Restoring for the climate: a review of coastal wetland restoration research in the last 30 years

Wetlands provide significant ecosystem services yet are ranked among some of the most imperiled habitats. To maximize prioritization of these habitats a better understanding of the full range of ecosystem functions is needed, starting with an examination of how coastal wetlands have been portrayed in restoration literature to date. This study consists of a literature review and the use of automated topic analyses aimed at (1) summarizing the current research related to coastal wetland restoration, (2) identifying the key fields of research, and (3) identifying research efforts connecting restoration and climate adaptation strategies (e.g. blue carbon). Of the 702 papers sourced for this analysis, most studies were conducted in North America and Europe. An increase in articles considering wetland restoration was found from 1985 to October 2020, with 40% of the research published just in the last triennia (2018-2020). Topic division highlights the emergence of studies related to management under climate change (e.g. sea level rise, adaptive management) and to carbon sequestration as separate fields of research from classical ecological studies. This reveals the need to ensure that classical ecological research is not neglected by work relating to climate strategies, which depend upon an accurate understanding of ecological processes.

Automated summary

This study analyzed literature related to coastal wetland restoration, finding that most research was conducted in North America and Europe. The increase in articles on wetland restoration from 1985 to 2020, with a significant portion published in the last triennia (2018-2020), highlights the emergence of new fields of research such as climate change management and carbon sequestration. It is important to ensure that these emerging fields do not overshadow classical ecological research to maintain an accurate understanding of ecological processes for climate strategies.