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Saltmarsh erosion and management of saltmarsh restoration; the effects of infaunal invertebrates
Author(s) -
Hughes R.G.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
aquatic conservation: marine and freshwater ecosystems
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.95
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1099-0755
pISSN - 1052-7613
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-0755(199901/02)9:1<83::aid-aqc323>3.0.co;2-9
Subject(s) - salt marsh , marsh , environmental science , vegetation (pathology) , ecology , invertebrate , habitat , herbivore , biology , wetland , medicine , pathology
1. Loss of saltmarshes in SE England poses significant problems for conservation and for flood defence. The functioning of internationally important estuarine habitats is at risk and the loss of vegetation which protects sea walls is potentially expensive. 2. Managed realignment, where some sea walls will be allowed to fail, or breached deliberately, in the expectation that saltmarsh will develop behind the sea wall, could ameliorate both problems. 3. This paper questions whether managed realignment will lead to saltmarsh development when established saltmarshes are eroding. The processes operating behind two unmanaged breaches are examined, one where saltmarsh did not develop, and an older site where saltmarsh developed but has eroded since. 4. The data indicate that herbivory and bioturbation by the invertebrate infauna, particularly Nereis diversicolor and Corophium volutator are responsible, at least in part, for the loss of saltmarsh vegetation, particularly in the pioneer zone. 5. A hypothesis is proposed to relate the losses of saltmarshes in SE England over the past four decades to the activities of the infauna, particularly N. diversicolor , which some evidence indicates has increased in range and abundance over the same time‐scale. 6. Development of saltmarsh, in managed realignment sites and elsewhere, may not occur without management to reduce the effects of the infauna. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.