Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Estimating the Provision of Ecosystem Services by Gulf of Mexico Coastal Wetlands

  • Review
  • Published:
Wetlands Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Gulf of Mexico (GOM) coastal wetlands contribute to human well-being by providing many ecosystem services. The GOM region continues to experience substantial losses of coastal wetlands, but the magnitude of reduction in ecosystem services resulting from the loss of GOM coastal wetlands is unknown. To gain an appreciation of the impact of GOM coastal wetland loss on ecosystem services, recent literature was reviewed to derive quantitative estimates of ecosystem services provided by GOM coastal wetlands. GOM coastal wetlands provide essential habitat for the production of juvenile shrimp, which supports the GOM’s most valuable commercial fishery; protect coastal communities from storm surge; improve water quality by removing nitrogen from surface waters; and are valuable sinks for greenhouse gases due to high rates of carbon sequestration combined with low rates of methane emission. Using 1998 to 2004 as a baseline, the potential loss of ecosystem services associated with loss of coastal wetlands is presented. Additional research is needed to quantify wetland services at multiple geospatial and socioeconomic scales, to determine the effect of wetland loss on ecosystem services, and to demonstrate the impact of future management decisions on the capacity of GOM coastal wetlands to provide services that affect human well-being.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alexander CE, Broutman MA, Field DW (1986) An inventory of coastal wetlands of the USA. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Strategic Assessment Branch, Rockville

    Google Scholar 

  • Augustin LN, Irish JL, Lynett P (2009) Laboratory and numerical studies of wave damping by emergent and near-emergent wetland vegetation. Coastal Engineering 56:332–340

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bell FW (1997) The economic valuation of saltwater marsh supporting marine recreational fishing in the southeastern United States. Ecological Economics 21:243–254

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blaber SJM (2007) Mangroves and fishes: issues of diversity, dependence, and dogma. Bulletin of Marine Science 80:457–472

    Google Scholar 

  • Blahnik T, Day J (2000) The effects of varied hydraulic and nutrient loading rates on water quality and hydrologic distributions in a natural forested treatment wetland. Wetlands 20:48–61

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boesch DF (2007) Rethinking restoration and protection in coastal Louisiana. National Wetlands Newsletter, vol 5, 29th edn. Environmental Law Institute, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Boesch DF, Turner RE (1984) Dependence of fishery species on salt marshes: the role of food and refuge. Estuaries 7:460–46

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boesch DF, Shabman L, Antle LG et al (2006) A new framework for planning the future of coastal Louisiana after the hurricanes of 2005. University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Boustany RG, Crozier CR, Rybczyk JM, Twilley RR (1997) Denitrification in a south Louisiana wetland forest receiving treated sewage effluent. Wetlands Ecology and Management 4:273–283

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boyd J (2010) Lost ecosystem goods and services as a measure of marine oil pollution damages. Discussion Paper RFF DP 10-31, Resources for the Future, Washington, DC http://www.rff.org/Publications/Pages/default.aspx Accessed on 07 September 2010

  • Boyd J, Banzhaf S (2007) What are ecosystem services? The need for standardized environmental accounting units. Ecological Economics 63:616–626

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brantley CG, Day JW, Lane RR et al (2008) Primary production, nutrient dynamics, and accretion of a coastal freshwater forested wetland assimilation system in Louisiana. Ecological Engineering 34:7–22

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Breaux AM, Day JW (1994) Policy considerations for wetland wastewater treatment in the coastal zone: a case study for Louisiana. Coastal Management 22:285–307

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Breaux A, Farber S, Day J (1995) Using natural coastal wetlands systems for wastewater treatment: an economic benefit analysis. Journal of Environmental Management 44:285–291

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bridgham SD, Megonigal JP, Keller JK et al (2006) The carbon balance of North American wetlands. Wetlands 26:889–916

