Coral reefs as the first line of defense: Shoreline protection in face of climate change

Elliff, Carla Isobel; Silva, Iracema R.

doi:10.1016/j.marenvres.2017.03.007

Cited by 83 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…In order to protect the coral reef, reducing threats to coral reefs, such as overfishing and poor water quality, and establishing marine reserves, can all directly benefit reefs and maintain their shoreline protection services [1,2,7]. The recent opening of the Puqian Bridge connecting Wenchang and Haikou in 2019 is expected to promote economic development and tourism in/around the Puqian town.…”

Section: Implications For Coral Reef Management and Coastal Protectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Approximately 850 million people live within 100 km of coral reefs on which they rely for food resources, recreation opportunities, coastal defense, and building materials [1]. Coral reefs provide shoreline protection services as a first line of defense from erosion through wave attenuation and the production of sediment [2]. The reef crests of fringing reefs can act as breakwaters by dissipating wave energy [3,4] and meta-analyses reveal that coral reefs can provide substantial protection by reducing on average 97% of the wave energy [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Status of Coral Reefs and Its Importance for Coastal Protection: A Case Study of Northeastern Hainan Island, South China Sea

et al. 2019

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This study evaluated the status of coral communities at the fringing reefs in the northern South China Sea, and their potential role in maintaining nearby coastline stability of northeastern Hainan Island (Puqian Bay, Hainan Bay). Thirty-nine coral species were recorded with mean coral cover of 5.3%, and are dominated by massive Galaxea, Platygyra and Porites. The coral communities were clustered into two groups (Clu-HNB and Clu-PQB) corresponding to different stable coastal conditions. Coral communities at the Hainan Bay with higher diversity and greater cover corresponded to relatively stable coastline, whereas those at the southern Puqian Bay (with the lowest coral diversity and spatial coverage) corresponded to severe coastline erosion. This work provides some direct evidence that declined coral reefs would weaken their functions to maintain a stable coastline, resulting in severe coastal erosion. It is also useful to help coastal managers and local people pay more attention to the importance of coral reefs in coastal protection and encourage them to change their ways to get sustainable use of coral reef resources. It may be beneficial to inspire or initiate coastal engineering to manage coasts with natural coral reef solution.Sustainability 2019, 11, 4354 2 of 13 destructive practices [1,7]. Global coral reefs have experienced dramatic decline over the past decades [8][9][10], which consequently reduces their coastal defense capacity [11]. Therefore, nearly 200 million people may lose risk reduction benefits from reefs if these are lost or degraded [5].Coral reefs provide coastal protection by absorbing and dispersing a significant part of the wave energy that otherwise would be transmitted onshore [4,12]. The critical function as breakwaters is based on the biological calcification of reef-building organisms, especially scleractinian corals, to generate massive carbonate structures that allow them to keep pace with the sea level. Live coral communities also provide geometrical complexity and increase surface roughness, which helps to dissipate wave energy through friction and wave breaking [13]. Thus, the coral species diversity and its cover pattern are important not only for increasing functional redundancy but also for maintaining the ecosystem stability of coral reefs which are vital to protect the coastline behind the reefs [14,15]. Coral mortality in the reef flat increases the wave energy that reaches shores and leads to more severe coastal erosion [16].Many previous studies focused on the coral reefs monitoring using effective ecological indicators and the changes of coral communities led by climate change, and particularly on the reduction of coral diversity, coverage, and distribution range that indicate the decline of coral reefs and related possible economic loss [8,17,18]. But very few studies are concerned about the relationship between coral reef degradation and coastline erosion [19,20]. This hampers our understanding of the important role of coral reefs in coastal protection and management ...

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Section: Implications For Coral Reef Management and Coastal Protectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Status of Coral Reefs and Its Importance for Coastal Protection: A Case Study of Northeastern Hainan Island, South China Sea

et al. 2019

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“…Despite recent attempts to evaluate the coastal protection service delivered by reefs (e.g. Ferrario et al, 2014;Quataert et al, 2015), such a task remains challenging, due not only to the complexity and variety of this ecosystem (Moberg & Folke, 1999;Elliff & Silva, 2017), but also to the great amount of work required if it was to be conducted island by island on a national scale. Yet, as nearby islands may exhibit highly contrasting situations, in regard not only to the exposure of human assets (i.e., people, infrastructures, and buildings), but also to shoreline and environmental change (Duvat, Magnan, Wise, et al, 2017;Duvat, 2019), the island scale appears to be a very critical one.…”

Section: Assessing the Degree Of Undermining Of Coastal Protection Sementioning

confidence: 99%

“…nitrogen fixation and CO 2 /Ca control), socio-economic and cultural services (contribution to revenues, local knowledge and beliefs), and biophysical services. The latter are generally referred to as coastal protection services, and include two major functions: (i) wave energy attenuation, and (ii) carbonate sediment supply to the coast (Moberg & Folke, 1999;Principe et al, 2012;McLean & Kench, 2015;Elliff & Silva, 2017). Both the reef and the reef-derived coastal sedimentary system (i.e.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Contrasting potential for nature-based solutions to enhance coastal protection services in atoll islands

