Coastal marshes that have been invaded by feral hogs recover from disturbances up to three times slower than non-invaded marshes and are far less resilient to sea-level rise, extreme drought and other impacts of climate change, a new study led by scientists at Duke University and the University of Massachusetts Boston (UMB) finds.
Coastal marshes that have been invaded by feral hogs recover from disturbances up to three times slower than non-invaded marshes and are far less resilient to sea-level rise, extreme drought and other impacts of climate change, a new study led by scientists at Duke University and the University of Massachusetts Boston (UMB) finds.
“Under normal circumstances, marshes can handle and recover from drought or sea level rise, given time, but there is no safety net in place for hog invasions,” said Brian Silliman, Rachel Carson Distinguished Professor of Marine Conservation Biology at Duke, who co-authored the study.
“Marshes that are invaded by hogs recover slower from drought, are less resilient to erosion, and hemorrhage carbon dioxide back into the air as hogs turn vast areas of the marsh into mud pits,” Silliman said.
“Based on data from our experiments, our disturbance-recovery model suggests full marsh recovery could take an extra 80 to 100 years,” he said.
Feral hogs are ravenous predators with an insatiable hunger for ribbed mussels, a shellfish species that is one of the most common – and ecologically important – inhabitants of southeastern salt marshes.
Read more at: Duke University