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Browder JA, May LN, Rosenthal A et al (1989) Modeling future trends in wetland loss and brown shrimp production in Louisiana using thematic mapper imagery. Remote Sensing of Environment 28:45–59

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bryant JC, Chabreck RH (1998) Effects of impoundment on vertical accretion of coastal marsh. Estuaries 21:416–422

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cahoon DR (1994) Recent accretion in two managed marsh impoundments in coastal Louisiana. Ecological Applications 4:166–176

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cahoon DR, Lynch JC (1997) Vertical accretion and shallow subsidence in a mangrove forest in southwestern Florida, U.S.A. Mangrove and Salt Marshes 1:173–186

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cahoon DR, Turner RE (1989) Accretion and canal impacts in a rapidly subsiding wetland II. Feldspar marker horizon technique. Estuaries 12:260–268

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Callaway JC, Delaune RD, Patrick WH (1997) Sediment accretion rates from four coastal wetlands along the Gulf of Mexico. Journal of Coastal Research 13:181–191

    Google Scholar 

  • Cardoch L, Day JW, Rybczyk JM, Kemp GP (2000) An economic analysis of using wetlands for treatment of shrimp processing wastewatera case study in Dulac, LA. Ecological Economics 33:93–101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chesney EJ, Baltz DM, Thomas RG (2000) Louisiana estuarine and coastal fisheries and habitats: perspectives from a fish’s eye view. Ecological Applications 10:350–366

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Childers DL, Day JW, McKellar HN (2000) Twenty more years of marsh and estuarine flux studies: Revisiting Nixon (1980). In: Weinstein MP, Kreeger DA (eds) Concepts and controversies in tidal marsh ecology. Kluwer, Dordrecht, pp 391–424

    Google Scholar 

  • Chmura GL, Anisfeld SC, Cahoon DR, Lynch JC (2003) Global carbon sequestration in tidal, saline wetland soils. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 17:22.1–22.12

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Choi Y, Wang Y (2001) Vegetation succession and carbon sequestration in a coastal wetland in northwest Florida: evidence from carbon isotopes. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 15:311–319

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Choi Y, Wang Y (2004) Dynamics of carbon sequestration in a coastal wetland using radiocarbon measurements. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 18:GB4016. doi:10.1029/2004GB002261

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark RD, Christensen JD, Monaco ME et al (2004) A habitat-use model to determine essential fish habitat for juvenile brown shrimp (Farfantepenaeus aztecus) in Galveston Bay, Texas. Fishery Bulletin 102:264–277

    Google Scholar 

  • Corn ML, Copeland C (2010) The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Coastal wetland and wildlife impacts and response. CRS Report for Congress R41311, Congressional Research Service, Washington, DC. http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R41311.pdf Accessed 07 September 2010

  • Costanza R, Mitsch WJ, Day JW (2006a) Creating a sustainable and desirable New Orleans. Ecological Engineering 26:317–320

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Costanza R, Mitsch WJ, Day JW (2006b) A new vision for New Orleans and the Mississippi delta: applying ecological economics and ecological engineering. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 4:465–472

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Costanza R, Perez-Maqueo O, Martinez ML et al (2008) The value of coastal wetlands for hurricane protection. AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment 37:241–248

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cowardin LM, Carter V, Golet F (1979) Classification of wetlands and deepwater habitats of the United States. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Dahl TE (1990) Wetlands losses in the United States 1780’s to 1980’s. U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Dahl TE (2005) Florida’s wetlands—an update on status and trends 1985 to 1996. US Department of Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis SE, Childers DL, Day JW et al (2001) Nutrient dynamics in vegetated and unvegetated areas of a southern Everglades mangrove creek. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 52:753–768

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Day JW, Ko J-Y, Rybczyk J et al (2004) The use of wetlands in the Mississippi delta for wastewater assimilation: a review. Ocean and Coastal Management 47:671–691

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Day JW, Boesch DF, Clairain EJ et al (2007) Restoration of the Mississippi delta: lessons from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Science 315:1679–1684

