Numerical models of salt marsh evolution: Ecological, geomorphic, and climatic factors

Salt marshes are delicate landforms at the boundary between the sea and land. These ecosystems support a diverse biota that modifies the erosive characteristics of the substrate and mediates sediment transport processes. Here we present a broad overview of recent numerical models that quantify the formation and evolution of salt marshes under different physical and ecological drivers. In particular, we focus on the coupling between geomorphological and ecological processes and on how these feedbacks are included in predictive models of landform evolution. We describe in detail models that simulate fluxes of water, organic matter, and sediments in salt marshes. The interplay between biological and morphological…

• NS
  National Science Foundation

  Awards: 0621014, 0924287, OCE 0923689, 0923689
• UG
  U.S. Geological Survey
• OO
  Office of Naval Research

  Awards: N00014, N00014-10-1-0269