Imperiled Ecosystems in a Shifting Climate
2016 Atlantic White Cedar Symposium
May 24-26, 2016

Hotel 1620, 180 Water St., Plymouth, MA

Wetland restoration to maximize ecosystem resilience and ecosystem services

Christopher Neill, The Ecosystems Center, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA. cneill@mbl.edu

Wetland restoration in the Northeastern US has the potential to enhance multiple ecosystems services in highly humanized landscapes and increase ecosystem resilience in the face of climate change. Key services include increasing both terrestrial and aquatic habitat connectivity in landscapes fragmented by suburban development, enhancing nitrogen removal in watersheds, sustaining coastal marshes and providing expanded an improved opportunities for recreation. Restored wetlands have the potential to compensate for wetlands lost to sea level rise. Flood and storm surge protection values will be more important in a future climate with higher storm surges and greater variations in river flows. Emphasizing that wetland restoration provides multiple societal benefits—including estimating restoration costs against other engineered adaptations to climate change—will likely be critical to expanding restoration opportunities. 

Keywords:  Ecosystem restoration, sea level rise, nitrogen attenuation

Biography: Christopher Neill is the Director of The Ecosystems Center at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA. Neill’s research focuses on understanding how large-scale changes in land use alter soils, emissions of greenhouse gases, and the runoff of water and nutrients into streams and rivers. Neill has a long-standing interest in local applied environmental research. He works on the ecology and restoration of ponds and grasslands in coastal Massachusetts and collaborates with The Nature Conservancy, the Buzzards Bay Coalition, and other local organizations.