Joseph A.M. Smith | USGS Science

USGS2026

Salt marsh establishment controlled by sediment availability, landscape position, and anthropogenic history

Anthropogenic actions have directly and indirectly modulated salt marsh extent globally. For example, direct actions such as draining and filling of marshes for agriculture were common before the early 20th century, while development on barrier islands has indirectly reduced the capacity of back-barrier marshes to evolve in response to coastal processes. Similarly, restoration efforts span a spectrum between direct actions such as hydrologic reconnection and sediment placement to indirect actions such as shoreline protection and facilitation of upland migration. With a combination of remote sensing and synoptic in-situ observations, we demonstrate that the vegetative establishment of two disparate salt marsh complexes are strongly linked to their access to external sediment supply, position in the coastal landscape, and anthropogenic history. A marsh complex fringing Delaware Bay, in a former agricultural reclamation area, was directly modified through re-introduction of tidal forcing; vegetative establishment occurred rapidly (3% y −1 increase in vegetative cover) due to a high flood-ebb suspended sediment differential (+32 mg l −1 ), indicating sediment import. The other marsh complex, behind a sand spit fronting the Atlantic Ocean, vegetated indirectly in response to updrift beach nourishment which provided a sheltered environment for expansion. The lower suspended sediment differential (+1.3 mg l −1 ) led to a slower vegetation establishment rate (1.7% y −1 ). The directly modified and restored complex responded more rapidly than the indirectly modified and restored complex due to sediment availability. Direct restoration may be more rapid than indirect methods, and reversing anthropogenic impacts is possible on relatively short timescales, if sufficient external sediment supply exists. Siting of restoration projects can therefore leverage external forcing to accelerate recovery and enhance resilience. In light of ongoing coastal transgression, these examples also demonstrate a potential difference in return-on-restoration-investment between back-barrier marshes undergoing coastal squeeze and estuarine fringing marshes that are naturally transgressing across the coastal landscape.

New Jersey↗

USGS2026

The collective application of shorebird tracking data to conservation

Addressing urgent conservation issues, such as the drastic declines of North American migratory birds, requires creative, evidence-based, efficient, and collaborative approaches. The abundance of over 50% of monitored North American shorebird populations has declined by over 50% since 1980. To address these declines, we developed a partnership of scientists and practitioners called the Shorebird Science and Conservation Collective (hereafter the collective ). The collective was founded to translate the combined findings of shorebird tracking data into on-the-ground conservation action. With advice from an advisory group, the collective acts as an intermediary whereby dedicated staff collate and analyze data contributions from scientists to support knowledge requests from conservation practitioners. In its first three years, data contributions from 75 organizations include over 7.1 million shorebird observations forming movement paths of 3420 individuals representing 36 species tracked across the Americas and have informed 18 conservation projects spanning education, land and species management, land conservation, and policy requests. Others engaged in translational science from big data could consider similar knowledge-sharing models that prioritize usable data products, foster collaborative engagement between science experts and practitioners, build focused communities around topics or taxonomic groups, and employ a proof-of-concept phase to develop scalable solutions while making progress toward long-term funding to sustain impact. As the volume of scientific data continues to grow, intermediaries, such as the collective, can be vital liaisons to rapidly integrate and interpret research to support conservation action. Dedicated to the memory of Shiloh Schulte and his conservation achievements for shorebirds.

Conservation Biology↗