Costal futures and human legacies

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The objective of this three-segmented research program is to assess the future provision of ecosystem services of Eastern Canada's salt marshes and the intertidal waters of the NW Atlantic in the context of human legacies, i.e., drainage for agriculture, nutrient enrichment, greenhouse warming and associated sea level rise (SLR). With the exception of local drainage, these perturbations are a legacy of land management and industrial activity worldwide. They will persist even if society is convinced to control the causes. "Ecosystem services" is a term used to denote the set of ecosystem functions that includes those with broad benefit to society, beyond the conventionally considered consumptive uses. For instance, tidal salt marshes serve as sedimentary sinks for carbon and pollutants (e.g., trace metals) and have low greenhouse gas emissions (compared to freshwater wetlands), as well as the more direct benefits of marsh plant production supporting coastal fisheries and providing habitat for wildlife. Specifically, my research will:  1) evaluate the response of marsh vegetation and marsh elevation to nutrient increases; 2) examine the process of recovery of marshes once reclaimed for agriculture to assess the potential value of deliberate restoration efforts; and 3) determine if global warming will cause shifts in the distribution of important plant and animal species along the Atlantic coast of North America.