Conserving coastal wetlands despite sea level rise

Abstract

Coastal wetlands provide valuable services such as flood protection and fisheries production to a global population that is increasingly concentrated near the coast and dependent on its resources. Many of the world's coastal wetlands suffered significant losses during this century, and the creation of new wetland areas is not keeping pace with recent losses. Some destruction of wetland areas can be expected as a consequence of the continual reworking of the coastal zone by dynamic geologic processes. Yet human activities also play a role, both directly by encroaching on coastal wetlands and indirectly by influencing the hydrologic and geologic processes in the coastal zone [ Boesch et al. , 1994; Day et al. , 1995].