title: Tidal wetland stability in the face of human impacts and sea-level rise.
abstract: Coastal populations and wetlands have been intertwined for centuries, whereby humans both influence and depend on the extensive ecosystem services that wetlands provide. Although coastal wetlands have long been considered vulnerable to sea-level rise, recent work has identified fascinating feedbacks between plant growth and geomorphology that allow wetlands to actively resist the deleterious effects of sea-level rise. Humans alter the strength of these feedbacks by changing the climate, nutrient inputs, sediment delivery and subsidence rates. Whether wetlands continue to survive sea-level rise depends largely on how human impacts interact with rapid sea-level rise, and socio-economic factors that influence transgression into adjacent uplands.
authors.affiliation: Virginia Institute of Marine Science, PO Box 1346, 1375 Greate Road, Gloucester Point, Virginia 23062, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Kirwan
authors.forename: J Patrick
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Megonigal
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D057231:Climate Change; D017753:Ecosystem; D005068:Eutrophication; D006801:Humans; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D055871:Tidal Waves; D053833:Wetlands