Salt marshes are important habitats for fish and birds and protect coasts under sea level rise against stronger wave attacks. However, salt marshes themselves are much more vulnerable to these global change threats than previously thought. Stronger waves due to sea level rise can not only reduce the marsh extent by erosion of the marsh edge, but these waves hamper plant (re-)establishment on neighboring tidal flats, thus making it much more difficult for the marsh to recover and grow again. An international research team, led by researches from the Netherland Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), reports these results in a paper published in Limnology and Oceanography.