Introduction
Coastal wetlands, including mangrove swamps, salt marshes, mud flats and other tidal saline wetlands, provide a wide variety of important ecosystem services such as a diverse array of wildlife habitat that fosters high biodiversity, carbon sequestration, coastal stabilization and protection (Lovelock and Ellison 2007; Feller et al 2010). These ecosystems also provide a critical biogeochemical link between marine and terrestrial ecosystems by serving as both a sink of sediment and elements from each biome, but also a critical source of carbon and nutrients to the marine ecosystem to support productivity and biodiversity (Rudnick et al 1999; Bouillon et al 2008). Unfortunately, degraded water quality, eutrophication of coastal wetlands and altered freshwater flow has impacted coastal wetland functions (Adame et al 2012). Due to changes in flow through the Everglades ecosystem over the last century, the coastal wetlands of the southern Everglades have been significantly altered resulting in changes in resource gradients, resource regulators and hydroperiod (Twilley and Rivera-Monroy 2005; Rivera-Monroy et al 2011). As restoration activities progress, it is likely that resource gradients will change, however it is uncertain how the Everglades ecosystem will respond to restoration.
Osborne TZ (2015) Forecast Effects of Sea-Level Rise on Coastal Wetland Structure and Function. GEER 2015.
References
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