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Content archived on 2024-06-18

Stemming the rising tide: The protective role of saltmarshes

Objective

Sea level rise and the associated flooding of coastal regions are predicted to lead to severe impacts in many European countries. It is recognised that coastal habitats will play a vital role in mitigating the effects of sea level rise, through increasing sediment accretion rates and thus surface elevation. In Europe, saltmarshes are the primary vegetated coastal habitat and are widely distributed along the European coastline. Both geological evidence from the Holocene, when sea levels rose quickly and significantly and models of contemporary sea level rise suggest that saltmarshes are able to keep pace with sea level rise when sediment supply is sufficient, thus protecting inland habitats from inundation. Saltmarshes have also been shown to be very effective at attenuating wave energy during storm surges. Vertical accretion rates in vegetated coastal habitats are the result of complex interactions between geomorphological (e.g. geological subsidence, sedimentation rates) and biological processes (e.g. root growth and organic matter accumulation and thus require a multidisciplinary research approach. Salt marsh growth and physiology can be an important driver of change in vertical accretion but the lack of data on biological processes, especially belowground, has been identified as a confounding factor for salt marsh models. This project is academically innovative, as it will simultaneously determine the role of biological processes (both above and below ground) and geomorphological processes in the overall changes to vertical accretion under different global change scenarios and incorporate those into existing salt marsh evolution and surface elevation models that predict the vulnerability of coastal areas to sea level rise.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IIF
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Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

MC-IIF - International Incoming Fellowships (IIF)

Coordinator

THE CHANCELLOR MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
EU contribution
€ 309 235,20
Address
TRINITY LANE THE OLD SCHOOLS
CB2 1TN CAMBRIDGE
United Kingdom

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Region
East of England East Anglia Cambridgeshire CC
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

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