahmood Sadat-Noori, Danial Khojasteh, Valentin Heimhuber, William Glamore, Caleb Rankin, Troy F. Gaston, Anita C. Chalmers |
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| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
Hydrology geography Multidisciplinary geography.geographical_feature_category 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences Science 010604 marine biology & hydrobiology Submersion (coastal management) Intertidal zone Climate change Wetland Vegetation 01 natural sciences Article Ecosystem services Environmental impact Salt marsh Medicine Environmental science Climate-change mitigation Intertidal wetland 0105 earth and related environmental sciences |
| Zdroj: | Scientific Reports Scientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-10 (2021) |
| ISSN: | 2045-2322 |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s41598-021-80977-3 |
| Popis: | Climate change driven Sea Level Rise (SLR) is creating a major global environmental crisis in coastal ecosystems, however, limited practical solutions are provided to prevent or mitigate the impacts. Here, we propose a novel eco-engineering solution to protect highly valued vegetated intertidal ecosystems. The new ‘Tidal Replicate Method’ involves the creation of a synthetic tidal regime that mimics the desired hydroperiod for intertidal wetlands. This synthetic tidal regime can then be applied via automated tidal control systems, “SmartGates”, at suitable locations. As a proof of concept study, this method was applied at an intertidal wetland with the aim of restabilising saltmarsh vegetation at a location representative of SLR. Results from aerial drone surveys and on-ground vegetation sampling indicated that the Tidal Replicate Method effectively established saltmarsh onsite over a 3-year period of post-restoration, showing the method is able to protect endangered intertidal ecosystems from submersion. If applied globally, this method can protect high value coastal wetlands with similar environmental settings, including over 1,184,000 ha of Ramsar coastal wetlands. This equates to a saving of US$230 billion in ecosystem services per year. This solution can play an important role in the global effort to conserve coastal wetlands under accelerating SLR. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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