Land use change and wetland loss have decreased the ability of estuaries to mitigate storm damage and reduce flooding in Wisconsin’s Douglas County. The loss of these valuable services was apparent in the aftermath of severe storm events that caused significant flooding and damage in 2012. And, as the climate shifts, the region is likely to experience more frequent powerful storms. Strategic wetland protection and restoration planning could help communities work together in protecting wetlands and the services they provide.

In the struggle to slow climate change, coastal wetlands are a critical asset—acre for acre, they can store up to five times as much carbon as rainforests. When wetlands are damaged or destroyed, they shift from being carbon “sinks” to being carbon sources that release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Unfortunately, wetlands are disappearing at an alarming pace, and decisions to develop, protect, or restore them are often made in the context of limited public resources. Trading wetlands carbon offsets on carbon markets is an exciting new approach to creating financial incentives for restoration and conservation.

Blue carbon storage – carbon sequestration in coastal wetlands – can help coastal managers and policymakers achieve broader wetlands management, restoration, and conservation goals, in part by securing payment for carbon credits. Despite considerable interest in bringing wetland restoration projects to market, the transaction costs related to quantifying greenhouse gas fluxes and carbon storage in restored marsh has been a significant limiting factor to realizing these projects. The Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve has been at the forefront of blue carbon research and end user engagement. Building on the efforts of a previous project, Bringing Wetlands to Market in Massachusetts, this project developed a verified and generalized model that can be used across New England and the mid-Atlantic East Coast to assess and predict greenhouse gas fluxes and potential wetland carbon across a wide environmental gradient using a small set of readily available data. Using this model, the project conducted a first-of-its-kind market feasibility assessment for the Herring River Restoration Project, one of the largest potential wetland restoration projects in New England. The project team developed targeted tools and education programs for coastal managers, decision makers, and teachers. These efforts have built an understanding of blue carbon and the capacity to integrate blue carbon considerations into restoration and management decisions.

The Mission-Aransas National Estuarine Research Reserve is leveraging approaches and lessons learned from the first "Bringing Wetlands to Market" project, which was developed by the Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve and supported by the Science Collaborative from the National Estuarine Research Reserve System. Using the original project's successful "Roadshow Dialogues" model, the Mission-Aransas Reserve team will provide outreach in order to communicate blue carbon concepts and highlight relevant scientific research to currently engaged blue carbon end users. Outreach efforts not only will identify ways to incorporate blue carbon benefits into wetlands conservation and restoration activities but also will identify carbon finance opportunities. The project will boost support for restoration and conservation in several ways: it will connect Gulf Coast blue carbon end users with established blue carbon networks; provide long-term and sustained technical assistance opportunities and connections to carbon finance markets; and it will engage the public's interest in blue carbon education through tours, videos or other media, and two "Bay Talks" lectures. This science transfer project was funded by NOAA through the National Estuarine Research Reserve System Science Collaborative to promote the use of science. It did not produce any new data.

In this project, National Estuarine Research Reserves in North and South Carolina worked to improve local understanding of climate change effects on southeastern salt marsh and provide decision makers with the information and skills they need to address these vulnerabilities. North Carolina Reserve staff members were trained in the Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment Tool for Coastal Habitats (CCVATCH) by their colleagues from North Inlet-Winyah Bay Reserve. This decision support tool incorporates existing information on climate change impacts with knowledge of local conditions to help users develop vulnerability scores for specific areas. The project team used CCVATCH to conduct habitat vulnerability assessments for seven estuaries in North and South Carolina, summarized regional findings to help managers in the Southeast improve salt marsh resilience, and developed guidance and outreach products. This science transfer project was funded by NOAA through the National Estuarine Research Reserve System Science Collaborative to promote the use of science. It did not produce any new data.

Along the coast of southern Maine, the need to conserve natural buffers in order to protect rivers and wetlands has become a focal point for tensions between development and conservation interests. In this rapidly developing landscape, decision-makers often feel they must choose development over conservation or restoration to support local economies. While there is scientific evidence that underscores the value of protecting natural buffers around sensitive water bodies, local decision-makers need additional place-based, economic information about the ecosystem services that these lands provide and the range of tradeoffs that are implied in related land use decisions.

The research team developed a vegetation-resolving three-dimensional surge-wave model to simulate storm impacts on Piermont Marsh and the adjacent Village. The model incorporated locally collected data on plant distribution and structure, as well as observed and simulated wind and water level data from the Hudson River. By modeling the impacts of Superstorm Sandy, they found that marsh vegetation with predominantly invasive common reed, Phragmites australis, reduced 66% of the wave energy, but less than 1% of the flood, at the Village. The marsh vegetation also significantly prevented transport of debris from the southeastern corner of the marsh. If managers were to replace Phragmites with the shorter, native cattail, Typha angustifolia , simulations of Sandy, which occurred in October, suggest that Piermont Marsh’s wave and debris buffering capacity would be preserved. However, had Sandy occurred in May/June when Typha is much shorter and sparser, the marsh would have been unable to buffer the wave and debris as effectively. The Piermont Marsh Coastal GeoTool allows Village of officials and resource managers to explore how homes and buildings would be impacted under marsh management and sea-level rise scenarios.

This project provided support for local governments to obtain necessary information to modernize and revise the Coos Bay estuary management plan. Through an integrative assessment, the project team leveraged knowledge from community members, synthesized and compiled existing information, and applied a triple bottom line lens (economic, social, and environmental) to portray current conditions and uses in the estuary, and generate options and recommendations for local governments to improve their estuarine and shoreland management. This integrated assessment project was funded by NOAA through the National Estuarine Research Reserve System Science Collaborative to evaluate options for action. It did not produce any new data.

Rising sea levels, severe storms, flooding, and erosion are reshaping the San Francisco Bay area’s coastline, threatening both natural areas and critical infrastructure. Preparing for these climate change impacts may be the greatest challenge facing local decision-makers, yet often they can’t access the information they need to plan effectively, and they are challenged by the uncertainty of how and when these impacts will occur.

Healthy estuaries are vital to the economy of the Texas central coast, supporting the region’s multibillion-dollar fishing industry and growing tourist trade. Adequate supplies of freshwater are key to the productivity of these estuaries. However, as the regional population grew and the recent drought deepened, estuaries were receiving less freshwater.