Salt Marshes Shrinking Along Eastern US Could be Natural

Salt marshes that surround Massachusett's Plum island estuary have grown by 300 hectacres in the past 300 years. According to a new study this growth was fueled by postcolonial deforestation and the erosion it caused in areas upstream. The steps being taken to keep the marshes at this expanded size are actually keeping the marshes from returning to their more natural size. Scientists have long presumed that the ongoing loss of wetlands in many areas of the world were being caused by rising sea levels and human development of coastal real estate. Matthew Kirwan argues that research has recently shown that the shrinkage of wetlands is simply a return toward normal coverage. Kirwan and his collegues have drawn this conclusion from their study of the Plum Island estuary reported in the may issue of Geology. I think that the wetlands should be allowed to shrink if that is indeed their more natural size. This seems to be one situation where bigger may not necessarily be better.

http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/42634