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 Spartina anglica occurs as the dominant pioneer species, whereas less densely growing Scirpus maritimus 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.
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