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1. Coastal Marsh Degradation Into Ponds Induces Irreversible Elevation Loss Relative to Sea Level in a Microtidal System

   https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL089121  

   Schepers, Lennert; Brennand, Patrick; Kirwan, Matthew L.; Guntenspergen, Glenn R.; Temmerman, Stijn (September 2020, Geophysical Research Letters)
2. Rates of Mainland Marsh Migration into Uplands and Seaward Edge Erosion are Explained by Geomorphic Type of Salt Marsh in Virginia Coastal Lagoons

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-020-01390-6  

   Flester, Jessica A.; Blum, Linda K. (January 2020, Wetlands)

   null (Ed.)

   Complexities of terrestrial boundaries with salt marshes in coastal lagoons affect salt marsh exposure to waves and sediments creating different potentials for marsh migration inland and seaward-edge erosion, and consequently, for marsh persistence. Between 2002 and 2017, migration and edge erosion were measured in three mainland geomorphic marsh types (headland, valley, hammock) and were used to assess the rate and spatial extent of marsh change for a Virginia coastal lagoon system. Treelines, shorelines, and marsh perimeters were delineated in ArcGIS at 1:600 resolution. All marsh types increased in spatial extent; increases were greatest for the valley type (0.58 ha ± 0.31 ha or + 0.32% per annum). Measured rates of migration (headland > valley > hammock) and erosion (headland > hammock > valley) for each geomorphic type were averaged and applied to obtain changes in these same marsh types at the regional scale. At this scale, valley marsh area increased (82.5 ha or 5.5 ha a−1) more than the other two marsh types combined. This analysis demonstrates the critical influence that geomorphic type has on lateral marsh responses to sea-level rise and that efforts to conserve or restore salt marshes are most likely to be successful when focused on valley marshes. 

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3. Urban beaver ponds show limited impact on stream carbon quantity in contrast to stormwater ponds

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-024-01536-y  

   Sheppy, Julian; Sudduth, Elizabeth B.; Clinton, Sandra; Riveros-Iregui, Diego; Ledford, Sarah H. (March 2024, Urban Ecosystems)
4. Sulfur oxidation and reduction are coupled to nitrogen fixation in the roots of the salt marsh foundation plant Spartina alterniflora

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-47646-1  

   Rolando, J. L.; Kolton, M.; Song, T.; Liu, Y.; Pinamang, P.; Conrad, R.; Morris, J. T.; Konstantinidis, K. T.; Kostka, J. E. (April 2024, Nature Communications)

   Abstract Heterotrophic activity, primarily driven by sulfate-reducing prokaryotes, has traditionally been linked to nitrogen fixation in the root zone of coastal marine plants, leaving the role of chemolithoautotrophy in this process unexplored. Here, we show that sulfur oxidation coupled to nitrogen fixation is a previously overlooked process providing nitrogen to coastal marine macrophytes. In this study, we recovered 239 metagenome-assembled genomes from a salt marsh dominated by the foundation plantSpartina alterniflora, including diazotrophic sulfate-reducing and sulfur-oxidizing bacteria. Abundant sulfur-oxidizing bacteria encode and highly express genes for carbon fixation (RuBisCO), nitrogen fixation (nifHDK) and sulfur oxidation (oxidative-dsrAB), especially in roots stressed by sulfidic and reduced sediment conditions. Stressed roots exhibited the highest rates of nitrogen fixation and expression level of sulfur oxidation and sulfate reduction genes. Close relatives of marine symbionts from theCandidatusThiodiazotropha genus contributed ~30% and ~20% of all sulfur-oxidizingdsrAand nitrogen-fixingnifKtranscripts in stressed roots, respectively. Based on these findings, we propose that the symbiosis betweenS. alternifloraand sulfur-oxidizing bacteria is key to ecosystem functioning of coastal salt marshes. 

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5. Controls on Sediment Suspension, Flux, and Marsh Deposition near a Bay-Marsh Boundary

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-018-0478-4  

   Duvall, Melissa S.; Wiberg, Patricia L.; Kirwan, Matthew L. (March 2019, Estuaries and Coasts)