Can cheniers protect mangroves along eroding coastlines? – The effect of contrasting foreshore types on mangrove stability

Mangrove forests are increasingly valued as wave-attenuating buffers in coastal flood defence strategies. However, as mangroves are vulnerable to wave-induced erosion, this raises the question, how can the stability of these protective mangrove forests be promoted? To address this question, we investigate how mangrove dynamics in a microtidal...

The impact of extreme events on mudflats - The Guyana case

Mudflats are coastal features present in numerous locations around the planet. Depending on the latitude and local conditions, mudflats can be vegetated by salt marshes or by mangroves and play an important role in coastal evolution. Vegetated mudflats can create a remarkable sea defense and their high ecosystem value has been proven by various...

Exploratory modelling of Nature-Based Island development at the Abandoned Yellow River Delta: Jiangsu Province, China

The People's Republic of China experienced large socio-economic development over the last decades, which was mainly concentrated in coastal regions. Jiangsu Province is among these regions, which shows large socio-economic differences between north and south. The Chinese Central Government has allocated Binhai County as a new coastal development...

Ecological impact of land reclamation on Jiangsu coast (China): A novel ecotope assessment for Tongzhou Bay

China's continuous and rapid economic growth has led to the reclamation of large sections of the intertidal mud coast in combination with port construction, such as that of the proposed Tongzhou Bay port on the Jiangsu coast. These reclamations threaten the local ecosystem services. An ecotope distribution map was created and a hydrodynamic...

Building for nature: Preserving threatened bird habitat in port design

The fast economic development of the People's Republic of China has created an increasing demand for usable land, resulting in large-scale land reclamations along the coastal zone. One of these regions is Tongzhou Bay (Jiangsu coast), a region characterized by large intertidal mudflats and deep tidal channels with potential for the...

Morphodynamic Resilience of Intertidal Mudflats on a Seasonal Time Scale

Intertidal mudflats are morphodynamic features present in many estuaries worldwide. Often located between vegetated shores and deep channels they comprise valuable ecosystems and serve to protect the hinterland by attenuating waves. Although mudflats are persistently present on yearly to decadal time scales, little is known on their...

Intertidal Area Disappears Under Sea Level Rise: 250 Years of Morphodynamic Modeling in San Pablo Bay, California

Anticipated sea level rise (SLR) threatens intertidal areas and associated ecosystems in estuaries worldwide. There is a need to develop validated modeling tools to assess the impact of SLR on estuarine morphodynamics. This study explores the morphological impact of SLR on a channel-shoal system in San Pablo Bay, a subembayment of San...

Mudflat Morphodynamics and the Impact of Sea Level Rise in South San Francisco Bay

Estuarine tidal mudflats form unique habitats and maintain valuable ecosystems. Historic measurements of a mudflat in San Fancsico Bay over the past 150 years suggest the development of a rather stable mudflat profile. This raises questions on its origin and governing processes as well as on the mudflats’ faith under scenarios of sea level...

Tidal flat nematode responses to hypoxia and subsequent macrofauna-mediated alterations of sediment properties

To assess the role of macrofauna-mediated sediment changes on nematode community recovery, we examined the temporal development of macrobenthos, nematode communities and sediment properties following hypoxia in 16 m2 replicated plots over a 6 mo period. Hypoxia drastically changed nematode community composition (i.e. reduced diversity and...

Macrobenthic recovery from hypoxia in an estuarine tidal mudflat

Macrobenthic recolonisation patterns after complete defaunation resulting from experimentally induced hypoxia were investigated in a polyhaline, estuarine mudflat. Based on simultaneous sampling of biotic and environmental variables in replicated 16 m2 control and defaunated plots, with a high resolution in time during 6 mo, the ecological...

Community structure and seasonal dynamics of diatom biofilms and associated grazers in intertidal mudflats

The composition and seasonal dynamics of biofilm-associated eukaryotic communities were analysed at the metre and kilometre scale along a salinity gradient in the Westerschelde estuary (The Netherlands), using microscopy and a genetic fingerprinting technique (PCR-DGGE). Microphytobenthic biomass, measured as chlorophyll a (chl a), varied...