NESP MaC Project 1.11 - OzSET: Integration and publication of the Australian Surface Elevation Table dataset

Research Project

Researchers: Lovelock, Catherine (Principal investigator, Point of contact, principalInvestigator) ,  Lovelock, Catherine (Principal investigator, Point of contact, principalInvestigator) ,  Professor Catherine Lovelock (Principal investigator, Point of contact, principalInvestigator) ,  Professor Catherine Lovelock (Principal investigator, Point of contact, principalInvestigator) ,  Saintilan, Neil (Principal investigator, Point of contact, principalInvestigator)
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Brief description This record provides an overview of the NESP Marine and Coastal Hub small-scale study - "OzSET: Integration and publication of the Australian Surface Elevation Table dataset". For specific data outputs from this project, please see child records associated with this metadata. -------------------- Australia’s coastal floodplains and wetlands provide essential ecosystem services and have immense cultural value. They regulate water quality, moderate flood and storm damage, and provide habitat for marine life including commercial fish and shellfish species. These environments are threatened by accelerating rates of sea-level rise. A national approach is needed to monitor and assess the way coastal floodplains and wetlands are changing in response to sea level rise. A useful measure of resilience is the extent to which coastal wetland sediments can accrete vertically at a rate matching that of sea-level rise. Assessing the resilience, or vulnerability, of these environments requires measurements of rates of vertical accretion, subsidence and elevation gain across a range of coastal settings. The Surface Elevation Table-Marker Horizon (SET-MH) technique measures the vertical accretion of coastal wetland sediments. This enables assessment of whether wetlands are keeping pace with sea level rise (measured at tide gauges), or subsiding relative to local sea level rise and thus vulnerable to permanent inundation and loss. Australia’s network of Surface Elevation Tables is one of the most extensive in the world, consisting of over 200 benchmark monitoring stations from Westernport Bay, Victoria to Darwin Harbour, NT. The network has developed largely without national coordination, and the data gathered have not been readily available to the research community or research users. This project collated SET data on accretion, subsidence and elevation change in mangroves, saltmarshes, seagrasses and tidal freshwater forests, and provides an initial analysis of accretion and surface elevation trends. This information is vital to coastal risk assessment, estimating blue carbon sequestration, and modelling potential predicted changes in other ecosystem services. Outputs • Collation of data from existing Surface Elevation Table (SET-MH) stations [dataset] • Final Technical Report

Lineage Maintenance and Update Frequency: asNeeded

Notes Credit
National Environmental Science Program (NESP) Marine and Coastal Hub

Notes Credit
Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW), Australian Government

Notes Credit
In addition to NESP (DCCEEW) funding, this project is matched by an equivalent amount of in-kind support and co-investment from project partners and collaborators.

Notes Purpose
To provide a national resource to monitor the resilience of coastal wetlands with sea level rise and other climate change impacts. These data can be used to validate remotely sensed products, underpin modelling of the impacts of sea level rise on wetland distribution and monitor variation in soil accretion and carbon sequestration over time.

Data time period: 2021-09-01 to 2022-03-31

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