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 COASTAL
WETLANDS
AN INTEGRATED ECOSYSTEM
APPROACH

SECOND EDITION
Edited by

GERARDO M.E. PERILLO

ERIC WOLANSKI
DONALD R. CAHOON
CHARLES S. HOPKINSON
Elsevier
Radarweg 29, PO Box 211, 1000 AE Amsterdam, Netherlands
The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1GB, United Kingdom
50 Hampshire Street, 5th Floor, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States

Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Donald R. Cahoon’s contribution to the work is
the work of a US Govt. employee and is in public domain.
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This book and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright by the
Publisher (other than as may be noted herein).

Notices
Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and experience
broaden our understanding, changes in research methods, professional practices, or medical
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 Dedication
The editors wish to dedicate the present book to the mem-
ory of Dr. Mark M. Brinson, our friend, colleague, and
member of the editorial team of the first edition of Coastal
Wetlands: An integrated Ecosystem Approach.
Gerardo M.E. Perillo, Eric Wolanski, Donald R.
Cahoon, and Charles S. Hopkinson
Dr. Mark M. Brinson retired in September 2010 with
the title of Distinguished Research Professor, after more
than 35 years at East Carolina University. We were looking
forward to several more active years of research and pro-
fessional service when he unexpectedly passed away a few
months later, on January 3, 2011. In words of his dear friend
and colleague, Dr. Robert Christian, we lost a thoughtful,
hardworking, and creative Ecosystem Naturalist that day.
Mark devoted his research to understanding how
wetlands function, unraveling the intricate relationships
among the physical, chemical, and biological components
of wetland ecosystems. His unique perspective made sub-
stantial contributions not only to wetland science but also
to the environmental management of wetlands. Mark’s
work had a significant impact on the hydrogeomorphic
classification of wetlands, central to the functional assess-
ment of wetlands and mitigation procedures based on
functional loss. This functional approach along with the use
of reference states that one of his most significant contri-
butions greatly changed mitigation policies and targets for
restoration strategies.
Throughout his career, Mark taught numerous cour-
ses and workshops on wetland ecology within the United
States and abroad. He has edited, authored, and coauthored many publications on wetland
ecology and served as a technical consultant to the US Environmental Protection Agency, US
Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Smithsonian Institution. He was also President of the
Society of Wetland Scientists and served on its Board of Directors for several years. In
addition, Mark has received many honors and awards, including the Thomas Harriot College
of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor Award, Lifetime Achievement Award, a Na-
tional Wetlands Award for Science Research cosponsored by the Environmental Law Insti-
tute and the Environmental Protection Agency, and Fellowship of the Society of Wetland
Scientists.
On a more personal note, I met Mark in 2003, when I was a graduate student at Uni-
versidad de Buenos Aires. By that time he was using a Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Award