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Day JW, Cable JE, Cowan JH et al (2009) The impacts of pulsed reintroduction of river water on a Mississippi delta coastal basin. Journal of Coastal Research 54:225–243

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Groot RS, Alkemade R, Braat L et al (2009) Challenges in integrating the concept of ecosystem services and values in landscape planning, management and decision making. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 7:260–272

    Google Scholar 

  • DeLaune RD, Pezeshki SR (2003) The role of soil organic carbon in maintaining surface elevation in rapidly subsiding U.S. Gulf of Mexico coastal marshes. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution 3:167–179

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • DeLaune RD, Jugsujinda A, Peterson GW, Patrick WH (2003a) Impact of Mississippi River freshwater reintroduction on enhancing marsh accretionary processes in a Louisiana estuary. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 58:653–662

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • DeLaune RD, Pezeshki SR, Jugsujinda A, Lindau CW (2003b) Sensitivity of US Gulf of Mexico coastal marsh vegetation to crude oil: comparison of greenhouse and field responses. Aquatic Ecology 37:351–360

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • DeLaune RD, Jugsujinda A, West JL et al (2005) A screening of the capacity of Louisiana freshwater wetlands to process nitrate in diverted Mississippi river water. Ecological Engineering 25:315–321

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dodla SK, Wang JJ, DeLaune RD, Cook RL (2008) Denitrification potential and its relation to organic carbon quality in three coastal wetland soils. The Science of the Total Environment 407:471–480

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Doyle TW (2009) Hurricane frequency and landfall distribution for coastal wetlands of the Gulf coast, USA. Wetlands 29:35–43

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farber S (1987) The value of coastal wetlands for protection of property against hurricane wind damage. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 14:143–151

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farber S (1996) Welfare loss of wetlands disintegration: a Louisiana study. Contemporary Economic Policy 14:92–106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Field DW, Reyer AJ, Genovese PV, Shearer BD (1991) Coastal wetlands of the United States: An accounting of a valuable national resource. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Ocean Service, Silver Spring

    Google Scholar 

  • Fitzpatrick PJ (2008) The impact of Louisiana’s levees and wetlands on Katrina’s storm surge. Proceedings of the 28th Conference on Hurricanes and Tropical Meteorology, American Meteorological Society, 28 April–2 May 2008, Orlando, Florida

  • Frayer WE, Hefner JM (1991) Florida wetlands status and trends 1970’s to 1980’s. U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Atlanta

    Google Scholar 

  • Fry B (2008) Open bays as nurseries for Louisiana brown shrimp. Estuaries and Coasts 31:776–789

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Greenwood MFD, Idelberger CF, Stevens PW (2007) Habitat associations of large-bodied mangrove-shoreline fishes in a southwest Florida estuary and the effects of hurricane damage. Bulletin of Marine Science 80:805–821

    Google Scholar 

  • Gulf of Mexico Alliance (GOMA) (2009) Habitat Conservation and Restoration. http://gulfofmexicoalliance.org/issues/habitat.html Accessed on 10 February 2010

  • Haas HL, Rose KA, Fry B et al (2004) Brown shrimp on the edge: linking habitat to survival using an individual-based simulation model. Ecological Applications 14:1232–1247

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herke WH, Knudsen EE, Knudsen PA, Rogers BD (1992) Effects of semi-impoundment of Louisiana marsh on fish and crustacean nursery use and export. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 12:151–160

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hester MW, Mendelssohn IA (2000) Long-term recovery of a Louisiana brackish marsh plant community from oil-spill impact: vegetation response and mitigating effects of marsh surface elevation. Marine Environmental Research 49:233–254

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Howe JC, Wallace RK, Rikard FS (1999) Habitat utilization by postlarval and juvenile penaeid shrimps in Mobile Bay, Alabama. Estuaries 22:971–979

