Prof. Dr. Mark Schürch
Forschungsbereich: Geomorphologie und Küstendynamik
Position: Professor
Gebäude/Raum: Marum 1350
Telefon: 0421-218-67190
Email: schuerchprotect me ?!uni-bremenprotect me ?!.de
Externe Profile: OrcID | Google Scholar
Mark Schürch hat zum Wintersemester 2025/26 die Professur für Physische Geographie mit Schwerpunkt Geomorphologie am Institut für Geographie und dem MARUM angetreten.
Mark Schürch beschäftigt sich mit geomorphologischen Prozessen in Küstenzonen, Ästuaren und Deltas, sowie Küstendynamiken aller Art. Ein Großteil seiner Forschung beschäftigt sich mit der Anpassungsfähigkeit von Küstenregionen und Küstenökosystemen, wie Salzwiesen, Mangroven, Watten und Seegraswiesen, an den Klimawandel und den damit verbunden globalen Meeresspiegelanstieg. In seinen aktuellen Projekten beschäft er sich besonders damit wie der Erhalt und die Renaturierung solcher Küstenökosysteme zur Anpassung von Küstenzonen in Europe, Afrika und weltweit beitragen können. Dabei spielen interdisziplinäre Aspekte, insbesondere sozialer und gesellschaftlicher Natur, ebenfalls eine wichtige Rolle.
mehr
| Seit 2025 | Universität Bremen | Professor für Physische Geographie (Geomorphologie) |
| 2021-2025 | Universität Lincoln, UK | Außerordentlicher Professor für Physische Geographie |
| 2018-2021 | Universität Lincoln, UK | Senior Lecturer für Physische Geographie |
| 2016-2021 | Universität Cambridge, UK | Postdoc-Gastwissenschaftler (DFG-finanziert) |
| 2012-2016 | Christian-Albrechts Universität Kiel | Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter (Postdoc) |
| 2008-2012 | Christian-Albrechts Universität Kiel | Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter (Doktorand) |
Laufende Projekte
Co-designing effective Nature-based Solutions in coastal West Africa (NERC, Nature Based Solutions Programme, NE/Z503460/1), £1,852,451 (2024-2027).
REST-COAST: Large Scale RESToration Of COASTal Ecosystems: Rivers To Sea Connectivity (European Union, H2020, 101037097), € 17 823 755,75 (2021-2026).
Abgeschlossene Projekte
Global-scale coastal wetland modelling: Integrating tidal flat and vegetated wetland dynamics (Royal Society, IEC\NSFC\233338), £23,800 (2024-2025).
Capacity of unmanaged realignments to (re-)create coastal habitats and ecosystem services (Natural England), £ 10,000 (2021-2022).
Habitat and Geomorphological development of Saltfleetby-Theddlethorpe Dunes, Lincolnshire (Natural England); Research Grant, £5,000 (2021).
Habitat and Geomorphological development of Gibraltar Point, Lincolnshire (Natural England); Research Grant, £5,000 (2020-2021).
A long-term perspective on barrier-marsh interactions (British Society for Geomorphology); Research Grant, £1,000 (2019-2020).
Peer-Reviewed
Xu, T., Zhong, Z, Hu, Z., Seo J.ZY, Chu, N., Xue, L., Liu, Z., Cozzoli, F., Umbo, E., Schuerch, M., 2026. Combined effects of sea level rise and increasing nearshore waves on tidal flat morphodynamics: Implications for future delta management. Ocean & Coastal Management 271, 107954.
Schuerch, M., Kiesel, J., Boutron, O., Guelmami, A., Wolff, C., Cramer, W., Caiola, N., Ibáñez, C., Vafeidis, A.T., 2025. Large-scale loss of Mediterranean coastal marshes under rising sea levels by 2100. Communications Earth & Environment 6, 128.
Beck, K., Schuerch, M., Magnone, D., Aquino-Lopez, M.A., Gunning, K., Westlake, J., Beckerton, S., 2024. Long-term impacts of embankments on coastal marsh vegetation and carbon sequestration. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 309, 108980.