v
vi DEDICATION

to aid in the development of a national wetland inventory in Argentina. I was a clumsy and
unfocused student who knew little about Mark then, but working with him gave me the
opportunity of a lifetime to become a wetland ecologist. Mark was one of the most respectful
people I ever knew, but I could not describe Mark better than himself. As he said in his
retirement essay, he did not like “being shrouded by the transparent tapestry of ego.” And
that was Dr. Mark Brinson, the Senior Scientist and Distinguished Professor who did not miss
a single field trip to my marsh sites. He wrote my field notes, helped me out with the peat
sampler, and cooked dinner.
In his retirement speech he also said “Having fun is being hardwired to your
profession e half of the time you don’t realize how much fun it is.” From all the pictures
that came to my mind since I started to write this note, I choose to share this one: Mark and
his big smile standing at the marsh, playing at being my field assistant, and having fun.
Dr. Paula G Pratolongo
 List of Contributors
Kenneth F. Abraham Trent University, Peter-
borough, ON, Canada
Paul Adam School of Biological Earth and
Environmental Science, UNSW, Sydney, NSW,
Australia
S. Ahmerkamp Max Planck Institute for Marine
Microbiology, Bremen, Germany
Rebecca J. Aspden Scottish Oceans Institute,
School of Biology, University of St Andrews,
Fife, Scotland
Andrew H. Baldwin Department of Environ-
mental Science and Technology, University of
Maryland, College Park, MD, United States
Donald M. Baltz Department of Oceanography
and Coastal Sciences, Louisiana State Univer-
sity, Baton Rouge, LA, United States
Edward B. Barbier Department of Economics,
Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colo-
rado, United States
Aat Barendregt Utrecht University, Utrecht, The
Netherlands
Kevin S. Black Partrac, Glasgow, Scotland
Laurence A. Boorman L A B Coastal, Cam-
bridgeshire, United Kingdom
Mark M. Brinsony
Stephen W. Broome Department of Crop and
Soil Sciences, North Carolina State University,
Raleigh, NC, United States
Benjamin M. Brown Charles Darwin Univer-
sity, Research Institute for Environment and
Livelihoods (RIEL), Darwin, NT, Australia
Michael R. Burchell Department of Biological
and Agricultural Engineering, North Carolina
State University, Raleigh, NC, United States
y
Deceased.
xiii
Donald R. Cahoon United States Geological
Survey, Patuxent Wildlife Research Center,
Laurel, MD, United States
L. Carniello Department of Civil, Environmental
and Architectural Engineering, University of
Padua, Padova, Italy
Edward Castañeda-Moya Southeast Environ-
mental Research Center, Florida International
University, Miami, FL, United States
Elizabeth Christie Cambridge Coastal Research
Unit, Department of Geography, University of
Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
P.L.M. Cook Water Studies Centre, Monash
University, Clayton, VIC, Australia
Christopher B. Craft School of Public and
Environmental Affairs, Indiana University,
Bloomington, IN, United States
Carolyn A. Currin NOAA, National Centers for
Coastal Ocean Science, Beaufort Lab, Beaufort,
NC, United States
Andrea D’Alpaos Department of Geosciences,
University of Padova, PD, Italy
L. D’Alpaos Department of Civil, Environmental
and Architectural Engineering, University of
Padua, Padova, Italy
Stephen Davis Everglades Foundation, Palmetto
Bay, FL, United States
Dirk de Beer Max Planck Institute for Marine
Microbiology, Bremen, Germany
A. Defina Department of Civil, Environmental
and Architectural Engineering, University of
Padua, Padova, Italy
Joanna C. Ellison Discipline of Geography and
Spatial Sciences, School of Technology, Envi-
ronments and Design, University of Tasmania,
Launceston, TAS, Australia
xiv LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
Laura L. Flynn Coastal Resources Group, Inc.,
Venice, FL, United States
Irene Fortune Scottish Oceans Institute, School
of Biology, University of St Andrews, Fife,
Scotland
Jon French Coastal and Estuarine Research
Unit, UCL Department of Geography, Univer-
sity College London, Gower Street, London,
United Kingdom
Shu Gao State Key Laboratory for Estuarine
and Coastal Research, East China Normal
University, Shanghai, China
Christopher Haight New York City Depart-
ment of Parks & Recreation, New York, NY,
United States
Richard S. Hammerschlag United States Geo-
logical Survey, Patuxent Wildlife Research
Center, Laurel, MD, United States
Ellen Kracauer Hartig New York City Depart-
ment of Parks & Recreation, New York, NY,
United States
Marianne Holmer Department of Biology,
University of Southern Denmark, Odense,
Denmark
Charles S. Hopkinson Department of Marine
Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens, GA,
United States
Robert L. Jefferiesy
S.B. Joye Department of Marine Sciences, Uni-
versity of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States
Jeffrey J. Kelleway Department of Environ-
mental Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney,
NSW, Australia
Jason R. Kirby Liverpool John Moores Univer-
sity, School of Natural Sciences & Psychology,
Liverpool, United Kingdom
Stefano Lanzoni Department of Civil, Environ-
mental, and Architectural Engineering, Univer-
sity of Padova, PD, Italy
Marit Larson New York City Department of
Parks & Recreation, New York, NY, United States
y
Deceased.
Paul S. Lavery School of Science & Centre for
Marine Ecosystems Research, Edith Cowan
University, Joondalup, WA, Australia; Centro
de Estudios Avanzados de Blanes, Consejo
Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Blanes,
Spain
Nicoletta Leonardi University of Liverpool,
School of Environmental Sciences, Department
of Geography and Planning, Liverpool, United
Kingdom
Roy R. Lewis III Coastal Resources Group, Inc.,
Salt Springs, FL, United States
Catherine Lovelock The School of Biological
Sciences, The University of Queensland, St
Lucia, QLD, Australia; Global Change Institute,
The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD,
Australia
Marco Marani Department of Civil, Environ-
mental, and Architectural Engineering,
University of Padova, PD, Italy
I. Peter Martini School of Environmental
Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON,
Canada
Karen L. McKee U.S. Geological Survey, Wet-
land and Aquatic Research Center, Lafayette,
LA, United States
J. Patrick Megonigal Smithsonian Environ-
mental Research Center, Edgewater, MD,
United States
Stephen Midway Department of Oceanography
and Coastal Sciences, Louisiana State Univer-
sity, Baton Rouge, LA, United States
Iris Möller Cambridge Coastal Research Unit,
Department of Geography, University of
Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
R.I. Guy Morrison National Wildlife Research
Centre, Environment and Climate Change
Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Scott C. Neubauer Department of Biology, Vir-
ginia Commonwealth University, Richmond,
VA, United States
David M. Paterson Scottish Oceans Institute,
School of Biology, University of St Andrews,
Fife, Scotland
 LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
Gerardo M.E. Perillo Instituto Argentino de
Oceanografía (CONICET e UNS), Bahía
Blanca, Argentina; Departamento de Geología,
Universidad Nacional del Sur, Bahía Blanca,
Argentina
Maria Cintia Piccolo Instituto Argentino de
Oceanografia - Universidad Nacional del Sur,
Bahia Blanca, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Andrew Plater University of Liverpool, School
of Environmental Sciences, Department of
Geography and Planning, Liverpool, United
Kingdom
Paula Pratolongo Universidad Nacional del Sur,
Dto. de Biología Bioquímica y Farmacia
CONICET, Instituto Argentino de Ocean-
ografía, Bahía Blanca, Argentina
Andrea Rinaldo Department of Civil, Environ-
mental, and Architectural Engineering, Uni-
versity of Padova, PD, Italy; Laboratory of
Ecohydrology, Ecole Polytechnique Fèdèrale
Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
Victor H. Rivera-Monroy Department of
Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, College
of the Coast and the Environment, Louisiana
State University, Baton Rouge, LA, United
States
Kerrylee Rogers Geoquest, University of Wol-
longong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia
Andre S. Rovai Department of Oceanography
and Coastal Sciences, College of the Coast
and the Environment, Louisiana State
University, Baton Rouge, LA, United States;
Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ocean-
ografia, Universidade Federal de Santa
Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil
Neil Saintilan Department of Environmental
Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW,
Australia
Charles E. Sasser Department of Oceanography
and Coastal Sciences, Louisiana State Univer-
sity, Baton Rouge, LA, United States
xv
C.A. Schutte Louisiana Universities Marine
Consortium (LUMCON), Chauvin, LA, United
States
M. Seidel Institute for Chemistry and Biology of
the Marine Environment (ICBM), University of
Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
Liudmila A. Sergienko Department of Botany
and Plant Physiology, Petrozavodsk State
University, Petrozavodsk, Russia
Oscar Serrano School of Science & Centre for
Marine Ecosystems Research, Edith Cowan
University, Joondalup, WA, Australia
Daniel O. Suman Rosenstiel School of Marine
and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami,
Miami, FL, United States
Rebecca K. Swadek New York City Depart-
ment of Parks & Recreation, New York, NY,
United States
Craig Tobias University of Connecticut, Groton,
CT, United States
Robert R. Twilley Department of Ocean-
ography and Coastal Sciences, College of the
Coast and the Environment, Louisiana State
University, Baton Rouge, LA, United States
Jenneke M. Visser Institute for Coastal and
Water Research, and School of Geosciences,
University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette,
LA, United States
Dennis F. Whigham Smithsonian Environmental
Research Center, Edgewater, MD, United States
Eric Wolanski TropWATER and College of
Science and Engineering, James Cook Univer-
sity, Townsville, QLD, Australia; Australian
Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, QLD,
Australia
Colin D. Woodroffe School of Earth and Envi-
ronmental Sciences, University of Wollongong,
Wollongong, NSW, Australia
C.S. Wu Max Planck Institute for Marine
Microbiology, Bremen, Germany
 Preface to the First Edition
Why coastal wetlands? What is so
important about them that a whole book is
required to try to review and explain their
large variety of properties? Of all the coastal
habitats, wetlands are the least depicted in
the tourist brochures because they lack those
paradisiacal long, white sandy beaches
backed by palm trees or expensive resort
hotels close to transparent blue waters. In
fact, most coastal wetlands are quite muddy
and are more likely to be inhabited by
crabs and worms than by charismatic fish,
birds and mammals. Hence, most inhabitants
of our world either have never thought about
coastal wetlands or may consider them a
nuisance, not realizing that their seafood
dinner likely had its origin as a detrital food
web in a salt marsh or mangrove swamp.
Bahía Blanca (Argentina) inhabitants are
a classical example: a city of over 300,000
people living within 10 km of a 2300-km2
wetland, the largest of Argentina, but fewer
than 40% have any idea that they are so close
to the sea and a short distance of places that
are globally unique (Perillo and Iribarne,
2003, in Chapter 6).
Similarly, there are many other coastlines
dominated by wetlands, yet they are only
seen as areas to exploit in an unsustainable
fashion. For example, mangroves have
served local communities for generations in
many Asian tropical countries for harvesting
wood and fish in contrast to their wholesale
replacement for rice cultivation and shrimp
farming.
Even though management guidelines
have been available for decades, the negative
xvii
consequences of uninformed exploitation
have resulted in poor or even total lack of
management criteria by most governments
at all levels. Even local stakeholders fail to
act in their own best interest without
consideration of the ecosystem goods and
services that the nearby wetlands provide.
Coastal wetlands best develop along
passive-margin coasts with low-gradient
coastal plains and wide continental shelves.
The combination of low hydraulic energy
and gentle slope provides an ideal setting for
the wetland development. Also passive
margins are less prone to receive large
episodic events like tsunamis. Tsunamis and
storm surges, in particular, are major coast
modifiers, but when they act on low coasts
their effects are more far reaching than they
are on higher relief coasts. For a wetland
to form, there is a need for a particular
geomorphological setting such as an embay-
ment or estuary providing a relatively
low-energy environment favoring sediment
settling, deposition and preservation. How-
ever, that is only the beginning of a large and
complex “life” where many geological (i.e.,
sediment supply, geological setting and isos-
tasy), physical (i.e., oceanographic, atmo-
spheric, fluvial, groundwater processes and
sea level changes), chemical (i.e., nutrients,
pollutants), biological (i.e., intervening flora
and fauna), and anthropic factors play a wide
spectra of roles. Coastal wetlands are areas
that have combined physical sources and
biological processes to develop structure that
continues to take advantage of natural energy
inputs.
xviii PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION
This book has been planned to address in
an integrated way all these processes and
their consequences on the characterization
and evolution of coastal wetlands. It aims to
provide an integrated perspective on coastal
wetlands as ecosystems for the public, engi-
neers, scientists and resources managers. It is
only after acquiring this perspective that
scientists can confidently propose ecohy-
drologic solutions for managing these envi-
ronments in an ecologically sustainable way.
This is but one small step toward encour-
aging humanity to look beyond purely
technological, and often failed, solutions to
complex environmental problems.
This is done by focusing on the principal
components considering the full range of
environments from freshwater to subtidal
and from polar to tropical systems. The book
has been divided into seven parts starting
from a synthesis chapter that integrates the
whole book. Part I covers, in three chapters,
the general description of the wetlands
structured according to broad climatic re-
gions and introduces the most important
physical processes that are common to all
coastal wetlands including some geo-
morphologic and modeling principles. Part II
are specific to each particular type of
wetland (tidal flats, marshes and seagrasses,
and mangroves). Within each part (Parts III
to V), there are chapters dealing with their
particular geomorphology, sedimentology,
biology and biogeochemistry. Finally Parts
VI and VII provide insight into the restora-
tion and management and sustainability and
landscape dynamics.
As editors, our work was greatly facili-
tated by the tremendous cooperation and
enthusiasm from each of the authors to
complete this process that began mid 2006.
Each author, an authority in his or her spe-
cialty, was specifically invited to write a re-
view chapter. Therefore, the challenges were
much larger than in the case of typical
contributed articles. But the reward, we think,
is much more beneficial for the student, pro-
fessor, or researcher employing this book for
his or her particular interest. Readers will not
only be able to find a specific topic but will
find related information to complement and
enhance the understanding of the topic.
We are in debt to the more than 50 re-
viewers (most of them are not authors in the
book) who have agreed and provided
graciously and unselfishly their valuable
time. Some took on the responsibility of two
chapters, and their efforts are rewarded with
improvements of each contribution. In many
cases, reviewers gave us interesting ideas
that helped in the general structure of the
book. A list of the reviewers is provided.
We also thank Elsevier Science and the
various Publishing Editors who were in charge
of our book along the period since we first
proposed our idea to the final result that you
are reading now. First of all to Kristien van
Lunen who first believed that our proposal
was realizable and then to the important
contributions and patience of Jennifer Hele,
and also to Pauline Riebeek, Linda Versteeg
and lastly Sara Pratt. Stalin Viswanathan did
an excellent job copyediting the whole book.
Gerardo M.E. Perillo
Eric Wolanski
Donald R. Cahoon
Mark M. Brinson
July, 2008
This document is based on work partially
supported by the U.S. National Science
Foundation under Grants No. BSR-8702333-
06, DEB-9211772, DEB-9411974, DEB-0080381
and DEB-0621014 and to SCOR under
Grant No. OCE-0608600. Any opinions,
findings, and conclusions or recommenda-
tions expressed in this material are those of
the authors and do not necessarily reflect
the views of the U.S. National Science
Foundation (NSF).
 Preface to the Second Edition
As we wrote this preface, we realized that
exactly 10 years have passed since the time
we wrote the original preface for the first
edition. Three and half years ago,
Elsevierdwith a surprising mail by Candice
Jancodinvited us to look into the possibility
of a second edition. Although initially the
thought of getting back into all the effort that
editing a book of these characteristics de-
mands seemed an unhealthy adventure, all
of us actually jumped right in with the idea.
Unfortunately, as we present in the dedica-
tory, our good friend Mark Brinson passed
away in the period between both editions.
However, Chuck Hopkinson has been brave
enough to come on board playing a major
role in the outcome of the book.
All the comments given in the original
preface are as true today as they were then.
Unfortunately, many management issues
and complex situations that coastal wetlands
were suffering are still present today and,
graver, they have become worse. Therefore,
they will not be repeated here.
In this sense, to the original structure of
the book, we added new chapters pointing
out specifically new views of coastal wetlands
management and valuation. Nevertheless,
each chapter was significantly improved and
updated to reflect on the new advances
achieved by the wetland community in the
last 10 years.
xix
Many of the original lead authors from
the first edition gladly accepted the challenge
to get back to their old notes and redo them
for the new edition. A few could not commit
themselves to the task for various reasons. In
the cases where it was possible, we found
new adventurers who were willing to take
the “relay baton” and write a completely
new chapter on the subject.
In all cases, we must remember, authors
were asked to make a thorough review on a
specific subject rather than describe their
own personal work. However, we relied on
the outstanding capabilities and worldwide
recognition each of the lead authors brought
to the book, accompanied by no lesser
coauthors.
Again, we could not have presented a
book of this level of quality without the
unselfish input of over 50 reviewers. They
were essential in providing us with their
expertise for those chapters in which we may
not be as confident as them. A book is as
good as its authors, and also it is improved
by the quality of its reviewers. We cannot
thank enough each and every one of them
for their time and support.
Finally, again we cannot thank enough
the original invitation of Candice Jancod
who left us not only for another position
within Elsevier almost at the beginning of
the project but also in the very capable
xx PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

