Interactions between land reclamation or loss, and water level changes along the Schelde estuary.

Sea level rise threatens human occupation along estuaries. Sedimentation and embankment of intertidal areas (tidal flats and marshes), which form natural ecosystems along estuaries, reduces the volume of estuaries, which may contribute to additional water level changes. This is studied in the Schelde estuary, through reconstruction of the impact of historical land reclamation and loss in the seaward part of the estuary (Westerschelde), on water level changes in the more inland part of the estuary (Zeeschelde). Historical water level changes are reconstructed by (paleo-)ecological study of protist communities (diatoms, testate amoebae) in tidal marshes.

Keywords:PROTISTS, GEOMORPHOLOGY, ECOLOGY

Disciplines:Geology, Ecology, Environmental science and management, Other environmental sciences