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Broad-scale modelling of coastal wetlands: what is required?

  • Lagoons and Coastal Wetlands
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  • Published: February 2007
  • Volume 577, pages 5–15, (2007)
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Broad-scale modelling of coastal wetlands: what is required?
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  • Loraine McFadden1,
  • Tom Spencer2 &
  • Robert J. Nicholls3 

  • 1760 Accesses

  • 62 Citations

  • 13 Altmetric

  • 1 Mention

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Abstract

A Wetland Change Model has been developed to identify the vulnerability of coastal wetlands at broad spatial (regional to global (mean spatial resolution of 85 km)) and temporal scales (modelling period of 100 years). The model provides a dynamic and integrated assessment of wetland loss, and a means of estimating the transitions between different vegetated wetland types and open water under a range of scenarios of sea-level rise and changes in accommodation space from human intervention. This paper is an overview of key issues raised in the process of quantifying broad-scale vulnerabilities of coastal wetlands to forcing from sea-level rise discussing controlling factors of tidal range, sediment availability and accommodation space, identification of response lags and defining the threshold for wetland loss and transition.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Flood Hazard Research Centre, Middlesex University, Queensway, Enfield, EN3 4SA, UK

    Loraine McFadden

  2. Cambridge Coastal Research Unit, Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, Downing Place, Cambridge, CB2 3EN, UK

    Tom Spencer

  3. School of Civil Engineering and the Environment, University of Southampton, Highfield Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK

    Robert J. Nicholls

Authors
  1. Loraine McFadden
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  2. Tom Spencer
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  3. Robert J. Nicholls
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Correspondence to Loraine McFadden.

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Open Access This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0 ), which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.

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McFadden, L., Spencer, T. & Nicholls, R.J. Broad-scale modelling of coastal wetlands: what is required?. Hydrobiologia 577, 5–15 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-006-0413-8

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  • Issue Date: February 2007

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-006-0413-8

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Keywords

  • Salt Marsh
  • Coastal Wetland
  • Tidal Range
  • Sediment Supply
  • Wetland Type
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