Data underlying the research paper: "Plant species, inundation, and sediment grain size control the development of sediment stability in tidal marshes"

We examined the rate at which sediment stability builds up in tidal marshes under the influence of establishment of pioneer marsh vegetation species on initially bare tidal flats and by which factors this rate is influenced. To study this rate under pioneer species that grow at different densities, we measured proxies of sediment stability over an age gradient in six tidal marshes in the Western Scheldt estuary in the Netherlands. In three of these tidal marshes, densely growing <em>Spartina anglica</em> occurs as the dominant pioneer species, whereas less densely growing <em>Scirpus maritimus </em>is the dominant pioneer species in the other three tidal marshes. By determining tidal marsh age and by measuring sediment surface elevation and sediment properties, we were able to study the effects of these variables on the build-up of sediment stability.This dataset contains all data on sediment stability, tidal marsh age, surface elevation, and sediment properties that we measured in the six tidal marshes.

本研究旨在探究初始裸露潮滩上先锋盐沼植被定植后，潮滩沉积物稳定性的构建速率及其影响因子。为探究不同定植密度的先锋物种对该构建速率的影响，我们于荷兰西埃斯科河（Western Scheldt）河口的6处潮滩盐沼中，沿盐沼发育年龄梯度测定了沉积物稳定性的替代指标。其中3处盐沼以密生型优势先锋物种大米草（*Spartina anglica*）为优势种，其余3处盐沼的优势先锋物种为疏生型的海滨藨草（*Scirpus maritimus*）。通过测定盐沼发育年龄、沉积物表面高程及沉积物理化性质，本研究分析了上述变量对沉积物稳定性构建过程的影响。本数据集涵盖了上述6处盐沼中测定的全部沉积物稳定性、盐沼年龄、表面高程及沉积物理化性质相关数据。