Faunal engineering stimulates landscape-scale accretion in southeastern US salt marshes

Sinéad M. Crotty (), Daniele Pinton, Alberto Canestrelli, Hallie S. Fischman, Collin Ortals, Nicholas R. Dahl, Sydney Williams, Tjeerd J. Bouma and Christine Angelini
Additional contact information
Sinéad M. Crotty: University of Florida, PO Box 116580
Daniele Pinton: University of Florida, PO Box 116580
Alberto Canestrelli: University of Florida, PO Box 116580
Hallie S. Fischman: University of Florida, PO Box 116580
Collin Ortals: University of Florida, PO Box 116580
Nicholas R. Dahl: Yale University
Sydney Williams: University of Florida, PO Box 116580
Tjeerd J. Bouma: Royal Netherlands Institute of Sea Research (NIOZ) and Utrecht University
Christine Angelini: University of Florida, PO Box 116580

Nature Communications, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-15

Abstract: Abstract The fate of coastal ecosystems depends on their ability to keep pace with sea-level rise—yet projections of accretion widely ignore effects of engineering fauna. Here, we quantify effects of the mussel, Geukensia demissa, on southeastern US saltmarsh accretion. Multi-season and -tidal stage surveys, in combination with field experiments, reveal that deposition is 2.8-10.7-times greater on mussel aggregations than any other marsh location. Our Delft-3D-BIVALVES model further predicts that mussels drive substantial changes to both the magnitude (± 200,000 mussels and find that this faunal engineer drives far greater changes to relative marsh accretion rates than predicted (±>0.4 cm·yr−1). Thus, we highlight an urgent need for empirical, experimental, and modeling work to resolve the importance of faunal engineers in directly and indirectly modifying the persistence of coastal ecosystems globally.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-36444-w

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