hands, the amenability, and the good humor capable and professional work in doing the
of Emily Joy Grace Thomson. She helped us copyediting of the book.
through all the stepsdeven those initial
Gerardo M.E. Perillo
failuresdwith quick responses and many
Eric Wolanski
times going out of her way to look for solu-
Donald R. Cahoon
tions, some almost impossible. We also want
Charles S. Hopkinson
to thank the invaluable contributions by
July 2018
Nilesh Shah and Rajesh Manohar for his
 C H A P T E R

1
Coastal Wetlands: A Synthesis
Charles S. Hopkinson1, Eric Wolanski2,3, Mark M. Brinsony,
Donald R. Cahoon4, Gerardo M.E. Perillo5,6
1
Department of Marine Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States;
2
TropWATER and College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville,
QLD, Australia; 3Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, QLD, Australia; 4United
States Geological Survey, Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD, United States;
5
Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía (CONICET e UNS), Bahía Blanca, Argentina;
6
Departamento de Geología, Universidad Nacional del Sur, Bahía Blanca, Argentina

1. INTRODUCTION

What are coastal wetland ecosystems, what are their limits of distribution, and where do
they exist in the overall coastal landscape? There are several general definitions for wetlands,
but the Ramsar definition is likely the most broadly encompassing (http://www.ramsar.
org/), whereas others are more focused definitions tailored to country-specific protection
and management policies (Mitsch and Gosselink, 2006). We offer a very general approach
rather than a precise definition: coastal wetlands are ecosystems that are found within an
elevation gradient that ranges between subtidal depths where light penetrates to support
photosynthesis of benthic plants to the landward edge where the sea passes its hydrologic
influence to groundwater and atmospheric processes. At the seaward margin, biofilms,
benthic algae, and seagrasses are representative biotic components. At the landward margin,
vegetation boundaries range from those located on groundwater seeps or fens in humid
climates to relatively barren salt flats in arid climates.
Tidal wetlands are a critical component of the coastal ocean landscape, which consists of a
continuum of landscape elements or ecosystems stretching from where rivers enter the
coastal zone, through the estuary, and onto the continental shelf (Fig. 1.1). In addition to tidal
wetlands, the coastal ecosystems include seagrass meadows, rivers, tidal creeks, estuarine
waters and unvegetated subtidal bottoms, tidal flats, coral reefs, and continental shelf

y
Deceased.

