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Conserving intertidal habitats: What is the potential of ecological engineering to mitigate impacts of coastal structures?

Matthew Perkins, Terence P.T. Ng, David Dudgeon, Timothy C. Bonebrake, Kenneth M.Y. Leung

Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, Volume: 167, Pages: 504 - 515

Swansea University Author: Matthew Perkins

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Abstract

Globally, coastlines are under pressure as coastal human population growth and urbanization continues,while climatic change leads to stormier seas and rising tides. These trends create a strong and sustaineddemand for land reclamation and infrastructure protection in coastal areas, requiring enginee...

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Published in: Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science
ISSN: 02727714
Published: 2015
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa44818
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spelling 2018-10-09T16:18:53.0293197 v2 44818 2018-10-09 Conserving intertidal habitats: What is the potential of ecological engineering to mitigate impacts of coastal structures? 228a9ab1324cbc8f7a0db0043a6f0a0a Matthew Perkins Matthew Perkins true false 2018-10-09 SBI Globally, coastlines are under pressure as coastal human population growth and urbanization continues,while climatic change leads to stormier seas and rising tides. These trends create a strong and sustaineddemand for land reclamation and infrastructure protection in coastal areas, requiring engineered coastaldefence structures such as sea walls. Here, we review the nature of ecological impacts of coastalstructures on intertidal ecosystems, seek to understand the extent to which ecological engineering canmitigate these impacts, and evaluate the effectiveness of mitigation as a tool to contribute to conservationof intertidal habitats. By so doing, we identify critical knowledge gaps to inform future research.Coastal structures alter important physical, chemical and biological processes of intertidal habitats, andstrongly impact community structure, inter-habitat linkages and ecosystem services while also drivinghabitat loss. Such impacts occur diffusely across localised sites but scale to significant regional and globallevels. Recent advances in ecological engineering have focused on developing habitat complexity oncoastal structures to increase biodiversity. ‘Soft’ engineering options maximise habitat complexitythrough inclusion of natural materials, species and processes, while simultaneously delivering engineeringobjectives such as coastal protection. Soft options additionally sustain multiple services,providing greater economic benefits for society, and resilience to climatic change. Currently however, alack of inclusion and economic undervaluation of intertidal ecosystem services may undermine bestpractice in coastline management. Importantly, reviewed evidence shows mitigation and even restorationdo not support intertidal communities or processes equivalent to pre-disturbance conditions.Crucially, an absence of comprehensive empirical baseline biodiversity data, or data comprising additionalecological parameters such as ecosystem functions and services, prohibits quantification of absoluteand relative magnitudes of ecological impacts due to coastal structures or effectiveness ofmitigation interventions. This knowledge deficit restricts evaluation of the potential of ecological engineeringto contribute to conservation policies for intertidal habitats. To improve mitigation design andeffectiveness, a greater focus on in-situ research is needed, requiring stronger and timely collaborationbetween government agencies, construction partners and research scientists. Journal Article Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 167 504 515 02727714 Intertidal environment, Coastal engineering, Shore protection, Ecosystem disturbance, Ecological engineering, Conservation 31 12 2015 2015-12-31 10.1016/j.ecss.2015.10.033 COLLEGE NANME Biosciences COLLEGE CODE SBI Swansea University 2018-10-09T16:18:53.0293197 2018-10-09T16:03:33.5967379 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences Matthew Perkins 1 Terence P.T. Ng 2 David Dudgeon 3 Timothy C. Bonebrake 4 Kenneth M.Y. Leung 5
title Conserving intertidal habitats: What is the potential of ecological engineering to mitigate impacts of coastal structures?
spellingShingle Conserving intertidal habitats: What is the potential of ecological engineering to mitigate impacts of coastal structures?
Matthew Perkins
title_short Conserving intertidal habitats: What is the potential of ecological engineering to mitigate impacts of coastal structures?
title_full Conserving intertidal habitats: What is the potential of ecological engineering to mitigate impacts of coastal structures?
title_fullStr Conserving intertidal habitats: What is the potential of ecological engineering to mitigate impacts of coastal structures?
title_full_unstemmed Conserving intertidal habitats: What is the potential of ecological engineering to mitigate impacts of coastal structures?
title_sort Conserving intertidal habitats: What is the potential of ecological engineering to mitigate impacts of coastal structures?
author_id_str_mv 228a9ab1324cbc8f7a0db0043a6f0a0a
author_id_fullname_str_mv 228a9ab1324cbc8f7a0db0043a6f0a0a_***_Matthew Perkins
author Matthew Perkins
author2 Matthew Perkins
Terence P.T. Ng
David Dudgeon
Timothy C. Bonebrake
Kenneth M.Y. Leung
format Journal article
container_title Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science
container_volume 167
container_start_page 504
publishDate 2015
institution Swansea University
issn 02727714
doi_str_mv 10.1016/j.ecss.2015.10.033
college_str Faculty of Science and Engineering
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
department_str School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences
document_store_str 0
active_str 0
description Globally, coastlines are under pressure as coastal human population growth and urbanization continues,while climatic change leads to stormier seas and rising tides. These trends create a strong and sustaineddemand for land reclamation and infrastructure protection in coastal areas, requiring engineered coastaldefence structures such as sea walls. Here, we review the nature of ecological impacts of coastalstructures on intertidal ecosystems, seek to understand the extent to which ecological engineering canmitigate these impacts, and evaluate the effectiveness of mitigation as a tool to contribute to conservationof intertidal habitats. By so doing, we identify critical knowledge gaps to inform future research.Coastal structures alter important physical, chemical and biological processes of intertidal habitats, andstrongly impact community structure, inter-habitat linkages and ecosystem services while also drivinghabitat loss. Such impacts occur diffusely across localised sites but scale to significant regional and globallevels. Recent advances in ecological engineering have focused on developing habitat complexity oncoastal structures to increase biodiversity. ‘Soft’ engineering options maximise habitat complexitythrough inclusion of natural materials, species and processes, while simultaneously delivering engineeringobjectives such as coastal protection. Soft options additionally sustain multiple services,providing greater economic benefits for society, and resilience to climatic change. Currently however, alack of inclusion and economic undervaluation of intertidal ecosystem services may undermine bestpractice in coastline management. Importantly, reviewed evidence shows mitigation and even restorationdo not support intertidal communities or processes equivalent to pre-disturbance conditions.Crucially, an absence of comprehensive empirical baseline biodiversity data, or data comprising additionalecological parameters such as ecosystem functions and services, prohibits quantification of absoluteand relative magnitudes of ecological impacts due to coastal structures or effectiveness ofmitigation interventions. This knowledge deficit restricts evaluation of the potential of ecological engineeringto contribute to conservation policies for intertidal habitats. To improve mitigation design andeffectiveness, a greater focus on in-situ research is needed, requiring stronger and timely collaborationbetween government agencies, construction partners and research scientists.
published_date 2015-12-31T03:56:15Z
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