_Contemporary recreational fishing combines with old WPA project to hasten marsh die-off_
Cape Cod, Massachusetts has a problem. The iconic salt marshes of the famous summer retreat are melting away at the edges, dying back from the most popular recreational areas. The erosion is a consequence of an unexpected synergy between recreational over-fishing and Great Depression-era ditches constructed by Works Progress Administration (WPA) in an effort to control mosquitoes. The cascade of ecological cause and effect is described by Tyler Coverdale and colleagues at Brown University in a paper published online this month in ESA's journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. Read the complete story at EcoTone: http://www.esa.org/esablog/research/depression-era-drainage-ditches-emerge-as-sleeping-threat-to-cape-cod-salt-marshes/ Or on AAAS' press release database, Eureaklert: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-01/esoa-ddd012413.php Journal citation: Latent impacts: the role of historical human activity in coastal habitat loss. Tyler C Coverdale, Nicholas C Herrmann, Andrew H Altieri, and Mark D Bertness Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 0 0:0 (currently in e-view) http://www.esajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1890/120130 For more information, or to subscribe to ESA press releases, please contact Liza Lester, [email protected]