Coastal Wetlands Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-444-63893-9.00001-0 1 Donald R. Cahoon’s contribution to the work is the work
of a US Govt. employee and is in public domain.
2 1. COASTAL WETLANDS: A SYNTHESIS

FIGURE 1.1 The coastal ocean landscape highlighting a tidal wetland-dominated estuary and its linkages to the
adjacent watershed/river, the continental shelf, and the open ocean. Arrows illustrate key hydrologic and material
exchanges between the various landscape elements.

waters and bottoms. Quite often there are extremely sharp transitions between landscape
elements in the coastal zone, for example, between open water and marsh, marsh and
uplands, and seagrass and mangroves (Fig. 1.2A and B). Groundwater (freshwater draining
from uplands) is another source of upland-derived waters and materials. The exchange and
mixing of water and materials entering from rivers and the ocean defines the overall struc-
ture and distribution of landscape elements. The distribution and deposition of sediments
from land and the ocean establishes the overall bathymetry. Bathymetry in combination
with tidal range and the spatial gradient in salinity are the primary determinants
of ecosystem distribution within the coastal ocean landscape. Emergent and submerged
vegetation, once established, exert an ecogeomorphic feedback on the fate of river and ocean
sources of various materials. For example, vegetation slows the movement of water,
promotes the settling of sediment particles, and accelerates estuarine infilling and tidal
wetland expansion and accretion.
 1. INTRODUCTION 3

(A) (B)

(C) (D)

FIGURE 1.2 Examples of transitions and interactions between adjacent landscape components. Sharp transitions
are typical across the coastal landscape (A) between the tidal salt marsh and the upland forest (Virginia Coast
Reserve, USA) and (B) between seagrass and mangroves (Palau). Impacts in one landscape component can adversely
affect adjacent components; for example, excess N-enrichment has led to (C) the invasion of ferns in the Mai Pai
mangroves (Hong Kong) and (D) the accumulation of plant litter on the mangrove sediment surface. Compare the
accumulation of litter here with the absence of litter in healthy mangroves shown in Fig. 1.8 HeJ.

The movement of water links all the coastal ocean ecosystems and promotes the
exchange of materials between them, thereby increasing the productivity of individual
ecosystems and the entire system. The tidal wetlands serve as a valuable filter of
watershed-derived materials, such as nitrogen, which lessens the potential for estuarine
N-enrichment and eutrophication (Hopkinson and Giblin, 2008). Tidal wetlands also are
an important source of organic carbon for estuarine and nearshore ecosystems, enhancing
their secondary production including important coastal fisheries. The outwelling of organic
matter from coastal wetlands and its importance in subsidizing secondary production was
one aspect of coastal ecosystem linkages first studied (Odum and Heald, 1972, for
mangroves; Odum, 1980, for saltmarshes, but also see Odum, 1985). Other connections
that have been documented include biomass transfer by water currents of plant litter
between different components of the coastal ecosystem (De Boer, 2000), the acceleration
of organic matter and nutrient transfer by migrating fish and shrimp that use different
4 1. COASTAL WETLANDS: A SYNTHESIS

ecosystems in different stages of their life and during different times of the day or season
(Deegan, 1993; Mumby et al., 2004), and the protection that tidal wetlands offer to seagrass
and coral reefs by trapping riverine nutrients and sediments, thereby enhancing water
clarity (Wolanski and Elliott, 2015).
Inputs of freshwater from groundwater and upstream tidal freshwater wetlands
can mitigate the effects of watershed drought by slowly releasing freshwater that ward
off estuarine hypersalinity. This is the case, for instance, of freshwater tidal wetlands
adjoining mangroves in Micronesia. There the mangroves were spared the stress of hyper-
salinity during a severe El Nino drought because the supply of freshwater from ground-
water and the freshwater tidal wetlands continued 6 months into the drought even after
the watercourses had dried (Drexler and Ewel, 2001; Drexler and de Carlo, 2002).
On the negative side, this connectivity between coastal ocean ecosystems can lead to the
degradation of the whole ecosystem if one component has been severely impacted by
human activities. For example, the destruction of coastal wetlands can lead to a degradation
of adjacent seagrass and coral reefs in coastal waters (Duke and Wolanski, 2001). As another
example, a degraded estuary can in turn degrade adjoining coastal wetlands. For instance,
the discharge of treated sewage from more than one million people in the small bay drain-
ing the Mai Po mangrove reserve in Hong Kong has resulted in an excess of nutrients in the
bay waters and sediment. Ferns and weeds have invaded the substrate of these mangroves
(Fig. 1.2C). There is so much plant litter that the detritivores cannot consume it all
(Fig. 1.2D; Lee, 1990); the thick fern vegetation along the banks prevents the flushing of
this plant litter; the plant litter accumulates and decays, releasing hydrogen sulphide
(H2S), which in turn further reduces the crab population, which stresses the mangrove trees
by inhibiting the aeration of the soil and the flushing of excess salt from the soil. The
stressed trees generate less tannin (Tong et al., 2006), and borers use this weakness to attack
the trees, resulting in stunted tree growth (Wolanski et al., 2009; Wolanski and Elliott, 2015).
The coastal landscape continues to evolve, especially in response to human activities that
alter the magnitude and timing of water and material inputs from watersheds and
contribute to climate change, including sea level rise (SLR). Saltwater intrusion is shifting
the distribution of estuarine and tidal wetland ecosystems upstream, and SLR is causing
tidal wetlands to transgress upland regions.
This book focuses on commonly recognized ecosystems along this hydrologic gradient:
seagrass meadows, intertidal flats, tidal saltmarshes, mangrove forests, and tidal freshwater
wetlands. Coral reefs are not covered at all because they are so physically and biologically
distinct from the foregoing list, as well as in part because they have received research atten-
tion equivalent to the totality of all of the wetlands covered in this book (Duarte et al., 2008).
Little direct reference is made in this book to lagoons that are intermittently connected to the
sea; regardless, all five of the ecosystem types can and do occur in these and other more
specialized geomorphic settings. They would all comprise the array that we recognize as
coastal wetlands.
This book addresses the pressing need to quantify the ecological services provided by
coastal wetlands as a tool to guide better management and conservation worldwide because
coastal wetlands are disappearing worldwide at an alarming rate; in some countries the loss
is 70%e80% in the last 50 years (Frayer et al., 1983; Duarte, 2002; Hily et al., 2003; Bernier
et al., 2006; Duke et al., 2007; Wolanski, 2007).
 2. A SYNTHESIS OF COASTAL WETLANDS SCIENCE 5

2. A SYNTHESIS OF COASTAL WETLANDS SCIENCE

In this section we provide an overview of the structure and functioning of coastal wetlands
with emphasis on key forces and processes that interact with their coastal geographic
location. It is difficult to discuss these forces in isolation because, for example, climate change
influences sea level, sea level forces changes in vegetation structure, disturbance, and herbiv-
ory affect vegetation, and so forth. As such, comparison across major ecosystem types can
provide insight into the differences and the relative importance of both extrinsic forces and
intrinsic structure. We also discuss the role of modeling in elucidating the relative importance
of key processes and in predicting the effects of alteration by humans. This last effect presents
us with challenges of how to best protect and manage coastal wetlands for their attributes of
life support and, importantly, for their contribution to esthetic and cultural values. To this
end, we outline key research needs that recognize the usefulness of working beyond “single
factor cause and effect.”

