Abstract Submission: As climate change and urban development create new challenges for coastal regions, salt marsh systems are increasingly viewed as critical ecosystems that can provide important benefits such as water quality enhancement and flood risk reduction. However, the long-term health of salt marshes is threatened by sea level rise, among other factors. Understanding how salt marshes will respond to sea level rise is crucial to evaluating the magnitude of potential ecosystem services over the coming decades. One approach to predicting salt marsh evolution with sea level rise is through integrated biophysical modeling that simulates feedbacks between tidal hydrodynamics and marsh productivity. The Hydro-Marsh Equilibrium Model (Hydro-MEM) has been used in many studies to capture these biophysical interactions. However, the methods for parameterizing Hydro-MEM vary, and there is no comprehensive guidance on where and when certain approaches are most appropriate. In this presentation, we review and compare various methods used to parametrize Hydro-MEM, including how hydrodynamics constrain biomass productivity and how biomass productivity is subsequently translated into accretion. We evaluate these approaches using several case studies to highlight their influence on the sensitivity of marsh productivity predictions. We then provide guidance on best practices for integrated hydrodynamic-marsh modeling, emphasizing the importance of considering uncertainty in future predictions. Findings from this research provide a foundation for more rigorous modeling studies aimed at informing the management and restoration of salt marsh systems with sea level rise.