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hyfield ECG, Day J, Mendelssohn I, Kemp GP (2007) A feasibility analysis of discharge of non-contact, once-through industrial cooling water to forested wetlands for coastal restoration in Louisiana. Ecological Engineering 29:1–7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hyfield ECG, Day JW, Cable JE, Justic D (2008) The impacts of re-introducing Mississippi River water on the hydrologic budget and nutrient inputs of a deltaic estuary. Ecological Engineering 32:347–359

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jelesnianski CP, Chen J, Shaffer WA (1992) SLOSH: Sea, lake, and overland surges from hurricanes. NOAA Tech. Report NWS 48. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Weather Service, Silver Spring, Maryland

  • Kemp GP (2008) Mississippi River Gulf Outlet effects on storm surge, waves and flooding during Hurricane Katrina. Expert Report submitted July 11, 2008 in Robinson v. United States. Available at http://katrinadocs.com/expert_reports.cfm Accessed on 30 August 2010

  • Krauss KW, Doyle TW, Doyle TJ et al (2009) Water level observations in mangrove swamps during two hurricanes in Florida. Wetlands 29:142–149

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lane RR, Day JW, Thibodeaux B (1999) Water quality analysis of a freshwater diversion at Caernarvon, Louisiana. Estuaries 22:327–336

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lane RR, Day JW, Marx B et al (2002) Seasonal and spatial water quality changes in the outflow plume of the Atchafalaya River, Louisiana, USA. Estuaries 25:30–42

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lane RR, Mashriqui HS, Kemp GP et al (2003) Potential nitrate removal from a river diversion into a Mississippi delta forested wetland. Ecological Engineering 20:237–249

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Louisiana Department of Natural Resources (LDNR) (1998) Coast 2050: Toward a sustainable coastal Louisiana. Louisiana Coastal Wetlands Conservation and Restoration Task Force, Wetlands Conservation and Restoration Authority, Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, Baton Rouge

    Google Scholar 

  • Lovelace JK (1994) Storm-tide elevations produced by Hurricane Andrew along the Louisiana coast, August 25–27, 1992. U.S. Geological Survey, Baton Rouge

    Google Scholar 

  • Luettich RA, Westerink JJ, Scheffner NW (1992) ADCIRC: an advanced three-dimensional circulation model for shelves, coasts, and estuaries. Report 1, theory and methodology of ADCIRC-2DDI and ADCIRC-3DL. Technical report DRP-92-6. U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station, Vicksburg, Mississippi

  • Lynch JC (1989) Sedimentation and nutrient accumulation on mangrove ecosystems of the Gulf of Mexico. M.S. Thesis, University of Southwestern Louisiana

  • Lynne GD, Conroy P, Prochaska FJ (1981) Economic valuation of marsh areas for marine production processes. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 8:175–186

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manson FJ, Loneragan NR, Harch BD et al (2005a) A broad-scale analysis of links between coastal fisheries production and mangrove extent: a case-study for northeastern Australia. Fisheries Research 74:69–85

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manson FJ, Loneragan NR, Skilleter GA, Phinn SR (2005b) An evaluation of the evidence for linkages between mangroves and fisheries: a synthesis of the literature and identification of research directions. Oceanography and Marine Biology Annual Review 43:483–513

    Google Scholar 

  • Markewich HW, Britsch LD, Buell GR et al (1998) Carbon storage and late holocene chronostratigraphy of a Mississippi River deltaic marsh, St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana. U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 98-36

  • Masters J (2009) Storm surge reduction by wetlands. Weblog entry. Dr. Jeff Masters’ WunderBlog. http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=1217 Accessed 14 July 2009

  • Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) Ecosystems and human well-being: Wetlands and water synthesis. World Resources Institute, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Minello TJ (1999) Nekton densities in shallow estuarine habitats of Texas and Louisiana and the identification of essential fish habitat. American Fisheries Society Symposium 22:43–75

