The impact of climate change on the morphology of a tidal freshwater wetland affected by tides, discharge, and wind

Abstract

Tidal freshwater wetlands are threatened by climate change, especially by rising sea levels. Until now, research in these wetlands has focused mostly on determining historical and present-day accretion rates without analysing the influence of climate change on future developments. We study a recently constructed freshwater wetland under influence of tides, wind, and riverine discharges and carry out a scenario analysis to evaluate the impact of climate change on morphodynamics. We use a numerical model that describes the hydrodynamics and morphology in the study area and includes the impact of vegetation and carry out transient scenario runs for the period 2015–2050 with gradually changing boundary conditions. We conclude that the simulated accretion rates are significantly lower than the rate of sea level rise, meaning that the wetland will gradually convert to open water. We also find that the morphological changes can largely be attributed to morphological stabilization of the constructed wetland and not to climate change. Wind plays an important role through resuspension and redistribution of fine sediment, and neglecting it would lead to a significant overestimation of accretion rates on the flats.