Vegetation interactions with geotechnical properties and erodibility of salt marsh sediments


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Article
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Abstract

Salt marshes provide diverse ecosystem services including coastal protection, habitat provision and carbon sequestration. The loss of salt marshes is a global scale phenomenon, of great socio-economic concern due to the substantial benefits that they provide. However, the causes of spatial variability in marsh loss rates are inadequately understood for the purposes of predicting future ecosystem distributions and functions under global environmental change. This study investigated the relationship between the presence of different saltmarsh plants and the mechanical properties of the underlying substrate that relate to its vulnerability to erosion. Relationships between three halophytes (Puccinellia spp., Spartina spp. and Salicornia spp.) and sediment stability were assessed and compared to unvegetated substrates using in-situ and laboratory tests of substrate geotechnical properties and sediment characteristics. Sampling was conducted at two UK sites with contrasting sedimentology, one sand-dominated and one clay-rich. Sediment samples, collected simultaneously with measurements of shear strength, were analysed for moisture content, particle size and organic, carbonate and mineral compositions. These data were then used to explore the contribution of plant type, alongside the sedimentological parameters, to measured shear strength.

Publication Date
2022
Online Publication Date
2021-12-22
Acceptance Date
2021-12-18
Keywords
Salt marsh, Vegetation, Sediment, Shear strength, Erodibility, Geomorphology
Journal Title
Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science
Journal ISSN
0272-7714
1096-0015
Volume Title
265
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Sponsorship
Natural Environment Research Council (NE/R01082X/1)
NERC (NE/L002507/1)
Natural Environment Research Council (NE/N015878/1)