Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35389532›Full record

ArticleEcological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America2022

The importance of marshes providing soil stabilization to resist fast-flow erosion in case of a dike breach.

Beatriz Marin-Diaz, Laura L Govers, Daphne van der Wal, Han Olff, Tjeerd J Bouma

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Recommendations for the development of erosion-resistant tidal marshes to enhance nature-based flood risk mitigation.Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America · 2026
    Review
  2. Restoration transforms coastal wetland ecosystem services over time.Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America · 2026
    Article
  3. Plant species, inundation, and sediment grain size control the development of sediment stability in tidal marshes.Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America · 2025
    Article
  4. The importance of marshes providing soil stabilization to resist fast-flow erosion in case of a dike breach.Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America · 2022
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Beatriz Marin-DiazDepartment of Estuarine and Delta systems, NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Yerseke, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0003-4820-4662
Laura L GoversConservation Ecology Group, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0003-4532-9419
Daphne van der WalDepartment of Estuarine and Delta systems, NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Yerseke, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-2319-056X
Han OlffConservation Ecology Group, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0003-2154-3576
Tjeerd J BoumaDepartment of Estuarine and Delta systems, NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Yerseke, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0001-7824-7546

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Salt marshes provide valuable ecosystem services including coastal protection by reducing wave loading on dikes and seawalls. If the topsoil is erosion resistant to fast-flowing water, it may also reduce breach depth if a dike fails. In this experiment, we quantified the topsoil erosion resistance from marshes and bare tidal flats with different soil types to understand the extent to which they can help reduce breach depth. Intact soil samples were collected from 11 locations in the Netherlands at different tidal elevations and then exposed for 3 h to 2.3 m/s currents. To the samples that remained stable after flow exposure, an artificial crack was made to test their stability following soil disturbance. All samples from the tidal flats were completely eroded, regardless of sediment type. In contrast, all samples from well-established marsh plateaus were stable as long as no disturbances were made, including those with sandy subsoils. After creating artificial cracks, samples with a thin cohesive top layer on top of sandy subsoil collapsed, while marshes with silty subsoils remained stable. Pioneer marshes on sandy substrate without a cohesive top layer were the only vegetated soils that completely eroded. The lower erosion of marshes with either sandy or silty soils compared to bare tidal flats was best explained by the presence of a top layer with belowground biomass, high organic content, high water content, and low bulk density. When analyzing the erodibility of marshes only, fine root density was the best predictor of erosion resistance. This study demonstrates the importance of preserving, restoring, or creating salt marshes, to obtain a topsoil that is erosion resistant under fast-flowing water, which helps reduce breach dimensions if a dike fails. The probability of topsoil erosion in established marshes with sandy subsoil is higher than in silty marshes. A silty layer of cohesive sediment on top of the sand provides extra erosion resistance as long as it does not break. Pioneer marshes that have not developed a cohesive top layer are erosion sensitive, especially in sandy soils. For future marsh creations, using fine-grained sediments or a mixture of sand with silt or clay is recommended.

Indexed as

SoilWetlandsEcosystemSandWaterSandSoilWaterecosystem-based coastal defenseecosystem conservationecosystem servicesflood protectionflow erosionovertoppingsediment erosionsoil surface erosiontop erosionwave run up

Identifiers

PMID35389532
PMCPMC9541637

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.