An integrative salt marsh conceptual framework for global comparisons

Abstract

Salt marshes occur globally across climatic and coastal settings, providing key linkages between terrestrial and marine ecosystems. However, salt marsh science lacks a unifying conceptual framework; consequently, historically well‐studied locations have been used as normative benchmarks. To allow for more effective comparisons across the diversity of salt marshes, we developed an integrative salt marsh conceptual framework. We review ecosystem‐relevant drivers from global to local spatial scales, integrate these multi‐scale settings into a framework, and provide guidance on applying the framework using specific variables on 11 global examples. Overall, this framework allows for appropriate comparison of study sites by accounting for global, coastal, inter‐, and intra‐system spatial settings unique to each salt marsh. We anticipate that incorporating this framework into salt marsh science will provide a mechanism to critically evaluate research questions and a foundation for effective quantitative studies that deepen our understanding of salt marsh function across spatial scales.

The Influence of Macroclimatic Drivers on the Macrophyte Phylogenetic Diversity in South African Estuaries

“…The global distribution of coastal wetlands is governed by the macroclimate that creates large-scale climatic zones where they can generally be divided into three bioclimatic zones: the tropics, cool temperate and dry climatic zones [20,29,[51][52][53][54]. This study provides empirical evidence for the biogeographical separation of South African tidal coastal wetlands into at least three climatic regions and the climatic variables that are responsible for these patterns.…”

Measuring canopy morphology of saltmarsh plant patches using UAV-based LiDAR data

“…Patches of S. alterniflora and S. mariqueter in Chinese saltmarshes exhibit scale-dependent characteristics, leading to variations in their physical environment and ecological functions, such as sediment input and hydrodynamic conditions (Schwarz et al, 2015;Zhao et al, 2019;Dai et al, 2021;Yando et al, 2023). However, retrieving vertical information from the canopy becomes challenging due to significant differences in patch scales.…”