Slow death for a swamp forest: Implications of salinity, infrastructure and their interactions for ecosystems in transition along North Carolina’s estuarine coast

Abstract:

Freshwater-dependent ecosystems of coastal North Carolina have been altered by humans over many centuries, mainly by draining these ecosystems to facilitate forestry and farming operations. In recent decades the quickening pace of sea level rise and infrequent but large coastal storms have exposed these ecosystems to additional pressures associated with the intrusion of brackish and salty water. Infrastructure, including roadbeds, levees, and other water management structures add additional complexity to this system by acting as either exacerbating or mitigating factors depending on time and location. This study investigates the dynamics of surface water and salinity in a critically stressed, freshwater swamp forest at Goose Creek State Park in coastal North Carolina. We evaluate temporal patterns of surface water elevation and salinity following a major inundation event (Hurricane Irene, 2011) at locations both upstream and downstream of an earthen roadbed that bisects the wetland. Results suggest that climatic conditions together with poor drainage through the roadbed caused harmful salinity levels to persist in the wetland for nearly a year following the hurricane, yet the potential also exists for the roadbed to protect the wetland from less extreme exposures to saltwater. This case study illustrates one facet of a complex, coupled natural-human system that is currently being reshaped by climate change. The work has implications for larger efforts to understand and assess the vulnerability of low-lying coastal regions to sea level rise and the preceding salinization.