Saintilan, N., Horton, B., Törnqvist, T.E., Ashe, E.L., Khan, N.S., Schuerch, M., Perry, C., Kopp, R.E., Garner, G.G., Murray, N., Rogers, K., Albert, S., Kelleway, J., Shaw, T.A., Woodroffe, C.D., Lovelock, C.E., Goddard, M.M., Hutley, L.B., Kovalenko, K., Feher, L., Guntenspergen, G., 2023. Widespread retreat of coastal habitat is likely at warming levels above 1.5 °C. Nature 621, 112-119.
Sánchez-Arcilla, A., Cáceres, I., Le Roux, X., Hinkel, J., Schuerch, M., Nicholls, R.J., Otero, d.M., Staneva, J., de Vries, M., Pernice, U., Briere, C., Caiola, N., Gracia, V., Ibáñez, C., Torresan, S., 2022. Barriers and enablers for upscaling coastal restoration, Nature-Based Solutions 2, 100032.
Schuerch, M., Mossmann, H., Moore, H., Kiesel, J., 2022. Invited perspectives: Managed realignment as a solution to mitigate coastal flood risks – optimizing success through knowledge co-production. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences 22, 2963–2979.
Coleman, D.J., Schuerch, M., Temmerman, S., Guntenspergen, G., Smith, C.G., Kirwan, M.L., 2022. Reconciling models and measurements of marsh vulnerability to sea level rise. Limnology and Oceanography Letters 7 (2), 140-149.
Kiesel, J., MacPherson, L.R., Schuerch, M., Vafeidis, A.T., 2022. Can Managed Realignment Buffer Extreme Surges? The Relationship Between Marsh Width, Vegetation Cover and Surge Attenuation, Estuaries and Coasts, 45 (2), 345-362.
Wang, F., Sanders, C.J., Santo, I.R., Tang, J. Schuerch, M., Kirwan, M.L., Kopp, R.E., […], 2021. Global blue carbon accumulation in tidal wetlands increases with climate change, National Science Review 8, nwaa296.
Kiesel, J., Schuerch, M., Christie, E.K., Möller, I., Spencer, T., Vafeidis, A.T., 2020. Effective design of managed realignment schemes can reduce coastal flood risks. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 242, 106844.
Lechner, A.M., […], Schuerch, M., […], 2020. Challenges and considerations of applying nature-based solutions in low- and middle-income countries in Southeast and East Asia. Blue-Green Systems 2, 331–351.
Kiesel, J., Schuerch, M., Möller, I., Spencer, T., Vafeidis, A., 2019. Attenuation of high water levels over restored saltmarshes can be limited. Insights from Freiston Shore, Lincolnshire, UK, Ecological Engineering 136, 89-100.
Schuerch, M., Spencer, T., Evans, B., 2019. Coupling between tidal mudflats and salt marshes affects marsh morphology, Marine Geology 412, 95-106.
Vafeidis, A.T., Schuerch, M., Wolff, C., Spencer, T., Merkens, J.L., Hinkel, J., Lincke, D., Brown, S., Nicholls, R.J., 2019. Water-level attenuation in global-scale assessments of exposure to coastal flooding: a sensitivity analysis. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences 19(5), 973-984.
Schuerch, M., Spencer, T., Temmerman, S., Kirwan, M.L., Wolff, C., Lincke, D., McOwen, C.J., Pickering, M.D., Reef. R, Vafeidis, A.T., Hinkel, J., Nicholls, R.J., Brown, S., 2018. Future response of global coastal wetlands to sea level rise, Nature 561, 231–234.
Reef, R., Schuerch, M., Christie, E. K., Möller, I., and Spencer, T., 2018. The effect of vegetation height and biomass on the sediment budget of a European saltmarsh, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 202, 125–133.
Schuerch, M., Dolch, T., Bisgwa, J., Vafeidis, A., 2018. Changing sediment dynamics of a mature tidal salt marsh in response to sea-level rise and storm activity. Frontiers in Environmental Science 5, 155.
Leonardi, N., Carnacina, I., Donatelli, C., Ganju, N.K., Plater, A.J., Schuerch, M., Temmerman, S., 2018. Dynamic interactions between coastal storms and salt marshes: A review. Geomorphology 308, 92-107.
Bergamino L., Schuerch M., Tudurí A., Carretero S., García-Rodríguez F., 2017. Linking patterns of freshwater discharge and sources of organic matter within the Río de la Plata estuary and adjacent marshes. Marine and Freshwater Research 68, 1704-1715.