2.1 Geography
Coastal wetlands include seagrass meadows, intertidal flats, tidal saltmarshes, mangrove
forests, and tidal freshwater wetlands. They are found in six continents and all but extreme
polar latitudes. Cliffs and rocky shores are probably the only coasts with minimal wetlands.
Worldwide, wetlands are heavily impacted by increasing population and coastal develop-
ment. The area occupied by wetlands has been greatly reduced over the past 100 years
and it will likely decrease substantially throughout the 21st century as population pressure
and the rate of SLR accelerate. There is considerable uncertainty in estimates of the global
area covered by all tidal wetlands. Much of the uncertainty is the result of insufficient detail
in satellite imagery (e.g., 1 km) and the integration of disparate and incompatible geospatial
and statistical data sources (FAO, 2007). Consistent utilization of the US Geological Survey
(USGS) compiled Landsat archive, which is now freely available, could likely decrease the
uncertainty in estimates that are currently in the literature.
Estimates of mangrove cover differ widely, from about 80,000 km2 to about 230,000 km2
worldwide (Diop, 2003; Duke et al., 2007). One of the most recent estimates, based on 30 m
resolution Landsat imagery, is 137,760 km2 (Giri et al., 2011). Using a slightly different approach,
however, Hamilton and Casey (2016) estimate global mangrove area of only 83,495 km2. The
largest extent of mangroves is in Indonesia, and about 75% are located in just 15 countries
(Giri et al., 2011). Although the greatest distribution is between 5 N and 5 S, mangroves extend
from 31 200 N to 38 590 S (Fig. 1.3). The distribution is controlled by the combination of continen-
tal (no frosts or only very rarely, typically less than 1 frost every 10 years; Lugo and Patterson
Zucca, 1977) and oceanic climates (warm waters; Duke et al., 2007). Recent compilations esti-
mate global saltmarsh area at about 54,950 km2 (Mcowen et al., 2017) The area of saltmarshes
in Canada and the United States alone is about 19,600 km2 according to Chmura et al. (2003)
and 20,000 km2 according to Mcowen et al. (2017). Large areas of saltmarshes
(w7000e13,000 km2) might also exist in northern Russia and Australia (Mcowen et al. (2017).
Saltmarshes are also found scattered in the mangrove belt, usually in the upper intertidal areas
landward of mangroves. Seagrasses cover was most recently estimated to be 177,000 km2
worldwide (Green and Short, 2003; Waycott et al., 2016), ranging from at least 165,000 km2
6 1. COASTAL WETLANDS: A SYNTHESIS

FIGURE 1.3 World distribution of mangroves (shaded areas along tropical and subtropical shorelines) and the
approximate distribution of coasts that follow one of three relative sea level trajectories for the past 10,000 years. Zone
A has seen a continual rise, zone B experienced a more rapid rise initially followed by a slow decrease in SL, while
zone C experienced a continued decrease in sea level primarily as a result of tectonic activity and rebounding from
glacial coverage. Redrawn from Ellison, J., 2009. Geomorphology and sedimentology of mangroves. In: Perillo, G.M.E.,
Wolanski, E., Cahoon, D.R., Brinson, M.M. (Eds.), Coastal Wetlands: An Integrated Ecosystem Approach. Elsevier, Amster-
dam. 565e591 and adapted from; Woodroffe, C.D., 1992. Mangrove sediments and geomorphology. In: Robertson, A.I., Alongi,
D.M. (Eds.), Tropical Mangrove Ecosystems. American Geophysical Union, Washington D.C. 7e42; Pirazzoli, P.A., 1996. Sea
Level Changes: The Last 20 000 Years. J Wiley & Sons, Chichester; Lambeck, K., Woodroffe, C.D., Antonioli, F., Anzidei, M.,
Gehrels, W.R., Laborel, J., Wright, A.J., 2010. Paleoenvironmental records, geophysical modelling, and reconstruction of sea
level trends and variability on centennial and longer timescales. In: Church, J.A., Woodworth, P.L. Aarup, T., Wilson, W.S.
(Eds.), Understanding Sea Level Rise and Variability, Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester, 61e121. See Chapter 20.

up to 600,000 km2 (Nellemann et al., 2009a; Hopkinson et al., 2012). The worldwide area of tidal
flats and freshwater coastal wetlands seems unknown, though back-of-the-envelope estimates
suggest that they may reach 300,000 km2.

2.2 Geomorphic Evolution Under Past Climate Change: How Present Coastal
Wetlands Came to Be
Wetlands continuously evolve in time and space. The story of present-day coastal wet-
lands starts 120,000 years ago, which is an interglacial period that lasted about 15,000 years
18 1. COASTAL WETLANDS: A SYNTHESIS

