Many coastal tidal marshes have been significantly degraded by roadways and other projects that restrict tidal flows, limiting their ability to provide vital ecosystem services including support of fish and wildlife populations, flood protection, water quality maintenance, and open space.
Tidal Marsh Restoration provides the scientific foundation and practical guidance necessary for coastal zone stewards to initiate salt marsh tidal restoration programs. The book compiles, synthesizes, and interprets the current state of knowledge on the science and practice of salt marsh restoration, bringing together leaders across a range of disciplines in the sciences (hydrology, soils, vegetation, zoology), engineering (hydraulics, modeling), and public policy, with coastal managers who offer an abundance of practical insight and guidance on the development of programs.
The work presents in-depth information from New England and Atlantic Canada, where the practice of restoring tidal flow to salt marshes has been ongoing for decades, and shows how that experience can inform restoration efforts around the world. Students and researchers involved in restoration science will find the technical syntheses, presentation of new concepts, and identification of research needs to be especially useful as they formulate research and monitoring questions, and interpret research findings.
Tidal Marsh Restoration is an essential work for managers, planners, regulators, environmental and engineering consultants, and others engaged in planning, designing, and implementing projects or programs aimed at restoring tidal flow to tide-restricted or diked salt marshes.
PART I. Introduction Chapter 1. A Synthesis of Research and Practice on Restoring Tides to Salt Marshes \ Charles T. Roman and David M. Burdick
PART II. Synthesis of Tidal Restoration Science Chapter 2. Predicting the Hydrologic Response of Salt Marshes to Tidal Restoration: The Science and Practice of Hydraulic Modeling \ James G. MacBroom and Roy Schiff Chapter 3. Biogeochemical Responses to Tidal Restoration \ Shimon C. Anisfeld Chapter 4. Vegetation Responses to Tidal Restoration \ Stephen M. Smith and R. Scott Warren Chapter 5. Ecology of Phragmites australis and Responses to Tidal Restoration \ Randolph M. Chambers, Laura A. Meyerson, and Kimberly L. Dibble Chapter 6. A Meta-analysis of Nekton Responses to Restoration of Tide-Restricted New England Salt Marshes \ Kenneth B. Raposa and Drew M. Talley Chapter 7. Avian Community Responses to Tidal Restoration along the North Atlantic Coast of North America \ W. Gregory Shriver and Russell Greenberg
PART III. The Practice of Restoring Tide-Restricted Marshes Chapter 8. Restoration of Tidal Flow to Degraded Tidal Wetlands in Connecticut \ Ron Rozsa Chapter 9. Salt Marsh Restoration in Rhode Island \ Caitlin Chaffee, Wenley Ferguson, and Marci Cole Ekberg Chapter 10. Restoration of Tidal Flow to Salt Marshes: The Massachusetts Experience \ Hunt Durey, Timothy Smith, and Marc Carullo Chapter 11. Restoration of Tidal Flow to Salt Marshes: The New Hampshire Experience \ Ted Diers and Frank D. Richardson Chapter 12. Restoration of Tidal Flow to Salt Marshes: The Maine Experience \ Jon Kachmar and Elizabeth Hertz Chapter 13. Salt Marsh Tidal Restoration in Canada's Maritime Provinces \ Tony M. Bowron, Nancy Neatt, Danika van Proosdij, and Jeremy Lundholm
PART IV. Integrating Science and Practice Chapter 14. Adaptive Management and Monitoring as Fundamental Tools to Effective Salt Marsh Restoration \ Robert N. Buchsbaum and Cathleen Wigand Chapter 15. Recovering Salt Marsh Ecosystem Services through Tidal Restoration \ Gail L. Chmura, David M. Burdick, and Gregg E. Moore Chapter 16. Role of Simulation Models in Understanding the Salt Marsh Restoration Process \ Raymond A. Konisky Chapter 17. Incorporating Innovative Engineering Solutions into Tidal Restoration Studies \ William C. Glamore
PART V. Communicating Restoration Science Chapter 18. Salt Marsh Restoration at Cape Cod National Seashore, Massachusetts: The Role of Science in Addressing Societal Concerns \ John W. Portnoy Chapter 19. Drakes Island Tidal Restoration: Science, Community, and Compromise \ Susan C. Adamowicz and Kathleen M. O'Brien Chapter 20. Role of Science and Partnerships in Salt Marsh Restoration at the Galilee Bird Sanctuary, Narragansett, Rhode Island \ Francis C. Golet, Dennis H. A. Myshrall, Lawrence R. Oliver, Peter W. C. Paton, and Brian C. Tefft Chapter 21. Restoration of Tidally Restricted Salt Marshes at Rumney Marsh, Massachusetts: Balancing Flood Protection with Restoration by Use of Self-Regulating Tide Gates \ Edward L. Reiner
PART VI. Summary Chapter 22. Salt Marsh Responses to Tidal Restriction and Restoration: A Summary of Experiences \ David M. Burdick and Charles T. Roman
"In their foreword to Tidal Marsh Restoration, Hood and Simenstad observe that restoration scientists and managers are physicians for dysfunctional ecosystems. To make the analogy more specific, Roman and Burdick's book is a bible for 'ecosystem cardiologists': If the circulatory system of the salt marsh is not functioning, then nothing else matters. This is a must-read book for those interested in wetlands 'vascularization' and its consequences."
