USGS National Wetlands Research Center: Coastal Marsh Dieback (Brown Marsh)

Coastal Marsh Dieback (Brown Marsh)

Sudden marsh dieback events have occurred in coastal marshes from the Northern Gulf of Mexico to Maine over the last decade. One of the most severe events occurred in 2000, where over 100,000 ha of salt marsh were impacted throughout Louisiana’s Mississippi River Delta Plain. In 2009 Louisiana experienced another episode of large-scale coastal dieback that rivaled the peak dieback conditions from earlier in the decade. The cause of sudden marsh dieback is still under debate but may be cyclical depending on interactive climate conditions, sea level anomalies, and other biotic factors. NWRC scientists have been engaged in field and laboratory studies to contribute our best understanding of possible causal mechanisms and management implications of sudden marsh dieback on long-term marsh resiliency and vulnerability to climate change.

Research: Understanding the Cause and Extent of Salt Marsh Dieback

Soil surveys to assess soil conditions, plant mortality and recovery to determine the causes of sudden marsh dieback (Dr. Karen McKee)

Clonal Variation in Spartina alterniflora: Role in Resistance to the Marsh Dieback Phenomenon (Dr. Rebecca Howard)
Studies on the Recovery of Intact Sods Collected from Dieback and Healthy Marshes in the Summer of 2000 (Drs. Rebecca Howard and Karen L. McKee)
Mapping of Marsh Dieback by Aerial Photography

Marsh Dieback Bibliography

NOTE: Some or all of the publications on this page are presented in Portable Document Format (PDF); the latest version of Adobe Reader or similar software is required to view them. Download the latest version of Adobe Reader, free of charge.

U.S. Geological Survey, 2009, Brown Marsh Working Group: USGS-sponsored online community to foster communication of the spread and/or recovery of dieback in coastal Louisiana.
Salt Marsh Dieback in Louisiana: Brown marsh data information management system
Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act Task Force, 2000, Brown Marsh Phenomenon: Dieback of large expanses of salt marsh grass in Coastal Louisiana: CWPPRA Task Force Fact Sheet, 1 p.
Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act Task Force, 2000, Brown Marsh Fact Sheet: Facts about the salt marsh dieback in Louisiana: CWPPRA Task Force Fact Sheet, 1 p.
Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act Task Force, 2000, Brown Marsh Study Area: Satellite image with the salt marsh study area boundary in red: CWPPRA Task Force Fact Sheet, 1 p.
Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act Task Force, 2000, Brown Marsh Severity: Aerial surveys of salt marsh damage in the Barataria and Terrebonne basins: CWPPRA Task Force Fact Sheet No, 1 p.
Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act Task Force, 2000, Brown Marsh Q & A: Questions and answers from the brown marsh scientific panel and other meetings: CWPPRA Task Force Fact Sheet No. 5, 2 p.
Georgia Coastal Research Council, 2004. Proceedings of the Marsh Dieback Workshop, held February 3–4, 2004, Savannah Georgia. Available from: www.gcrc.uga.edu/MarshDieback/dieback_workshop.htm.
Synthesis and Data Management of Salt Marsh Dieback Project: Conceptualization Meeting and Literature Review (Task III.2). Literature citations of salt marsh ecology relative to the marsh dieback syndrome research program in coastal Louisiana. 2002.
Swarzenski, C.M., Perez, B.C., Faulkner, S.P., Gambrell, R.P., Michot, T.C., Cahoon, D.R. 2009. A field investigation into causes and potential consequences of widespread salt marsh dieback in coastal Louisiana in 2000. Task 2.3. Submitted to the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources.
Alber, M., Swenson, E.M., Adamowicz, S.C. and Mendelssohn, I.A. 2008. Salt marsh dieback; An overview of recent events in the US. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 80: 1-11.
McKee, K.L., Mendelssohn, I.A. and Materne, M.D. 2006. Salt marsh dieback in coastal Louisiana: Survey of plant and soil conditions in Barataria and Terrebonne Basins, June 2000-September 2001: U.S. Geological Survey Open File Report 2006-1167.71pp.
Becker, D.F. and Mendelssohn, I.A. 2005. Brown marsh project: Task V.1. Accession characterization subtask: Growth response of brown marsh populations of Spartina alterniflora to Aluminum. Submitted to Louisiana Department of Natural Resources.
Mendelssohn, I.A., McKee, K.L., Hester, M.W. 2005. Brown marsh Task II.1: Integrative approach to understanding the causes of salt marsh dieback-determination of salt marsh species tolerances limits to potential environmental stressors. Submitted to Louisiana Department of Natural Resources.
Meselhe, E., Twilley, R.R., Stronnach, J. and Morris, J.C. 2005. Intergrative approach to understanding the causes of salt marsh dieback: coupled hydrologic/ecological models of marsh dienack processes (II.6). Submitted to the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources.
Michot, T.C., Kemmerer, R.S. and Reiser, J.J. 2004. Plant and soil characterizations in a Spartina alterniflora saltmarsh experiencing dieback in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, USA. Task II.4. Submitted to the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources.
McKee, K.L., Mendelssohn, I.A. Materne, M.D. 2004. Acute salt marsh dieback in the Mississippi River deltaic plain: a drought-induced phenomenon? Global Ecology and Biogeography, 13: 65-73.
Twilley, R.R., Klerks, P.L., Faulkner, S.P., Gambrell, R.P. and Swarzenski, C.M. 2004. Integrative approach to understanding the causes of salt marsh dieback: Experimental manipulations of hydrology and soil biogeochemistry (Task II.2.). Submitted to the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources.
Swenson, E.M., Evers, D.E., Grymes III, J.M., 2004. Brown Marsh Task II.5, Integrative Approach to Understanding the Causes of Salt Marsh Dieback: Analysis of Climate Drivers. Prepared for Coastal Restoration Division, Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. DNR Interagency Agreement Number 2512-01-14. Coastal Ecology Institute, School of the Coast and Environment, Louisiana State University, BatonRouge, LA 70803, 201 pp.
Stewart, Robert E., Jr., Proffitt, C. Edward, and Charron, T.M. eds., 2001, Abstracts from “Coastal Marsh Dieback in the Northern Gulf of Mexico: Extent, Causes, Consequences, and Remedies”: U.S. Geological Survey, Biological Resources Division, Information and Technology Report, USGS/BRD/ITR—2001-0003, 31 p.
Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act Task Force, 2000, Brown Marsh Study Area: Satellite image with the salt marsh study area boundary in red: CWPPRA Task Force Fact Sheet, 1 p.

Return to Wetland Ecosystem