History of Delaware and New Jersey salt marsh restoration sites

Abstract

Humans have modified the tidal marsh sites of the Public Service Enterprise Group Estuary Enhancement Program over the past 400 years as well as by natural processes such as sea level change and storms. We used the data reported here – photographs and maps that showed the range of changes and the time frame in which these changes occurred – as the basis for restoration design. These data show the ephemeral nature of some salt marsh features and the persistence of others, despite centuries of diking, hurricanes and flooding. These data were used to develop the restoration time lines and the expectations as to marsh form and function. The individual history of each restoration site is reviewed through historic maps and aerial photographs and is followed by reference to site features, such as drainage ditches, channels, tidal range, vegetation change, and land use over time.