Over 25% of Mississippi River delta plain (MRDP) wetlands were lost over the past century. There is currently a major effort to restore the MRDP focused on a 50-year time horizon, a period during which the energy system and climate will change dramatically. We used a calibrated MRDP marsh elevation model to assess the costs of hydraulic dredging to sustain wetlands from 2016 to 2066 and 2016 to 2100 under a range of scenarios for sea level rise, energy price, and management regimes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCoastal wetland responses to sea-level rise are greatly influenced by biogeomorphic processes that affect wetland surface elevation. Small changes in elevation relative to sea level can lead to comparatively large changes in ecosystem structure, function, and stability. The surface elevation table-marker horizon (SET-MH) approach is being used globally to quantify the relative contributions of processes affecting wetland elevation change.
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