Estimating the Provision of Ecosystem Services by Gulf of Mexico Coastal Wetlands

Gulf of Mexico (GOM) coastal wetlands contribute to human well-being by providing many ecosystem services. The GOM region continues to experience substantial losses of coastal wetlands, but the magnitude of reduction in ecosystem services resulting from the loss of GOM coastal wetlands is unknown. To gain an appreciation of the impact of GOM coastal wetland loss on ecosystem services, recent literature was reviewed to derive quantitative estimates of ecosystem services provided by GOM coastal wetlands. GOM coastal wetlands provide essential habitat for the production of juvenile shrimp, which supports the GOM’s most valuable commercial fishery; protect coastal communities from storm surge; improve water quality by removing nitrogen from surface waters; and are valuable sinks for greenhouse gases due to high rates of carbon sequestration combined with low rates of methane emission. Using 1998 to 2004 as a baseline, the potential loss of ecosystem services associated with loss of coastal wetlands is presented. Additional research is needed to quantify wetland services at multiple geospatial and socioeconomic scales, to determine the effect of wetland loss on ecosystem services, and to demonstrate the impact of future management decisions on the capacity of GOM coastal wetlands to provide services that affect human well-being.