Santamaria-Aguilar, S., Schuerch, M., Vafeidis, A.T., Carretero, S.C., 2017. Long-term trends and variability of water levels and tides in Buenos Aires and Mar del Plata, Argentina. Frontiers in Marine Science 4, 380.
Schuerch, M., Scholten J., Carretero, S., García-Rodríguez, F., Kumbier, K., Baechtiger, M., Liebetrau, V., 2016. The effect of long-term and decadal climate and hydrology variations on estuarine marsh dynamics: an identifying case study from the Río de la Plata. Geomorphology 269, 122-132.
Spencer, T., Schuerch, M., Nicholls, R.J., Hinkel, J., Lincke, D., Vafeidis, A.T., Reef, R., McFadden L., Brown, S., 2016. Global coastal wetland change under sea-level rise and related stresses: The DIVA Wetland Change Model. Global Planetary Change 139, 15-30.
Tol, R.S.J., Nicholls, R.J., Brown, S., Hinkel, J., Vafeidis, A.T., Spencer, T., Schuerch, M., 2016. Comment on ‘the global impacts of Extreme Sea-level rise: a comprehensive economic assessment’. Environmental and Resource Economics 64 (2), 341-344.
Reimer, J., Schuerch, M., Slawig, T., 2015. Optimization of model parameters and experimental designs with the Optimal Experimental Design Toolbox (v1. 0) exemplified by sedimentation in salt marshes. Geoscientific Model Development 8 (3), 791-804
Schuerch, M., Dolch, T., Reise, K., Vafeidis, A., 2014. The sedimentary intertidal environment of the Wadden Sea and interactions with salt marsh development. Progress in Physical Geography 38, 691-715.
Schuerch, M., Vafeidis, A., Slawig, T., Temmerman, S., 2013. Modeling the influence of changing storm patterns on the ability of a salt marsh to keep pace with sea level rise. Journal of Geophysical Research – Earth Surface 118, 84-96.
Nolte S., Koppenaal E.C., Esselink P., Dijkema K.S., Schuerch, M., De Groot A.V., Bakker J.P., Temmerman S., 2013. Measuring sedimentation in tidal marshes: a review on methods and their applicability in bio-geomorphological studies. Journal of Coastal Conservation 17, 301-325.
Nolte S., Mueller F., Schuerch M., Wanner A., Esselink P., Bakker J.P., Jensen K., 2013. Does livestock grazing affect Sediment Deposition and accretion rates in salt marshes? Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 135, 296-305.
Schuerch M., Rapaglia J., Liebetrau V., Vafeidis A., Reise K., 2012. Salt marsh accretion and storm tide variation: An example from a barrier island in the North Sea. Estuaries and Coasts 35, 486-500.
Non-Peer-Reviewed Publications
Hinkel, J., Schuerch, M., French, J., Nicholls, R.J., 2023. Sea-Level Rise Risk and Adaptation in Estuaries. In: Kennish, M.J., Paerl, H.W., Crosswell, J.R. (eds.) Climate Change and Estuaries. Boca Raton: CRC Press.
Pontee, N., Mossman, H., Burgess, H., Schuerch, M., Charman, R., Hudson, R., Dale, J., Austin, W., Burden, A., Balke, T., Maynard, C., 2021. Saltmarsh Restoration Manual. In: Saltmarsh Restoration Handbook: UK & Ireland. Environment Agency, Bristol, UK, pp. 65-102.
Schuerch, M., Spencer, T., Temmerman, S., Kirwan, M.L., Wolff, C., Lincke, D., McOwen, C.J., Pickering, M.D., Reef. R, Vafeidis, A.T., Hinkel, J., Nicholls, R.J., Brown, S., 2020. Reply to “Global coastal wetland expansion under accelerated sea-level rise is unlikely”. Eartharxiv Preprints. DOI: 10.31223/osf.io/ycunb.
Schuerch, M., 2017. Quaternary Sea-Level Research. Oxford Bibliographies. DOI: 10.1093/OBO/9780199874002-0149.
Schürch, M., Daschkeit, A., 2009. Analysis of climate change impacts on the ecological system of the western Baltic Sea. Coastline Report 13, 7-21.
Während des Semesters findet eine regelmäßige Sprechstunde statt:
Montags, 9-10h