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Field experiment: effect of sediment nourishment on saltmarsh biodiversity

In the first week of April, a team from Utrecht University embraced the sunny weather to set up a field experiment in the Zeeland to investigate how sediment nourishment can enhance saltmarsh resilience.

Saltmarshes provide crucial benefits, from flood protection to rich biodiversity, yet they are eroding worldwide. In the Netherlands, erosion is worsened by reduced sediment supply due to dredging and the construction of the delta works, such as the Eastern Scheldt barrier. One potential solution -commonly used in the US- is thin layer placement where a 10-20 cm layer of sediment is spread directly on the marsh. With larger tides and different species in the Netherlands, we need to understand how much sediment different species can handle.

To find out, we set up barrels of different heights across four saltmarsh species in Rattekai and Rilland, filling them with local sediment from the tidal flat. We aim to return after the growing season in September to see at what depths different species have survived and thrived.

A huge thank you to our technicians, PhD researchers, and students who dug, hammered, and hauled mud to make this experiment possible!