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The Effect of Marsh Age on Ecosystem Function in a Rapidly Transgressing Marsh

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Abstract

Sea-level rise is leading to the migration of marshes into coastal forests throughout North America. Marsh migration represents a primary mechanism for marsh survival in the face of sea-level rise and leads to a fundamental reorganization of vegetation communities. Yet, the ecological implications of these changes remain unknown. To evaluate the effect of marsh migration on ecosystem function, we compared habitat, primary production, vertical accretion, nutrient cycling, and carbon accumulation between new and old salt marsh on Goodwin Island (Virginia, USA) where salt marsh is migrating landward into rapidly retreating coastal forest. Using historical imagery and radioisotopic dating of sediment cores, we determined marsh age (< 3 to approximately 616 years) across the landscape. We found that salt marsh functions generally depended more on elevation and/or landscape position than marsh age. Primary production and nutrient cycling (%C and %N soil content) did not vary significantly with marsh age. Accretion and carbon accumulation rates varied predictably with elevation in old marsh but not in new marsh. Instead, trends in soil formation were controlled by the colonization of Phragmites australis, a dominant plant in migrating marsh-forest boundaries along the Atlantic Coast. Vegetation zonation patterns were more clearly defined in old marsh, indicating that habitat types take time to develop. However, these vegetation differences did not translate to consistently different ecological functions. These observations suggest that marsh migration does not lead to permanent differences in ecological functions between new and old marsh, rather ecological functions will converge as new marsh ages.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Scott Lerberg for his input on project development and the Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve for access to Goodwin Island. We thank Tyler Messerschmidt for field assistance, and Jenn Connell for processing sediment core samples. This work was supported by NSF CAREER (EAR-1654374) and NSF LTER (DEB-1832221) and the Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation (Richmond, VA). This is contribution 4013 of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, William & Mary.

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Author notes

  1. Conceived of or designed study: DJC, NWJ, JLS, BLW, SW, JEP, MLK. Performed research: DJC, NWJ, JLS, BLW, SW, JEP. Analyzed data: AKL, DJC, NWJ, JLS, AJS, BLW, SW. Wrote the paper: AKL, RMC, MLK.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Virginia Institute of Marine Science, William and Mary, PO Box 1346, Gloucester Point, Virginia, 23062, USA

    Amy K. Langston, Daniel J. Coleman, Nathalie W. Jung, Justin L. Shawler, Alexander J. Smith, Bethany L. Williams, Serina S. Wittyngham, James E. Perry & Matthew L. Kirwan

  2. George Mason University, 4400 University Drive, Fairfax, Virginia, 22030, USA

    Daniel J. Coleman

  3. Inha University, 100 Inha-ro, Michuhol-gu, Incheon, 22212, South Korea

    Nathalie W. Jung

  4. CSS Inc, Fairfax, Virginia, 22030, USA

    Bethany L. Williams

  5. Keck Environmental Lab, William and Mary, PO Box 8795, Williamsburg, VA, 23187, USA

    Randolph M. Chambers

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  1. Amy K. Langston
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Correspondence to Amy K. Langston.

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Langston, A.K., Coleman, D.J., Jung, N.W. et al. The Effect of Marsh Age on Ecosystem Function in a Rapidly Transgressing Marsh. Ecosystems 25, 252–264 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-021-00652-6

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