Characteristics of the Marsh-Forest Boundary within Chesapeake Bay Region Coastal Watersheds

Sea level rise is leading to the rapid landward migration of marshes into coastal forests and other terrestrial ecosystems. Although complex biophysical interactions likely govern these ecosystem transitions, projections of sea level driven land conversion commonly rely on a simplified delineation of the marsh-upland boundary based on tidal datums alone. To determine the influence of biophysical drivers on the elevation of the marsh-forest transition, and their implication for land conversion, we examined almost 100,000 high-resolution marsh-forest boundary elevation points, determined independently from tidal datums, alongside 14 environmental variables in the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the United States.