Duvat¹,

Magnan²

2019

Dealing With Climate Change on Small Islands: Towards Effective and Sustainable Adaptation

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Based on the study of 107 inhabited islands of the Maldives, we assess to what extent the level of local human disturbance of the coastal protection services provided by the reef-island system influences the potential for nature-based solutions (NBS) to address climate change impacts in atoll contexts. The results show that in 2014-16, 68.2% of the Maldivian islands (classified Type 3) exhibited a significant human-induced undermining of these services, while respectively 7.5% and 20.6% experienced a high (Type 4) and very high (Type 5) level of undermining of these services, whereas hardly any inhabited island shows low levels of undermining (Types 1 and 2). Based on these findings and on our own expertise in atoll environments, we propose a five-pillar adaptation pathway approach for atoll islands: (i) increase ecosystem resilience; (ii) minimise the risk of maladaptation; (iii) facilitate internal relocation; (iv) promote island fortification associated with ground elevation, and (v) support permanent international migration (back-up plan). While the potential for NBS is high for island types 1, 2, and 3 (respectively undisturbed, little disturbed, and moderately disturbed islands), it is nil for island types 4 and 5, where the coastal protection services delivered by the reef-island system are no longer functional. Given that the Maldives Islands are the atoll country exhibiting the highest population densities among atoll countries and territories, our findings indicate that there is still a high potential for NBS in atoll contexts at large.

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“…Estos ecosistemas son hábitats importantes en la zona costera tropical, donde forman barreras paralelas que protegen la costa [2]. Estas comunidades originan estructuras sólidas resistentes al oleaje y tormentas [3][4][5][6]. Además, son áreas de pesquerías de subsistencia en el Mar Caribe y Océano Pacífico, con un alto valor económico, cultural y recreacional [7][8][9][10].…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

Cobertura y estado de los arrecifes de coral e ictiofauna asociada en Playa Cacique e Isla Mamey, Portobelo, Colón

Guerra

Aparicio

Espinosa

et al. 2019

RIC

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Los arrecifes de coral son comunidades de protección de la zona costera y alimentación de muchas especies. Es importante evaluar el estado de estos, para así poder proteger y mantener la salud de estos ecosistemas tan importantes. Este trabajo se realizó en Playa Cacique e Isla Mamey en Colón (Caribe Panameño), en dos localidades con actividades humanas diferentes. Se realizaron dos salidas al campo con cuatro días de campo con 12 horas en total. En cada estación se establecieron transectos al azar de 10 m de largo perpendiculares a la costa. Los resultados arrojaron buenos porcentajes de coral vivo para ambas áreas de estudio, hubo una diversidad de 14 especies de corales, siendo la familia Faviidae la más diversa. En comparación realizada se notó un 41% de coral vivo en la estación de Mamey, pero Cacique posee más vegetación. Además, Cacique posee 13 de las 14 especies de corales. Los arrecifes, en su mayoría estaban representados por corales fuego en los transectos tres y cuadro de Cacique y uno y dos de Mamey, representadas por aguas someras. Además, el transecto cuatro de Mamey y uno de Cacique presentaron mayor diversidad de especies de corales. En cuanto a la abundancia y diversidad de ictiofauna asociada, no presentó una diferencia significativa entre las dos áreas de estudio, presentando una diversidad de 21 especies y 11 familias, siendo Halichoeres pictus la especie más común, y Labridae la familia más diversa. Realizamos el índice de Simpson para la diversidad de peces en las dos áreas de estudio, dando como resultado: Playa Cacique (0.745) e Isla Mamey (0.812), y la varianza fue de 1.01, teniendo Mamey la mayor diversidad de especies de peces. Como conclusiones, las especies de Coral de fuego se presentan y colonizan las aguas someras de Playa Cacique e Isla Mamey, y esta última zona presentó una alta diversidad de especies de coral, pero los corales de Cacique se mantienen en mejor estado, al tener un ecosistema de manglares que mitiga el sedimento hacia los corales. La especie Halichoeres pictus se presentó en la mayoría de los transectos, debido a su adaptación a aguas con fuertes oleajes. Se debe hacer un esfuerzo para mitigar las actividades antropogénicas de estas dos localidades y aumentar el estudio de los corales y peces asociados en el area.

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Coral reefs as the first line of defense: Shoreline protection in face of climate change

Cited by 83 publications

References 26 publications

The Status of Coral Reefs and Its Importance for Coastal Protection: A Case Study of Northeastern Hainan Island, South China Sea

The Status of Coral Reefs and Its Importance for Coastal Protection: A Case Study of Northeastern Hainan Island, South China Sea

Contrasting potential for nature-based solutions to enhance coastal protection services in atoll islands

Cobertura y estado de los arrecifes de coral e ictiofauna asociada en Playa Cacique e Isla Mamey, Portobelo, Colón

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