vegetation compared with currents in the tidal creek; also, the currents around the vegetation
generate eddies and stagnation zones where the suspended sediment imported with the
rising tide settles; the tidal currents are too small at falling tide to resuspend all that sediment;
thus the vegetated tidal flat silts (Furukawa et al., 1997; Wolanski and Elliott, 2015; D’Alpaos
et al., Chapter 5). From the wetland edge to the interior, waves are attenuated, thus reducing
their ability to erode and transport sediments.
Wave attenuation and wave action across a subtidal to supratidal transect vary depending
on tidal stage (Fig. 1.10A) (Koch et al., 2009). Except for ocean waves acting along wetlands
open to the sea, most waves are generated within the estuary by (1) direct wave generation,
(2) windecurrent interaction, or (3) boat wakes (Perillo and Sequeira, 1989). The degree of
wave activity and its extension within the wetland is fully dependent on the wave character-
istics and tidal stage. At low tide, waves are only generated within the channels by processes
(1) and (2), (process (3) is only important in highly navigated channels) and require intense
winds. These waves only act against the channel flanks generating erosion because they
tend to be very steep waves (Perillo, Chapter 6). As the tide advances, the fetch for wave
generation increases, as does wave number and frequency, and their area of influence
increases. Except for hypertidal estuaries, when tides cover the wetland, waves can be active
in all dimensions. At that point, different plant types and the shoaling effect of wetland
topography become important in defining how much sediment trapping or resuspension/
erosion can occur on the wetland.
Tidal creek drainage patterns in fully developed marsh systems are very similar to their
terrestrial counterparts (Novakowski et al., 2004). Both have mostly dendritic creek patterns
(that is, for the mature marsh), and in the downstream (ebb) direction channel reaches
converge toward a main channel. Youthful marshes on the other hand have a reticulated
pattern. While only a subset of marsh systems has been examined from this perspective,
the highest stream order observed is five, in the Strahler system (Horton, 1945). Both terres-
trial and marsh drainage networks follow Horton’s law of stream order, which says that
stream reach length increases exponentially with order (Rinaldo et al., 1999). In coastal
wetlands, the relation between drainage basin area (Aw) and total creek length is similar to
the same relation in terrestrial basins. For the North Inlet (South Carolina, USA) marsh
system, there is a power relation of L ¼ 0.08A0.73 w (Fig. 1.11). This relation is in agreement
to the L-Aw relation proposed by Hack (1957) for terrestrial drainage networks.
To quantify the evolution of an estuary, models have been developed to compute the sedi-
ment dynamics over vegetated and unvegetated mud flats. The aim of these models is
to simulate the evolving interaction between currents and sediment transport because this
interaction determines the evolution of the bathymetry (i.e., D’Alpaos et al., Chapter 5).
Kirwan and Murray (2007) successfully captured the interactive sediment transport
processes with the dynamics of vegetation biomass and productivity that lead to tidal
wetland and drainage network development in an estuary using a 3D simulation model.
The model explores the interactive effects of tidal amplitude, sediment availability, and the
rate of SLR. At a constant 1 mm year1 rate of SLR and a suspended sediment concentration
of 20 mg L1 (held constant throughout the domain), open water areas shallow, a marsh
platform and drainage network develop, and accretion rates on the marsh platform come
to equilibrium with the rate of SLR (Fig. 1.12 left to right). Decreases in suspended solids
lead to expansion of the tidal creek network, as does an increase in the rate of SLR at constant
Another random document with
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woman could have worn the helmet and shot the arrow, could have
led troops to attack, ruled with indomitable justice barbarian hordes
and lain under a shield noseless in a church, or made a green grass
mound on some primeval hillside, that woman was Millicent Bruton.
Debarred by her sex and some truancy, too, of the logical faculty
(she found it impossible to write a letter to the Times), she had the
thought of Empire always at hand, and had acquired from her
association with that armoured goddess her ramrod bearing, her
robustness of demeanour, so that one could not figure her even in
death parted from the earth or roaming territories over which, in
some spiritual shape, the Union Jack had ceased to fly. To be not
English even among the dead—no, no! Impossible!
But was it Lady Bruton (whom she used to know)? Was it Peter
Walsh grown grey? Lady Rosseter asked herself (who had been
Sally Seton). It was old Miss Parry certainly—the old aunt who used
to be so cross when she stayed at Bourton. Never should she forget
running along the passage naked, and being sent for by Miss Parry!
And Clarissa! oh Clarissa! Sally caught her by the arm.
Clarissa stopped beside them.
“But I can’t stay,” she said. “I shall come later. Wait,” she said,
looking at Peter and Sally. They must wait, she meant, until all these
people had gone.
“I shall come back,” she said, looking at her old friends, Sally and
Peter, who were shaking hands, and Sally, remembering the past no
doubt, was laughing.
But her voice was wrung of its old ravishing richness; her eyes not
aglow as they used to be, when she smoked cigars, when she ran
down the passage to fetch her sponge bag, without a stitch of
clothing on her, and Ellen Atkins asked, What if the gentlemen had
met her? But everybody forgave her. She stole a chicken from the
larder because she was hungry in the night; she smoked cigars in
her bedroom; she left a priceless book in the punt. But everybody
adored her (except perhaps Papa). It was her warmth; her vitality—
she would paint, she would write. Old women in the village never to
this day forgot to ask after “your friend in the red cloak who seemed
so bright.” She accused Hugh Whitbread, of all people (and there he
was, her old friend Hugh, talking to the Portuguese Ambassador), of
kissing her in the smoking-room to punish her for saying that women
should have votes. Vulgar men did, she said. And Clarissa
remembered having to persuade her not to denounce him at family
prayers—which she was capable of doing with her daring, her
recklessness, her melodramatic love of being the centre of
everything and creating scenes, and it was bound, Clarissa used to
think, to end in some awful tragedy; her death; her martyrdom;
instead of which she had married, quite unexpectedly, a bald man
with a large buttonhole who owned, it was said, cotton mills at
Manchester. And she had five boys!
She and Peter had settled down together. They were talking: it
seemed so familiar—that they should be talking. They would discuss
the past. With the two of them (more even than with Richard) she
shared her past; the garden; the trees; old Joseph Breitkopf singing
Brahms without any voice; the drawing-room wall-paper; the smell of
the mats. A part of this Sally must always be; Peter must always be.
But she must leave them. There were the Bradshaws, whom she
disliked. She must go up to Lady Bradshaw (in grey and silver,
balancing like a sea-lion at the edge of its tank, barking for
invitations, Duchesses, the typical successful man’s wife), she must
go up to Lady Bradshaw and say....
But Lady Bradshaw anticipated her.
“We are shockingly late, dear Mrs. Dalloway, we hardly dared to
come in,” she said.
And Sir William, who looked very distinguished, with his grey hair
and blue eyes, said yes; they had not been able to resist the
temptation. He was talking to Richard about that Bill probably, which
they wanted to get through the Commons. Why did the sight of him,
talking to Richard, curl her up? He looked what he was, a great
doctor. A man absolutely at the head of his profession, very
powerful, rather worn. For think what cases came before him—
people in the uttermost depths of misery; people on the verge of
insanity; husbands and wives. He had to decide questions of
appalling difficulty. Yet—what she felt was, one wouldn’t like Sir
William to see one unhappy. No; not that man.
“How is your son at Eton?” she asked Lady Bradshaw.
He had just missed his eleven, said Lady Bradshaw, because of the
mumps. His father minded even more than he did, she thought
“being,” she said, “nothing but a great boy himself.”
Clarissa looked at Sir William, talking to Richard. He did not look like
a boy—not in the least like a boy. She had once gone with some one
to ask his advice. He had been perfectly right; extremely sensible.
But Heavens—what a relief to get out to the street again! There was
some poor wretch sobbing, she remembered, in the waiting-room.
But she did not know what it was—about Sir William; what exactly
she disliked. Only Richard agreed with her, “didn’t like his taste,
didn’t like his smell.” But he was extraordinarily able. They were
talking about this Bill. Some case, Sir William was mentioning,
lowering his voice. It had its bearing upon what he was saying about
the deferred effects of shell shock. There must be some provision in
the Bill.
Sinking her voice, drawing Mrs. Dalloway into the shelter of a
common femininity, a common pride in the illustrious qualities of
husbands and their sad tendency to overwork, Lady Bradshaw (poor
goose—one didn’t dislike her) murmured how, “just as we were
starting, my husband was called up on the telephone, a very sad
case. A young man (that is what Sir William is telling Mr. Dalloway)
had killed himself. He had been in the army.” Oh! thought Clarissa, in
the middle of my party, here’s death, she thought.
She went on, into the little room where the Prime Minister had gone
with Lady Bruton. Perhaps there was somebody there. But there was
nobody. The chairs still kept the impress of the Prime Minister and
Lady Bruton, she turned deferentially, he sitting four-square,
authoritatively. They had been talking about India. There was
nobody. The party’s splendour fell to the floor, so strange it was to
