Wetland Accretion Rate Model of Ecosystem Resilience (WARMER) and Its Application to Habitat Sustainability for Endangered Species in the San Francisco Estuary

Swanson, Kathleen M.; Drexler, Judith Z.; Schoellhamer, David H.; Thorne, Karen M.; Casazza, Michael L.; Overton, Cory T.; Callaway, John C.; Takekawa, John Y.

doi:10.1007/s12237-013-9694-0

Cited by 106 publications

(125 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…Animals living in regions of elevated mercury concentrations or those feeding from portions of the food web with high bioaccumulated mercury levels may not respond to restoration actions as readily or rapidly as elsewhere in the species range because of physiological effects and demographic impairment of populations (Scheuhammer et al 2007). How severe the nontarget effects of management actions become is partially influenced by these existing patterns of habitat fragmentation and degradation and may be compounded in the http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol21/iss1/art19/ future because of projected increased habitat loss resulting from sea-level rise (Stralberg et al 2011, Thorne et al 2012, Swanson et al 2014. Alone, these factors paint a very bleak future for the California rail; in the context of promoting a complete and healthy ecosystem, with limited resources and incomplete information, they create an almost impossible set of preconditions for success.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Endangered species management and ecosystem restoration: finding the common ground

Casazza¹,

Overton²,

Bui³

et al. 2016

E&S

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ABSTRACT. Management actions to protect endangered species and conserve ecosystem function may not always be in precise alignment. Efforts to recover the California Ridgway's Rail (Rallus obsoletus obsoletus; hereafter, California rail), a federally and statelisted species, and restoration of tidal marsh ecosystems in the San Francisco Bay estuary provide a prime example of habitat restoration that has conflicted with species conservation. On the brink of extinction from habitat loss and degradation, and non-native predators in the 1990s, California rail populations responded positively to introduction of a non-native plant, Atlantic cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora). California rail populations were in substantial decline when the non-native Spartina was initially introduced as part of efforts to recover tidal marshes. Subsequent hybridization with the native Pacific cordgrass (Spartina foliosa) boosted California rail populations by providing greater cover and increased habitat area. The hybrid cordgrass (S. alterniflora × S. foliosa) readily invaded tidal mudflats and channels, and both crowded out native tidal marsh plants and increased sediment accretion in the marsh plain. This resulted in modification of tidal marsh geomorphology, hydrology, productivity, and species composition. Our results show that denser California rail populations occur in invasive Spartina than in native Spartina in San Francisco Bay. Herbicide treatment between 2005 and 2012 removed invasive Spartina from open intertidal mud and preserved foraging habitat for shorebirds. However, removal of invasive Spartina caused substantial decreases in California rail populations. Unknown facets of California rail ecology, undesirable interim stages of tidal marsh restoration, and competing management objectives among stakeholders resulted in management planning for endangered species or ecosystem restoration that favored one goal over the other. We have examined this perceived conflict and propose strategies for moderating harmful effects of restoration while meeting the needs of both endangered species and the imperiled native marsh ecosystem.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Endangered species management and ecosystem restoration: finding the common ground

Casazza¹,

Overton²,

Bui³

et al. 2016

E&S

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“…However, aspects of S and k are key components of many tidal wetland resiliency models (Schile et al, 2014;Swanson et al, 2014) Our findings imply that particularly the vulnerability of organic systems might increase with global change because in these systems soil volume is almost exclusively generated by the 470 preservation of OM. At the same time, however, mineral dominated systems, such as temperate European salt marshes, experience large amounts of easily decomposable allochthonous-OM input that relies on substantial stabilization in order to become sequestered (Middelburg et al, 1997;Allen, 2000;Khan et al, 2015).…”

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confidence: 87%

Global change effects on decomposition processes in tidal wetlands: implications from a global survey using standardized litter

