Coastal Wetlands

A wetland model is a mathematical representation of a wetland ecosystem and its processes. Wetland models can range from simple models that simulate one process, like water flow, to more complex models that may include vegetation, soils, or nutrients. USGS CMHRP scientists are advancing models and collecting environmental data to evaluate potential outcomes of adaptive management measures: for example, to learn whether habitat restoration is likely to reduce expected flood hazard exposure. To make sure the models provide the best predictions possible, they first must be calibrated to real data. The sensors measure sediment and water flow when the wetland is submerged at high tide. The data provides critical support to manage our Nation’s diverse coastal wetlands. 

Models provide CMHRP scientists with the tools to examine environmental wetland processes, their interactions, and their relationships under defined scenarios. They can be used to test hypotheses of how coastal wetlands may change over time under a range of conditions. Models can project climate change, or predict rising sea level and land use change. They help scientists understand the potential outcomes of restoration or adaptive management and the impacts of potential disturbances, such as invasive species or tropical storms. Modeling can also help evaluate the potential for blue carbon sequestration and determine what data or information is needed to make more confident future predictions of wetland carbon storage.

Check out the links to other related geonarratives and projects below. Or view this  short video  on coastal wetlands!

1. Alizad, K., Morris, J.T., Bilskie, M.V., Passeri, D.L., and Hagen, S.C., 2022, Integrated modeling of dynamic marsh feedbacks and evolution under sea-level rise in a Mesotidal estuary (Plum Island, MA, USA). Water Resources Research, v. 58, no. 8, accessed March 21, 2023, at  https://doi.org/10.1029/2022WR032225 .
2. Couvillion, B.R., Ganju, N.K., and Defne, Z., 2021, An Unvegetated to Vegetated Ratio (UVVR) for coastal wetlands of the Conterminous United States (2014-2018): U.S. Geological Survey data release,  https://doi.org/10.5066/P97DQXZP .
3. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [NOAA], 2022, Fisheries cconomics of the United States, 2020: U.S. Dept. of Commerce NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-F/SPO-236A2020, accessed March 10, 2022, at   https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/sustainable-fisheries/fisheries-economics-united-states .
4. Sun, F., and Carson, R.T., 2020, Coastal wetlands reduce property damage during tropical cyclones: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, v. 111, no. 11, p. 5719-5725, accessed March 15, 2022, at  https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1915169117. 
5. U.S. Geological Survey [USGS], 2017, Rapid salt-marsh erosion in Grand Bay, Mississippi: U.S. Geological Survey video, 00:01:25, posted June 29, 2017, accessed March 21, 2023 at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6TGEmu9dcA&t=5s .
6. Zambon, J.B., He, R., Warner, J.C., and Hegermiller, C. A., 2021. Impact of SST and surface waves on Hurricane Florence (2018): A coupled modeling investigation: Weather and Forecasting, v. 36, no. 5, p. 1713-1734, accessed December 20, 2023 at  https://doi.org/10.1175/WAF-D-20-0171.1 .

To learn more about other research initiatives working to support the mission of the USGS Coastal Change Hazards Program, click on any of our science stories below.

  Barrier Islands     Coastal Change in Alaska     Future Coastal Flooding     National Shoreline Change     Real-time Forecasts of Coastal Change     The Role of US Coral Reefs in Coastal Protection     Our Coasts