come in alone in her finery.
What business had the Bradshaws to talk of death at her party? A
young man had killed himself. And they talked of it at her party—the
Bradshaws talked of death. He had killed himself—but how? Always
her body went through it first, when she was told, suddenly, of an
accident; her dress flamed, her body burnt. He had thrown himself
from a window. Up had flashed the ground; through him, blundering,
bruising, went the rusty spikes. There he lay with a thud, thud, thud
in his brain, and then a suffocation of blackness. So she saw it. But
why had he done it? And the Bradshaws talked of it at her party!
She had once thrown a shilling into the Serpentine, never anything
more. But he had flung it away. They went on living (she would have
to go back; the rooms were still crowded; people kept on coming).
They (all day she had been thinking of Bourton, of Peter, of Sally),
they would grow old. A thing there was that mattered; a thing,
wreathed about with chatter, defaced, obscured in her own life, let
drop every day in corruption, lies, chatter. This he had preserved.
Death was defiance. Death was an attempt to communicate; people
feeling the impossibility of reaching the centre which, mystically,
evaded them; closeness drew apart; rapture faded, one was alone.
There was an embrace in death.
But this young man who had killed himself—had he plunged holding
his treasure? “If it were now to die, ’twere now to be most happy,”
she had said to herself once, coming down in white.
Or there were the poets and thinkers. Suppose he had had that
passion, and had gone to Sir William Bradshaw, a great doctor yet to
her obscurely evil, without sex or lust, extremely polite to women, but
capable of some indescribable outrage—forcing your soul, that was
it—if this young man had gone to him, and Sir William had
impressed him, like that, with his power, might he not then have said
(indeed she felt it now), Life is made intolerable; they make life
intolerable, men like that?
Then (she had felt it only this morning) there was the terror; the
overwhelming incapacity, one’s parents giving it into one’s hands,
this life, to be lived to the end, to be walked with serenely; there was
in the depths of her heart an awful fear. Even now, quite often if
Richard had not been there reading the Times, so that she could
crouch like a bird and gradually revive, send roaring up that
immeasurable delight, rubbing stick to stick, one thing with another,
she must have perished. But that young man had killed himself.
Somehow it was her disaster—her disgrace. It was her punishment
to see sink and disappear here a man, there a woman, in this
profound darkness, and she forced to stand here in her evening
dress. She had schemed; she had pilfered. She was never wholly
admirable. She had wanted success. Lady Bexborough and the rest
of it. And once she had walked on the terrace at Bourton.
It was due to Richard; she had never been so happy. Nothing could
be slow enough; nothing last too long. No pleasure could equal, she
thought, straightening the chairs, pushing in one book on the shelf,
this having done with the triumphs of youth, lost herself in the
process of living, to find it, with a shock of delight, as the sun rose,
as the day sank. Many a time had she gone, at Bourton when they
were all talking, to look at the sky; or seen it between people’s
shoulders at dinner; seen it in London when she could not sleep.
She walked to the window.
It held, foolish as the idea was, something of her own in it, this
country sky, this sky above Westminster. She parted the curtains;
she looked. Oh, but how surprising!—in the room opposite the old
lady stared straight at her! She was going to bed. And the sky. It will
be a solemn sky, she had thought, it will be a dusky sky, turning
away its cheek in beauty. But there it was—ashen pale, raced over
quickly by tapering vast clouds. It was new to her. The wind must
have risen. She was going to bed, in the room opposite. It was
fascinating to watch her, moving about, that old lady, crossing the
room, coming to the window. Could she see her? It was fascinating,
with people still laughing and shouting in the drawing-room, to watch
that old woman, quite quietly, going to bed. She pulled the blind now.
The clock began striking. The young man had killed himself; but she
did not pity him; with the clock striking the hour, one, two, three, she
did not pity him, with all this going on. There! the old lady had put out
her light! the whole house was dark now with this going on, she
repeated, and the words came to her, Fear no more the heat of the
sun. She must go back to them. But what an extraordinary night! She
felt somehow very like him—the young man who had killed himself.
She felt glad that he had done it; thrown it away. The clock was
striking. The leaden circles dissolved in the air. He made her feel the
beauty; made her feel the fun. But she must go back. She must
assemble. She must find Sally and Peter. And she came in from the
little room.
“But where is Clarissa?” said Peter. He was sitting on the sofa with
Sally. (After all these years he really could not call her “Lady
Rosseter.”) “Where’s the woman gone to?” he asked. “Where’s
Clarissa?”
Sally supposed, and so did Peter for the matter of that, that there
were people of importance, politicians, whom neither of them knew
unless by sight in the picture papers, whom Clarissa had to be nice
to, had to talk to. She was with them. Yet there was Richard
Dalloway not in the Cabinet. He hadn’t been a success, Sally
supposed? For herself, she scarcely ever read the papers. She
sometimes saw his name mentioned. But then—well, she lived a
very solitary life, in the wilds, Clarissa would say, among great
merchants, great manufacturers, men, after all, who did things. She
had done things too!
“I have five sons!” she told him.
Lord, Lord, what a change had come over her! the softness of
motherhood; its egotism too. Last time they met, Peter remembered,
had been among the cauliflowers in the moonlight, the leaves “like
rough bronze” she had said, with her literary turn; and she had
picked a rose. She had marched him up and down that awful night,
after the scene by the fountain; he was to catch the midnight train.
Heavens, he had wept!
That was his old trick, opening a pocket-knife, thought Sally, always
opening and shutting a knife when he got excited. They had been
very, very intimate, she and Peter Walsh, when he was in love with
Clarissa, and there was that dreadful, ridiculous scene over Richard
Dalloway at lunch. She had called Richard “Wickham.” Why not call
Richard “Wickham”? Clarissa had flared up! and indeed they had
never seen each other since, she and Clarissa, not more than half a
dozen times perhaps in the last ten years. And Peter Walsh had
gone off to India, and she had heard vaguely that he had made an
unhappy marriage, and she didn’t know whether he had any
children, and she couldn’t ask him, for he had changed. He was
rather shrivelled-looking, but kinder, she felt, and she had a real
affection for him, for he was connected with her youth, and she still
had a little Emily Brontë he had given her, and he was to write,
surely? In those days he was to write.
“Have you written?” she asked him, spreading her hand, her firm and
shapely hand, on her knee in a way he recalled.
“Not a word!” said Peter Walsh, and she laughed.
She was still attractive, still a personage, Sally Seton. But who was
this Rosseter? He wore two camellias on his wedding day—that was
all Peter knew of him. “They have myriads of servants, miles of
conservatories,” Clarissa wrote; something like that. Sally owned it
with a shout of laughter.
“Yes, I have ten thousand a year”—whether before the tax was paid
or after, she couldn’t remember, for her husband, “whom you must
meet,” she said, “whom you would like,” she said, did all that for her.
And Sally used to be in rags and tatters. She had pawned her
grandmother’s ring which Marie Antoinette had given her great-
grandfather to come to Bourton.
Oh yes, Sally remembered; she had it still, a ruby ring which Marie
Antoinette had given her great-grandfather. She never had a penny
to her name in those days, and going to Bourton always meant some
frightful pinch. But going to Bourton had meant so much to her—had
kept her sane, she believed, so unhappy had she been at home. But
that was all a thing of the past—all over now, she said. And Mr. Parry
was dead; and Miss Parry was still alive. Never had he had such a
shock in his life! said Peter. He had been quite certain she was dead.
And the marriage had been, Sally supposed, a success? And that
very handsome, very self-possessed young woman was Elizabeth,
over there, by the curtains, in red.
(She was like a poplar, she was like a river, she was like a hyacinth,
Willie Titcomb was thinking. Oh how much nicer to be in the country
and do what she liked! She could hear her poor dog howling,
Elizabeth was certain.) She was not a bit like Clarissa, Peter Walsh
said.
“Oh, Clarissa!” said Sally.
What Sally felt was simply this. She had owed Clarissa an enormous
amount. They had been friends, not acquaintances, friends, and she
still saw Clarissa all in white going about the house with her hands
full of flowers—to this day tobacco plants made her think of Bourton.
But—did Peter understand?—she lacked something. Lacked what
was it? She had charm; she had extraordinary charm. But to be frank
(and she felt that Peter was an old friend, a real friend—did absence
matter? did distance matter? She had often wanted to write to him,
but torn it up, yet felt he understood, for people understand without
things being said, as one realises growing old, and old she was, had
been that afternoon to see her sons at Eton, where they had the
mumps), to be quite frank then, how could Clarissa have done it?—
married Richard Dalloway? a sportsman, a man who cared only for
dogs. Literally, when he came into the room he smelt of the stables.
And then all this? She waved her hand.
Hugh Whitbread it was, strolling past in his white waistcoat, dim, fat,
blind, past everything he looked, except self-esteem and comfort.
“He’s not going to recognise us,” said Sally, and really she hadn’t the
