Living shorelines can enhance the nursery role of threatened estuarine habitats.
@article{Gittman2016LivingSC, title={Living shorelines can enhance the nursery role of threatened estuarine habitats.}, author={Rachel K. Gittman and Charles H. Peterson and Carolyn A. Currin and F Joel Fodrie and Michael F. Piehler and John F. Bruno}, journal={Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America}, year={2016}, volume={26 1}, pages={ 249-63 } }
Coastal ecosystems provide numerous services, such as nutrient cycling, climate change amelioration, and habitat provision for commercially valuable organisms. Ecosystem functions and processes are modified by human activities locally and globally, with degradation of coastal ecosystems by development and climate change occurring at unprecedented rates. The demand for coastal defense strategies against storms and sea-level rise has increased with human population growth and development along…
120 Citations
Ecological Consequences of Shoreline Hardening: A Meta-Analysis
- Environmental ScienceBioscience
- 2016
A meta-analysis of studies comparing the ecosystem services of biodiversity and habitat provisioning along shorelines with versus without engineered-shore structures found that biodiversity and abundance supported by riprap or breakwater shorelines were not different from natural shorelines; however, effect sizes were highly heterogeneous across organism groups and studies.
Living Shorelines Support Nearshore Benthic Communities in Upper and Lower Chesapeake Bay
- Environmental ScienceEstuaries and Coasts
- 2017
Human population growth and sea-level rise are increasing the demand for protection of coastal property against shoreline erosion. Living shorelines are designed to provide shoreline protection and…
Ribbed mussel
Geukensia demissa
population response to living shoreline design and ecosystem development
- Environmental Science
- 2021
Coastal communities increasingly invest in natural and nature-based features (e.g., living shorelines) as a strategy to protect shorelines and enhance coastal resilience. Tidal marshes are a common…
Effects of shoreline armouring and overwater structures on coastal and estuarine fish: opportunities for habitat improvement
- Environmental Science
- 2017
Ability to assess and rehabilitate nearshore fish habitats along modified shorelines will be enhanced by: focusing research attention on metrics that directly indicate fish habitat quality; implementing and evaluating shoreline features that repair compromised habitat functions within human-use constraints; and embracing the socio-ecological nature of habitat improvements.
Living shorelines achieve functional equivalence to natural fringe marshes across multiple ecological metrics
- Environmental SciencePeerJ
- 2021
A synthesis of results from a multi-year, large-spatial-scale study found that living shorelines were functionally equivalent to natural marshes in nearly all measured aspects, except for a lag in soil composition due to construction of living shoreline marshes with clean, low-organic sands.
Quantifying the effectiveness of shoreline armoring removal on coastal biota of Puget Sound
- Environmental SciencePeerJ
- 2018
This analysis shows that removing shoreline armoring is effective for restoration projects aimed at improving the health and productivity of coastal ecosystems, and these results may be widely applicable.
Nursery habitat use by juvenile blue crabs in created and natural marshes
- Environmental SciencebioRxiv
- 2020
Evidence is provided that juvenile blue crabs are comparably using natural and created fringing salt marshes as primary nursery habitat, indicating that even the youngest living shorelines (2 years) were providing primary nursery habitats.
Living Shoreline Treatment Suitability Analysis: A Study on Coastal Protection Opportunities for Sarasota County
- Environmental Science
- 2017
Increases in the world population, sea level rise, and urbanization of coastal areas have put tremendous pressures on coastlines around the world. As a result, natural shoreline habitats are being…
Sediment Exchange Between the Created Saltmarshes of Living Shorelines and Adjacent Submersed Aquatic Vegetation in the Chesapeake Bay
- Environmental ScienceFrontiers in Marine Science
- 2021
Rising sea levels and the increased frequency of extreme events put coastal communities at serious risk. In response, shoreline armoring for stabilization has been widespread. However, this solution…
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