    Google Scholar 

  • Minello TJ, Webb JW (1997) Use of natural and created Spartina alterniflora salt marshes by fishery species and other aquatic fauna in Galveston bay, Texas (USA). Marine Ecology Progress Series 151:165–179

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Minello TJ, Able KW, Weinstein MP, Hays CG (2003) Salt marshes as nurseries for nekton: testing hypotheses on density, growth and survival through meta-analysis. Marine Ecology Progress Series 246:39–59

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Minello TJ, Matthews GA, Caldwell PA, Rozas LP (2008) Population and production estimates for decapod crustaceans in wetlands of Galveston Bay, Texas. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 137:129–146

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitsch WJ, Day JW, Gilliam JW et al (2001) Reducing nitrogen loading to the Gulf of Mexico from the Mississippi River basin: strategies to counter a persistent ecological problem. Bioscience 51:373–388

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitsch WJ, Day JW, Zhang L, Lane RR (2005) Nitrate-nitrogen retention in wetlands in the Mississippi River basin. Ecological Engineering 24:267–278

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Möller I, Spencer T (2002) Wave dissipation over macro-tidal saltmarshes: effects of marsh edge typology and vegetation change. Journal of Coastal Research 36:506–521, Special Issue

    Google Scholar 

  • Moulton DW, Dahl TE, Dall DM (1997) Texas coastal wetlands: Status and trends, mid-1950s to early 1990s. US Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Albuquerque

    Google Scholar 

  • National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) (2009) Personal communication from the National Marine Fisheries Service, Fisheries Statistics Division, Silver Spring, MD. http://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/st1/ accessed on 13 March 2009

  • Nyman JA, DeLaune RD, Roberts HH, Patrick WH (1993) Relationship between vegetation and soil formation in a rapidly submerging coastal marsh. Marine Ecology Progress Series 96:269–279

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Connor TP, Matlock GC (2005) Shrimp landing trends as indicators of estuarine habitat quality. Gulf of Mexico Science 23:192–196

    Google Scholar 

  • Peterson GW, Turner RE (1994) The value of salt marsh edge vs interior as a habitat for fish and decapod crustaceans in a Louisiana tidal marsh. Estuaries 17:235–262

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pezeshki SR, Hester MW, Lin Q, Nyman JA (2000) The effects of oil spill and clean-up on dominant US Gulf coast marsh macrophytes: a review. Environmental Pollution 108:129–139

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rabenhorst MC (1995) Carbon storage in tidal marsh soils. In: Lal R, Kimble J, Levine E, Stewart BA (eds) Soils and global change. CRC, Boca Raton, pp 93–104

    Google Scholar 

  • Resio DT, Westerink JJ (2008) Modeling the physics of storm surge. Physics Today 61:33–38

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rozas LP, Minello TJ (1998) Nekton use of salt marsh, seagrass, and nonvegetated habitats in a south Texas (USA) estuary. Bulletin of Marine Science 63:481–501

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruhl JB, Salzman J, Goodman I (2009) Implementing the new ecosystem services mandate of the Section 404 compensatory mitigation program—A catalyst for advancing science and policy. Stetson Law Review 38:251–272

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaffer W, Jelesnianski C, Chen J (1984) Hurricane storm surge forecasting. Oceans 1984:1379–1385

    Google Scholar 

  • Shafer DJ, Herczeg B, Moulton DW et al (2002) Regional guidebook for applying the hydrogeomorphic approach to assessing wetland functions of northwest Gulf of Mexico tidal fringe wetlands. ERDC/EL TR-02-5. U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Vicksburg, Mississippi

  • Shaffer GP, Day JW, Mack S et al (2009a) The MRGO Navigation Project: a massive human-induced environmental, economic, and storm disaster. Journal of Coastal Research 54:206–224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shaffer GP, Wood WB, Hoeppner SS et al (2009b) Degradation of baldcypress-water tupelo swamp to marsh and open water in southeastern Louisiana, U.S.A.: an irreversible trajectory? Journal of Coastal Research 54:152–165

