National Wetlands Research Center

Coastal Marsh Dieback (Brown Marsh)

In the year 2000, coastal marsh dieback was found in parts of Texas and Florida and throughout coastal Louisiana. For example, the Barataria-Terrebonne intertidal salt marshes (mostly composed of smooth cordgrass) cover about 390,000 acres. About 110,000 acres were seriously affected by the dieback, and of those acres at least 17,000 have converted from dense vegetation to open mud flats with little or no vegetation. Almost 150,000 acres were considered moderately impacted.

Research: Understanding the Causes of Salt Marsh Dieback

• Clonal Variation in Spartina alterniflora: Role in Resistance to the Marsh Dieback Phenomenon (Dr. Rebecca Howard)
  
  
• Studies on the Recovery of Intact Sods Collected from Dieback and Healthy Marshes in the Summer of 2000 (Drs. Rebecca Howard and Karen L. McKee)
  
  
• Mapping of Marsh Dieback by Aerial Photography (Lawrence R. Handley)
  
  
• Aerial Surveys to Document and Monitor Spatial Extent, Changes Over Time, and Vegetation Characteristics of Coastal Marsh Dieback in Louisiana (Dr. Thomas C. Michot)

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