courage—so that was Hugh! the admirable Hugh!
“And what does he do?” she asked Peter.
He blacked the King’s boots or counted bottles at Windsor, Peter told
her. Peter kept his sharp tongue still! But Sally must be frank, Peter
said. That kiss now, Hugh’s.
On the lips, she assured him, in the smoking-room one evening. She
went straight to Clarissa in a rage. Hugh didn’t do such things!
Clarissa said, the admirable Hugh! Hugh’s socks were without
exception the most beautiful she had ever seen—and now his
evening dress. Perfect! And had he children?
“Everybody in the room has six sons at Eton,” Peter told her, except
himself. He, thank God, had none. No sons, no daughters, no wife.
Well, he didn’t seem to mind, said Sally. He looked younger, she
thought, than any of them.
But it had been a silly thing to do, in many ways, Peter said, to marry
like that; “a perfect goose she was,” he said, but, he said, “we had a
splendid time of it,” but how could that be? Sally wondered; what did
he mean? and how odd it was to know him and yet not know a single
thing that had happened to him. And did he say it out of pride? Very
likely, for after all it must be galling for him (though he was an oddity,
a sort of sprite, not at all an ordinary man), it must be lonely at his
age to have no home, nowhere to go to. But he must stay with them
for weeks and weeks. Of course he would; he would love to stay with
them, and that was how it came out. All these years the Dalloways
had never been once. Time after time they had asked them. Clarissa
(for it was Clarissa of course) would not come. For, said Sally,
Clarissa was at heart a snob—one had to admit it, a snob. And it
was that that was between them, she was convinced. Clarissa
thought she had married beneath her, her husband being—she was
proud of it—a miner’s son. Every penny they had he had earned. As
a little boy (her voice trembled) he had carried great sacks.
(And so she would go on, Peter felt, hour after hour; the miner’s son;
people thought she had married beneath her; her five sons; and
what was the other thing—plants, hydrangeas, syringas, very, very
rare hibiscus lilies that never grow north of the Suez Canal, but she,
with one gardener in a suburb near Manchester, had beds of them,
positively beds! Now all that Clarissa had escaped, unmaternal as
she was.)
A snob was she? Yes, in many ways. Where was she, all this time? It
was getting late.
“Yet,” said Sally, “when I heard Clarissa was giving a party, I felt I
couldn’t not come—must see her again (and I’m staying in Victoria
Street, practically next door). So I just came without an invitation.
But,” she whispered, “tell me, do. Who is this?”
It was Mrs. Hilbery, looking for the door. For how late it was getting!
And, she murmured, as the night grew later, as people went, one
found old friends; quiet nooks and corners; and the loveliest views.
Did they know, she asked, that they were surrounded by an
enchanted garden? Lights and trees and wonderful gleaming lakes
and the sky. Just a few fairy lamps, Clarissa Dalloway had said, in
the back garden! But she was a magician! It was a park.... And she
didn’t know their names, but friends she knew they were, friends
without names, songs without words, always the best. But there
were so many doors, such unexpected places, she could not find her
way.
“Old Mrs. Hilbery,” said Peter; but who was that? that lady standing
by the curtain all the evening, without speaking? He knew her face;
connected her with Bourton. Surely she used to cut up underclothes
at the large table in the window? Davidson, was that her name?
“Oh, that is Ellie Henderson,” said Sally. Clarissa was really very
hard on her. She was a cousin, very poor. Clarissa was hard on
people.
She was rather, said Peter. Yet, said Sally, in her emotional way, with
a rush of that enthusiasm which Peter used to love her for, yet
dreaded a little now, so effusive she might become—how generous
to her friends Clarissa was! and what a rare quality one found it, and
how sometimes at night or on Christmas Day, when she counted up
her blessings, she put that friendship first. They were young; that
was it. Clarissa was pure-hearted; that was it. Peter would think her
sentimental. So she was. For she had come to feel that it was the
only thing worth saying—what one felt. Cleverness was silly. One
must say simply what one felt.
“But I do not know,” said Peter Walsh, “what I feel.”
Poor Peter, thought Sally. Why did not Clarissa come and talk to
them? That was what he was longing for. She knew it. All the time he
was thinking only of Clarissa, and was fidgeting with his knife.
He had not found life simple, Peter said. His relations with Clarissa
had not been simple. It had spoilt his life, he said. (They had been so
intimate—he and Sally Seton, it was absurd not to say it.) One could
not be in love twice, he said. And what could she say? Still, it is
better to have loved (but he would think her sentimental—he used to
be so sharp). He must come and stay with them in Manchester. That
is all very true, he said. All very true. He would love to come and stay
with them, directly he had done what he had to do in London.
And Clarissa had cared for him more than she had ever cared for
Richard. Sally was positive of that.
“No, no, no!” said Peter (Sally should not have said that—she went
too far). That good fellow—there he was at the end of the room,
holding forth, the same as ever, dear old Richard. Who was he
talking to? Sally asked, that very distinguished-looking man? Living
in the wilds as she did, she had an insatiable curiosity to know who
people were. But Peter did not know. He did not like his looks, he
said, probably a Cabinet Minister. Of them all, Richard seemed to
him the best, he said—the most disinterested.
“But what has he done?” Sally asked. Public work, she supposed.
And were they happy together? Sally asked (she herself was
extremely happy); for, she admitted, she knew nothing about them,
only jumped to conclusions, as one does, for what can one know
even of the people one lives with every day? she asked. Are we not
all prisoners? She had read a wonderful play about a man who
scratched on the wall of his cell, and she had felt that was true of life
—one scratched on the wall. Despairing of human relationships
(people were so difficult), she often went into her garden and got
from her flowers a peace which men and women never gave her. But
no; he did not like cabbages; he preferred human beings, Peter said.
Indeed, the young are beautiful, Sally said, watching Elizabeth cross
the room. How unlike Clarissa at her age! Could he make anything of
her? She would not open her lips. Not much, not yet, Peter admitted.
She was like a lily, Sally said, a lily by the side of a pool. But Peter
did not agree that we know nothing. We know everything, he said; at
least he did.
But these two, Sally whispered, these two coming now (and really
she must go, if Clarissa did not come soon), this distinguished-
looking man and his rather common-looking wife who had been
talking to Richard—what could one know about people like that?
“That they’re damnable humbugs,” said Peter, looking at them
casually. He made Sally laugh.
But Sir William Bradshaw stopped at the door to look at a picture. He
looked in the corner for the engraver’s name. His wife looked too. Sir
William Bradshaw was so interested in art.
When one was young, said Peter, one was too much excited to know
people. Now that one was old, fifty-two to be precise (Sally was fifty-
five, in body, she said, but her heart was like a girl’s of twenty); now
that one was mature then, said Peter, one could watch, one could
understand, and one did not lose the power of feeling, he said. No,
that is true, said Sally. She felt more deeply, more passionately,
every year. It increased, he said, alas, perhaps, but one should be
glad of it—it went on increasing in his experience. There was some
one in India. He would like to tell Sally about her. He would like Sally
to know her. She was married, he said. She had two small children.
They must all come to Manchester, said Sally—he must promise
before they left.
There’s Elizabeth, he said, she feels not half what we feel, not yet.
But, said Sally, watching Elizabeth go to her father, one can see they
are devoted to each other. She could feel it by the way Elizabeth
went to her father.
For her father had been looking at her, as he stood talking to the
Bradshaws, and he had thought to himself, Who is that lovely girl?
And suddenly he realised that it was his Elizabeth, and he had not
recognised her, she looked so lovely in her pink frock! Elizabeth had
felt him looking at her as she talked to Willie Titcomb. So she went to
him and they stood together, now that the party was almost over,
looking at the people going, and the rooms getting emptier and
emptier, with things scattered on the floor. Even Ellie Henderson was
going, nearly last of all, though no one had spoken to her, but she
had wanted to see everything, to tell Edith. And Richard and
Elizabeth were rather glad it was over, but Richard was proud of his
daughter. And he had not meant to tell her, but he could not help
telling her. He had looked at her, he said, and he had wondered,
Who is that lovely girl? and it was his daughter! That did make her
happy. But her poor dog was howling.
“Richard has improved. You are right,” said Sally. “I shall go and talk
to him. I shall say good-night. What does the brain matter,” said Lady
Rosseter, getting up, “compared with the heart?”
“I will come,” said Peter, but he sat on for a moment. What is this
terror? what is this ecstasy? he thought to himself. What is it that fills
me with extraordinary excitement?
It is Clarissa, he said.
For there she was.

THE END
 Transcriber’s note
Minor punctuation errors have been changed
without notice. Inconsistencies in hyphenation have
been standardized. The following printer errors have
been changed.
CHANGED FROM TO
“word poetry of “word of poetry
Page 159:
herself” herself”
“lent a little “leant a little
Page 248:
forward” forward”
All other inconsistencies are as in the original.
 *** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MRS.
DALLOWAY ***

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