Dataset: Recent Acceleration of Coastal Wetland Accretion Along the U.S. East Coast

The long-term stability of coastal wetlands is determined by interactions among sea level, plant primary production, sediment supply, and wetland vertical accretion. Here, we examine rates of vertical accretion and carbon sequestration in nine tidal wetland systems along the U.S. East Coast from Maine to Georgia. We show that rates of vertical accretion have accelerated over the past century by between 0.010 and 0.083 mm yr-2, at roughly the same pace as the acceleration of global SLR. Wetland accretion has accelerated more rapidly in coastal systems with greater relative RSLR, higher watershed sediment availability, and lower temperatures. These findings suggest that the biogeomorphic feedback processes that control accretion in these tidal wetlands have responded to accelerating RSLR, and that changes to RSLR, watershed sediment supply, and temperature interact to determine wetland vulnerability across broad geographic scales. Acceleration in coastal wetland accretion provides further evidence of widespread response in Earth's biological systems to human-induced climate change.