PROTECTING THE PATHWAYS: A Climate Change Adaptation Framework for Hudson River Estuary Tidal Wetlands
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About This Report / White Paper
Scenic Hudson’s Hudson River Estuary (HRE) wetland study examined the projected persistence of current wetlands, their loss to inundation, and the formation of new wetlands as measures of the habitat’s resilience to sea level rise (SLR). Persistence of the existing wetlands over time was found to depend on both rates of SLR and accretion: higher rates of SLR will negatively impact the resilience of the HRE’s current tidal wetlands, while higher rates of accretion will increase their capacity to build up in place and persist. Projected wetland losses range widely—as little as 150 acres or more than 4,000 acres could become permanently inundated by the end of the century depending on rates of SLR and accretion. Under higher rates of SLR tidal wetland resilience in the estuary will depend more heavily on successful horizontal wetland migration into new areas.
