Climate Change Implications for Tidal Marshes and Food Web Linkages to Estuarine and Coastal Nekton
Denise D. Colombano, Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, 130 Mulford Hall #3114, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Steven Y. Litvin, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, 7700 Sandholdt Rd, Moss Landing, CA 95039, USA
Shelby L. Ziegler, Institute of Marine Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 3431 Arendell Street, Morehead City, NC 28557, USA
Scott B. Alford, Nature Coast Biological Station, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, 552 1st St, PO Box 878, Cedar Key, FL 32625, USA
Ronald Baker, University of South Alabama, and Dauphin Island Sea Lab, Dauphin Island, AL 36528, USA
Myriam A. Barbeau, Department of Biology, University of New Brunswick, PO Box 4400, Fredericton, New Brunswick E3B 5A3, Canada
Just Cebrián, Northern Gulf Institute, Mississippi State University, 1021 Balch Blvd, Stennis Space Center, MS 39529, USA
Rod M. Connolly, Australian Rivers Institute – Coast & Estuaries, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland 4222, Australia
Carolyn A, Currin, National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 101 Pivers Island Rd, Beaufort, NC 28516, USA
Linda A. Deegan, Woodwell Climate Research Center, 149 Woods Hole Rd, Falmouth, MA 02540, USA
Justin S. Lesser, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, 410 St. Mary Blvd, Lafayette, LA 70503, USA
Charles W. Martin, Nature Coast Biological Station, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, 552 1st St, PO Box 878, Cedar Key, FL 32625, USA
Ashley E. McDonald, Texas A&M University at Galveston, 200 Seawolf Pkwy, Galveston, TX 77554, USA
Catherine McLuckie, School of Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Newcastle, University Dr, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia
Blair H. Morrison, University of South Alabama, and Dauphin Island Sea Lab, Dauphin Island, AL 36528, USA
James W. Pahl, Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, 150 Terrace Ave, Baton Rouge, LA 70802, USA
L. Mark Risse, University of Georgia Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant, 1030 Chicopee Complex, Athens, GA 30602, USA
Joseph A, M. Smith, US Fish and Wildlife Service, 800 Great Creek Rd, Galloway, NJ 08205, USA
Lorie W. Staver, Horn Point Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, 2020 Horn’s Point Rd, Cambridge, MD 21617, USA
R. Eugene Turner, Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College
Nathan J. Waltham, Marine Data Technology Hub, Centre for Tropical Water and Aquatic Ecosystem Research (TropWATER), College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Douglas, Queensland 4814, Australia
Abstract
Climate change is altering naturally fluctuating environmental conditions in coastal and estuarine ecosystems across the globe. Departures from long-term averages and ranges of environmental variables are increasingly being observed as directional changes [e.g., rising sea levels, sea surface temperatures (SST)] and less predictable periodic cycles (e.g., Atlantic or Pacific decadal oscillations) and extremes (e.g., coastal flooding, marine heatwaves). Quantifying the short-and long-term impacts of climate change on tidal marsh seascape structure and function for nekton is a critical step toward fisheries conservation and management. The multiple stressor framework provides a promising approach for advancing integrative, cross-disciplinary research on tidal marshes and food web dynamics. It can be used to quantify climate change effects on and interactions between coastal oceans (e.g., SST, ocean currents, waves) and watersheds (e.g., precipitation, river flows), tidal marsh geomorphology (e.g., vegetation structure, elevation capital, sedimentation), and estuarine and coastal nekton (e.g., species distributions, life history adaptations, predator-prey dynamics). However, disentangling the cumulative impacts of multiple interacting stressors on tidal marshes, whether the effects are additive, synergistic, or antagonistic, and the time scales at which they occur, poses a significant research challenge. This perspective highlights the key physical and ecological processes affecting tidal marshes, with an emphasis on the trophic linkages between marsh production and estuarine and coastal nekton, recommended for consideration in future climate change studies. Such studies are urgently needed to understand climate change effects on tidal marshes now and into the future.