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sheridan P, Hays C (2003) Are mangroves nursery habitat for transient fishes and decapods? Wetlands 23:449–458

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shervette VR, Gelwick F (2008) Relative nursery function of oyster, vegetated marsh edge, and nonvegetated bottom habitats for juvenile white shrimp Litopenaeus setiferus. Wetlands Ecology and Management 16:405–419

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stedman S, Dahl TE (2008) Status and trends of wetlands in the coastal watersheds of the eastern United States 1998–2004. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington, DC

  • Swenson EM (1994) Hurricane Andrew: The inundation of Louisiana coastal marshes. Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, Baton Rouge

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner RE (1977) Intertidal vegetation and commercial yields of penaeid shrimp. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 106:411–416

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turner RE (1992) Coastal wetlands and penaeid shrimp habitat. In: Stroud RH (ed) Stemming the tide of coastal fish habitat loss. National Coalition for Marine Conservation, Inc., Savannah, pp 97–104

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner RE, Rabalais NN, Alexander RB et al (2007) Characterization of nutrient, organic carbon, and sediment loads and concentrations from the Mississippi River into the northern Gulf of Mexico. Estuaries and Coasts 30:773–790

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • US Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) (1963) Overland surge elevations coastal Louisiana: Morgan City and vicinity. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District; File No. H-2-22758, Plate A-4

  • van Heerden IL, Kemp GP, Bea R et al (2009) How a navigation channel contributed to most of the flooding of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. Public Organization Review 9:291–308

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wamsley TV, Cialone MA, Smith JM et al (2009) Influence of landscape restoration and degradation on storm surge and waves in southern Louisiana. Natural Hazards. doi:10.1007/s11069-009-9378-z

    Google Scholar 

  • Whiting GJ, Chanton JP (2001) Greenhouse carbon balance of wetlands: methane emission versus carbon sequestration. Tellus 53B:521–528

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Xu YJ (2006) Total nitrogen inflow and outflow from a large river swamp basin to the Gulf of Mexico. Hydrological Sciences 51:531–542

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yu K, DeLaune RD, Boeckx P (2006) Direct measurement of denitrification activity in a Gulf coast freshwater marsh receiving diverted Mississippi River water. Chemosphere 65:2449–2455

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zeug SC, Shervette VR, Hoeinghaus DJ, Davis SE (2007) Nekton assemblage structure in natural and created marsh-edge habitats of the Guadalupe Estuary, Texas, USA. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 71:457–466

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zimmerman RJ, Minello TJ, Rozas LP (2000) Salt marsh linkages to productivity of penaeid shrimps and blue crabs in the northern Gulf of Mexico. In: Weinstein MP, Kreeger DA (eds) Concepts and controversies in tidal marsh ecology. Kluwer, Dordrecht, pp 293–314

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

I would like to recognize the contributions of the Wetlands Team of EPA’s Ecosystem Services Research Program (ESRP) to this paper. The ESRP Wetlands Team strives to assess the ecosystem services provided by all wetlands and this paper provides a partial contribution to their larger effort. I also thank Mary Kentula, Steve Jordan, Ken Forshay and Richard Devereux for their insightful early reviews of this paper. The information in this document has been funded wholly (or in part) by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It has been subjected to review by the National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory and approved for publication. Approval does not signify that the contents reflect the views of the Agency, nor does mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation for use. This is contribution number 1381 from the Gulf Ecology Division.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1 Sabine Island Dr., Gulf Breeze, FL, 32561, USA

    Virginia D. Engle

Authors
  1. Virginia D. Engle
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Virginia D. Engle.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Engle, V.D. Estimating the Provision of Ecosystem Services by Gulf of Mexico Coastal Wetlands. Wetlands 31, 179–193 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-010-0132-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-010-0132-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation