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Ecology, Research, Management and Biodiversity of Wadden Sea Salt Marshes assesses the transition of the UNESCO Wadden Sea World Heritage Site from agricultural land to protected nature reserve from the 1970s to present day. Bordered by Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands, the Wadden Sea is home to barrier island marshes, man-made foreland salt marshes, and estuarine marshes. This book explores the important question of how to prioritize the biodiversity of man-made and natural ecosystems during such a transition and how to effectively manage it.
Written by leading experts in coastal marsh ecology, this book collates half a century of research along the Wadden Sea. It is systematically organized for effective delivery of its major themes. The first section of the book discusses the crucial mechanisms of differing salt-marsh ecosystems. The second section examines how various management regimes, including livestock grazing, drainage, cutting, and restoration, affect these mechanisms. The third section concludes the book by summarizing the results of unintentional and deliberate management efforts to maintain salt marsh biodiversity.
Ecology, Research, Management and Biodiversity of Wadden Sea Salt Marshes comprehensively summarizes the multi-decadal collaboration between conservation agencies and universities from the Wadden Sea's bordering countries to examine the effectiveness and utility of various marsh management regimes. This book is an indispensable resource for researchers, land managers, and policy makers tasked with maintaining natural and man-made biodiversity and effectively ushering coastal marsh communities through land use changes.
List of contents
Section I: Mechanisms in Functioning of Salt-Marsh Ecosystems1. Introduction
2. Salt-Marsh Biodiversity
3. Salt Marshes in the World
4. Biodiversity
5. Salt-Marsh Types in the Wadden Sea
6. Diachronic Development of Salt Marshes and their Position in a Landscape Triangle
7. Biogeomorphology of Salt Marshes
8. Back-Barrier Salt Marshes
9. Foreland Salt Marshes
10. Interaction Between Sediment Input, Surface Elevation Change and Plants
11. Zonation and Succession
12. Dispersal of Seeds in Relation to the Established Vegetation
13. Soil Conditions, Nutrients, and Succession
14. Elytrigia ahterica and succession
15. Elevation, Salinity, and Precipitation
16. Invertebrate Animals and Succession
17. Geese, hare and succession
18. Foraging of geese
19. Hare retard succession
20. Food webs and succession
Section II: Effects of Management on Mechanisms Functioning in Salt-Marsh Ecosystems21. Introduction
22. Factors affecting accretion and surface elevation change
23. Effects on surface-elevation change
24. Effects on soil compaction
25. Effects on mineralization
26. Effects on moisture conditions
27. Grazing intensity and structure of the vegetation
28. Forage quality affecting structure of the vegetation
29. Effects on intermediate-sized herbivores and food webs
30. Grazing, mowing and plants
Section III: Management for Biodiversity and Coastal Protection31. Introduction
32. To Graze or Not to Graze? Cessation of Livestock Grazing: Effects on Plants
33. To Graze or Not to Graze? Renewed Grazing
34. Grazing with Different Stocking Densities: Effects on Plants
35. What Regime Harbors Highest Plant Species Richness?
36. Grazing Effects on Invertebrate Animals
37. Effects of Livestock Grazing on Geese, Waders and Passerines
38. Effects of Grazing on Vegetation and Invertebrates in Foreland Salt Marsh of Leybucht
39. Effects of Grazing on Communities in Foreland Salt Marsh of Hamburger Hallig
40. Effects of Grazing on Communities in Foreland Salt Marsh of Noord-Friesland Buitendijks
41. Sea-Level Rise and Vertical Accretion
42. Sea-Level Rise and Horizontal Accretion (Coastal Realignment) in Noord-Friesland Buitendijks
43. Implications for Management
About the author
Dr. Jan Bakker is Emeritus Professor in the Conservation Ecology Group of the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. He obtained his PhD in Plant Ecology from the University of Groningen and has worked at the university for his entire career, which has enabled him to maintain long-term field research on the Wadden Sea. His research focuses on conservation and management of coastal ecosystems. Dr. Bakker co-initiated the international annual Coastal Ecology Workshop for PhD and MSc students. He chaired the Geoscience Group to prepare the Trilateral Research Agenda and has been a member of the Trilateral Program Committee on Wadden Sea Research since its initiation in 2020.