Müeller¹,

Schile-Beers²,

Mozdzer³

et al. 2017

Preprint

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Tidal wetlands, such as tidal marshes and mangroves, are hotspots for carbon sequestration. The preservation of organic matter (OM) is a critical process by which tidal wetlands exert influence over the global carbon cycle and at the same time gain elevation to keep pace with sea-level rise (SLR). The present study provides the first global-scale field-based experimental evidence of 50 temperature and relative sea level effects on the decomposition rate and stabilization of OM in tidal wetlands. The study was conducted in 26 marsh and mangrove sites across four continents, utilizing commercially available standardized OM. While effects on decomposition rate per se were minor, we show unanticipated and combined negative effects of temperature and relative sea level on OM stabilization. Across study sites, OM stabilization was 29% lower in low, more frequently flooded 55 vs. high, less frequently flooded zones. OM stabilization declined by ~90% over the studied temperature gradient from 10.9 to 28.5°C, corresponding to a decline of ~5% over a 1°C-temperature increase. Additionally, data from the long-term ecological research site in Massachusetts, US show a pronounced reduction in OM stabilization by >70% in response to simulated coastal eutrophication, confirming the high sensitivity of OM stabilization to global 60 change. We therefore provide evidence that rising temperature, accelerated SLR, and coastal eutrophication may decrease the future capacity of tidal wetlands to sequester carbon by affecting the initial transformations of recent OM inputs to soil organic matter.

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“…The advantage to rescaling elevation was that vegetation composition in intertidal saltmarsh has strong zonation with different species tolerating different degrees of inundation that are best represented over large geographic scales using relative elevations as opposed to absolute elevation (Hinde 1954;Swanson et al 2013).…”

Section: Analysis and Covariatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tidal and seasonal effects on survival rates of the endangered California clapper rail: does invasive Spartina facilitate greater survival in a dynamic environment?

et al. 2014

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ORIGINAL PAPERTidal and seasonal effects on survival rates of the endangered California clapper rail: does invasive Spartina facilitate greater survival in a dynamic environment? Abstract Invasive species frequently degrade habitats, disturb ecosystem processes, and can increase the likelihood of extinction of imperiled populations. However, novel or enhanced functions provided by invading species may reduce the impact of processes that limit populations. It is important to recognize how invasive species benefit endangered species to determine overall effects on sensitive ecosystems. For example, since the 1990s, hybrid Spartina (Spartina foliosa 9 alterniflora) has expanded throughout South San Francisco Bay, USA, supplanting native vegetation and invading mudflats. The endangered California clapper rail (Rallus longirostris obsoletus) uses the tall, dense hybrid Spartina for cover and nesting, but the effects of hybrid Spartina on clapper rail survival was unknown. We estimated survival rates of 108 radio-marked California clapper rails in South San Francisco Bay from January 2007 to March 2010, a period of extensive hybrid Spartina eradication, with Kaplan-Meier product limit estimators. Clapper rail survival patterns were consistent with hybrid Spartina providing increased refuge cover from predators during tidal extremes which flood native vegetation, particularly during the winter when the vegetation senesces. Model averaged annual survival rates within hybrid Spartina dominated marshes before eradication (Ŝ = 0.466) were greater than the same marshes posttreatment (Ŝ = 0.275) and a marsh dominated by native vegetation (Ŝ = 0.272). However, models with and without marsh treatment as explanatory factor for survival rates had nearly equivalent support in the observed data, lending ambiguity as to whether hybrid Spartina facilitated greater survival rates than native marshland. Conservation actions to aid in recovery of this endangered species should recognize the importance of available of high tide refugia, particularly in light of invasive species eradication programs and projections of future sea-level rise.

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Wetland Accretion Rate Model of Ecosystem Resilience (WARMER) and Its Application to Habitat Sustainability for Endangered Species in the San Francisco Estuary

Cited by 106 publications

References 44 publications

Endangered species management and ecosystem restoration: finding the common ground

Endangered species management and ecosystem restoration: finding the common ground

Global change effects on decomposition processes in tidal wetlands: implications from a global survey using standardized litter

Tidal and seasonal effects on survival rates of the endangered California clapper rail: does invasive Spartina facilitate greater survival in a dynamic environment?

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