Divergent forecasts for two salt marsh specialists in response to sea level rise

Hunter, Elizabeth A.; Nibbelink, Nathan P.; Cooper, Robert J.

doi:10.1111/acv.12280

Cited by 25 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 34 publications

(54 reference statements)

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“…, Hunter et al. ). Virginia rail, one of the more generalist of the suite of marsh birds we studied, appeared to be the most likely to use migrated marsh compared to other marsh birds, given their positive association with C. jamaicense dominance, which was greater in marshes closer to forest.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Marsh bird occupancy along the shoreline‐to‐forest gradient as marshes migrate from rising sea level

Taillie

Moorman

2019

Ecosphere

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One mechanism by which coastal marshes may persist as sea-level rises is to expand landward into existing forest, a process known as marsh migration. Though recent studies highlight the importance of marsh migration to the conservation of birds associated with coastal marshes, marsh bird responses to this transition from forest to marsh are poorly understood. To address this need, we conducted surveys of five focal marsh bird taxa at 92 points distributed across the gradient from the shoreline to the marsh-forest interface in one of the most vulnerable regions to sea-level rise in North America where marshes have been migrating landward for at least several decades. Given this landward movement of the forest-marsh interface, we modeled focal taxa occurrence as a function of distance-to-forest, thereby assuming that marshes closer to the forest were newer than those closer to the shoreline. In addition, we investigated the effects of vegetation conditions and fire frequency. Occupancy probability of marsh birds decreased closer to the forest-marsh interface where woody vegetation was taller and herbaceous cover was dominated by Cladium jamaicense, suggesting migrated marsh may provide limited habitat for these bird species, at least in the short term. Though parameter estimate uncertainty for black rail (Laterallus jamaicensis) was high due to a limited number of detections, occupancy of this species may increase with the conditions associated with migrated marsh, specifically greater C. jamaicense dominance and decreasing distance-to-forest. Clapper/king rail (Rallus crepitans/elegans) occupancy was greater at sites that had burned more frequently over the past decade, and occupancy of all focal taxa was greater in areas with vegetation conditions consistent with the effects of fire in coastal marshes, including reduced herbaceous vegetation density and shorter woody vegetation. As such, prescribed fire may serve as an effective method of facilitating marsh migration and increasing the quality and quantity of habitat for coastal marsh birds as sea-level rises.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…, Hunter et al. ). Therefore, marsh migration may be particularly important for birds that are high marsh specialists.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Marsh bird occupancy along the shoreline‐to‐forest gradient as marshes migrate from rising sea level

Taillie

Moorman

2019

Ecosphere

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“…Selection of conservation sites to protect saltmarsh biodiversity from SLR will be difficult because many species (even saltmarsh specialists) may have different responses to SLR (Hunter et al. ). Although many salt marshes and the organisms that inhabit them are legally protected, such protections are typically not designed to address the threat of SLR to salt marshes (Adam ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One might expect the ER approach to better maximize species richness unless there are saltmarsh species with very disjunct distributions, which is the case for some saltmarsh specialists that segregate along elevational and salinity gradients (Hunter et al. ). Thus, both approaches were appropriate to address our goal.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Using environmental heterogeneity to plan for sea‐level rise

Hunter

Nibbelink

2017

Conservation Biology

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Environmental heterogeneity is increasingly being used to select conservation areas that will provide for future biodiversity under a variety of climate scenarios. This approach, termed conserving nature's stage (CNS), assumes environmental features respond to climate change more slowly than biological communities, but will CNS be effective if the stage were to change as rapidly as the climate? We tested the effectiveness of using CNS to select sites in salt marshes for conservation in coastal Georgia (U.S.A.), where environmental features will change rapidly as sea level rises. We calculated species diversity based on distributions of 7 bird species with a variety of niches in Georgia salt marshes. Environmental heterogeneity was assessed across six landscape gradients (e.g., elevation, salinity, and patch area). We used 2 approaches to select sites with high environmental heterogeneity: site complementarity (environmental diversity [ED]) and local environmental heterogeneity (environmental richness [ER]). Sites selected based on ER predicted present-day species diversity better than randomly selected sites (up to an 8.1% improvement), were resilient to areal loss from SLR (1.0% average areal loss by 2050 compared with 0.9% loss of randomly selected sites), and provided habitat to a threatened species (0.63 average occupancy compared with 0.6 average occupancy of randomly selected sites). Sites selected based on ED predicted species diversity no better or worse than random and were not resilient to SLR (2.9% average areal loss by 2050). Despite the discrepancy between the 2 approaches, CNS is a viable strategy for conservation site selection in salt marshes because the ER approach was successful. It has potential for application in other coastal areas where SLR will affect environmental features, but its performance may depend on the magnitude of geological changes caused by SLR. Our results indicate that conservation planners that had heretofore excluded low-lying coasts from CNS planning could include coastal ecosystems in regional conservation strategies.

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Application of lidar to assess the habitat selection of an endangered small mammal in an estuarine wetland environment

Hagani,

Takekawa,

Skalos

et al. 2024

Ecology and Evolution

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Light detection and ranging (lidar) has emerged as a valuable tool for examining the fine‐scale characteristics of vegetation. However, lidar is rarely used to examine coastal wetland vegetation or the habitat selection of small mammals. Extensive anthropogenic modification has threatened the endemic species in the estuarine wetlands of the California coast, such as the endangered salt marsh harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys raviventris; SMHM). A better understanding of SMHM habitat selection could help managers better protect this species. We assessed the ability of airborne topographic lidar imagery in measuring the vegetation structure of SMHM habitats in a coastal wetland with a narrow range of vegetation heights. We also aimed to better understand the role of vegetation structure in habitat selection at different spatial scales. Habitat selection was modeled from data compiled from 15 small mammal trapping grids collected in the highly urbanized San Francisco Estuary in California, USA. Analyses were conducted at three spatial scales: microhabitat (25 m2), mesohabitat (2025 m2), and macrohabitat (~10,000 m2). A suite of structural covariates was derived from raw lidar data to examine vegetation complexity. We found that adding structural covariates to conventional habitat selection variables significantly improved our models. At the microhabitat scale in managed wetlands, SMHM preferred areas with denser and shorter vegetation and selected for proximity to levees and taller vegetation in tidal wetlands. At the mesohabitat scale, SMHM were associated with a lower percentage of bare ground and with pickleweed (Salicornia pacifica) presence. All covariates were insignificant at the macrohabitat scale. Our results suggest that SMHM preferentially selected microhabitats with access to tidal refugia and mesohabitats with consistent food sources. Our findings showed that lidar can contribute to improving our understanding of habitat selection of wildlife in coastal wetlands and help to guide future conservation of an endangered species.

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Divergent forecasts for two salt marsh specialists in response to sea level rise

Cited by 25 publications

References 34 publications

Marsh bird occupancy along the shoreline‐to‐forest gradient as marshes migrate from rising sea level

Marsh bird occupancy along the shoreline‐to‐forest gradient as marshes migrate from rising sea level

Using environmental heterogeneity to plan for sea‐level rise

Application of lidar to assess the habitat selection of an endangered small mammal in an estuarine wetland environment

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