Using salt marshes for coastal protection: effective but hard to get where needed most

Beatriz Marin-Diaz talks about her and research colleagues’ latest article, where they monitored wave run-up on Dutch dikes over the course of 3 years. Through comparing different dike locations, some fronted by salt marshes and others fronted by bare tidal flats without vegetation, results could be linked to the long-term marsh development in the area. Introduction Salt marshes are wetlands in coastal areas that provide … Continue reading Using salt marshes for coastal protection: effective but hard to get where needed most

Social distancing between plants may amplify coastal restoration at early stage

Climate change and anthropogenic activities are jeopardising coastal ecosystems world-wide. Once degraded, these valuable ecosystems are not easy to recover. In their latest research, Hao Huang and colleagues conducted transplanting experiments to search for the optimal spatial design of coastal restoration. Few ecosystems can equate to coastal wetlands in terms of connections with humans. They provide many ecosystem services that are vital to current societies, … Continue reading Social distancing between plants may amplify coastal restoration at early stage

Conservation grazing on saltmarsh: are agri-environment schemes helping?

Following a recently published Research Article, Jennifer Smart explores this question and considers ways we can continue to work with the farming community to achieve conservation goals. Jennifer worked on this post with the British Ecological Society Policy team. In contemporary landscapes, grazing by domesticated cattle and sheep has become an increasingly important aspect of grassland management. This is largely because natural processes such as … Continue reading Conservation grazing on saltmarsh: are agri-environment schemes helping?