Humans hamper their ability to adapt to new conditions

Dec 5, 2013 15:28 GMT  ·  By
Salt marsh "dissected" by a tidal creek at NSF's Plum Island Ecosystems LTER site in Massachusetts.
   Salt marsh "dissected" by a tidal creek at NSF's Plum Island Ecosystems LTER site in Massachusetts.

According to the conclusions of a new scientific study, wetlands on coasts around the world are perfectly capable of adapting to changing environmental conditions, but only when they are left to their own devices. The team behind the study found that this capacity for adaptation is lost whenever human actions are involved. 

The research, detailed in the latest issue of the top scientific journal Nature, was conducted by experts with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) and the US National Science Foundation (NSF).

Matthew Kirwan, who was the lead author of the Nature paper, says that wetlands would be more than capable of handling the current level of sea rise, were it not for the effects of man-induced climate change. This phenomenon is making it increasingly difficult for wetlands to endure.

“This study reveals the complex, long-term interplay among processes that maintain coastal wetlands in the face of sea level rise,” explains the director of the NSF Division of Environmental Biology program, Saran Twombly. The DEB is responsible for funding Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites, such as the one in Virginia where the research was conducted.