The voracious appetites of sea otters in the Elkhorn Slough has helped lower the amount of erosion in the estuary, according to a study published on Wednesday.
Intertidal systems are constrained by landscape morphology. Where these systems do occur, they often experience a wide range of anthropogenic impacts, further exacerbated by sea-level rise (SLR). By mapping natural morphological constraints, anthropogenic impacts and modeled SLR, at an estuary-wide scale the Marine Vegetation Management Strategies (MVMS) identify and prioritize sites and interventions that could address key threats and risks to the system enabling rehabilitation. Development of MVMS is part of an initiative within the broader New South Wales (NSW) state government's Marine Estate Management Strategy to deliver healthy coastal habitats. The MVMS are being developed to take a policy of “no net loss of key fish habitats” toward more active management of intertidal systems that maximize and sustain the ecosystem values and services. Spatial indicators were developed for a pilot estuary (Tweed River) to map and quantify “macrophyte potential” which is defined a
Coastal Swamp Oak Forest (CSOF), a supratidal wetland community dominated by Casuarina glauca, is a widely distributed coastal ecosystem along Australia's east coast. These wetland communities are highly valuable for providing ecosystem services, including carbon sequestration. Positioned within the supratidal zone of estuaries – and often abutting upper intertidal saltmarsh and/or mangrove – CSOF may be vulnerable to salinity intrusion and increased tidal inundation due to sea-level rise. To understand spatial patterns of vegetation composition and structure in CSOF, field-based (in-situ) and remote-sensing approaches were employed on the Minnamurra floodplain, New South Wales, Australia. In-situ vegetation surveys within 23 field plots located along seaward to landward transects revealed large variations in mean tree height (2.5–13.1 m) and tree densities (100–8700 trees/ha). Unmanned Aerial Vehicles with Structure from Motion (UAV-SfM), and airborne Light Detection and
SHENYANG, March 18 (Xinhua) Northeast China coastal wetland city of Panjin has witnessed a growing number of migratory birds during the peak migrating season