Effects of sea‐level rise on barrier island groundwater system dynamics – ecohydrological implications

Abstract

We used a numerical model to investigate how a barrier island groundwater system responds to increases of up to 60 cm in sea level. We found that a sea-level rise of 20 cm leads to substantial changes in the depth of the water table and the extent and depth of saltwater intrusion, which are key determinants in the establishment, distribution and succession of vegetation assemblages and habitat suitability in barrier islands ecosystems. In our simulations, increases in water-table height in areas with a shallow depth to water (or thin vadose zone) resulted in extensive groundwater inundation of land surface and a thinning of the underlying freshwater lens. We demonstrated the interdependence of the groundwater response to island morphology by evaluating changes at three sites. This interdependence can have a profound effect on ecosystem composition in these fragile coastal landscapes under long-term changing climatic conditions. Published 2013. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Sea Level Change and Coastal Climate Services: The Way Forward

“…Each organization acts at a different phases of the disaster management cycle, which include prevention, preparedness, crisis management and recovery, according to the disaster risk reduction terminology [51]. Each phase involves different actions such as: (1) flood monitoring, warning, and near-real-time local hazard mapping to improve preparedness and manage the crisis (role of NOAA); (2) hydrodynamic modelling and long-term hazard mapping to support prevention, preparedness, and recovery (Federal Emergency Management Agency-FEMA) [52]; (3) engineered nonstructural, structural, natural, and nature-based infrastructure adaptation to reduce risks from coastal hazards (US Army Corps of Engineers-USACE) [53,54]; and (4) evaluation of impacts to complex geomorphic systems such as coastal aquifers, shorelines and active coastal zones (US Geological Survey-USGS) [55][56][57]. In many other countries (e.g., France), a similar composite network of organizations is involved in the provision of climate services.…”

“…In many other countries (e.g., France), a similar composite network of organizations is involved in the provision of climate services. From the perspective of this article, these CCS providers can be classified in two groups: those providing information on sea level observations, modelling and analysis, and those using this information to provide information on preparedness and response to coastal impacts (Figure 2 hazard mapping to support prevention, preparedness, and recovery (Federal Emergency Management Agency-FEMA) [52]; (3) engineered nonstructural, structural, natural, and naturebased infrastructure adaptation to reduce risks from coastal hazards (US Army Corps of Engineers-USACE) [53,54]; and (4) evaluation of impacts to complex geomorphic systems such as coastal aquifers, shorelines and active coastal zones (US Geological Survey-USGS) [55][56][57]. In many other countries (e.g., France), a similar composite network of organizations is involved in the provision of climate services.…”

Woody expansion facilitates liana expansion and affects physical structure in temperate coastal communities

“…, Masterson et al. ). Furthermore, the generalist nature of dominant liana species may enhance proliferation across these sites, and the prevalence of tree islands as opposed to continuous shrub thicket increases edge effects at the FRF (Turner , Schnitzer et al.…”

“…Environmental variables did not affect woody or liana species distributions at the FRF, and significant filtering is unlikely as the range of soil salinities was far less than for Hog Island. We did not measure soil moisture, but the higher mean elevation of the FRF would also reduce cross-site availability to freshwater, and the narrower land area would not support an equivalent freshwater lens (Hayden et al 1995, Young et al 2007, Masterson et al 2014). Furthermore, the generalist nature of dominant liana species may enhance proliferation across these sites, and the prevalence of tree islands as opposed to continuous shrub thicket increases edge effects at the FRF (Turner 1990.…”

Relative role and extent of marine and groundwater inundation on a dune‐dominated barrier island under sea‐level rise scenarios

“…Projected sea-level rise of 0.2 to >1 m by the end of this century (Jevrejeva et al, 2012;NRC, 2012;Rahmstorf et al, 2012;Horton et al, 2014) will cause major water resource problems of marine inundation (where previously dry land is occupied by sea water) and saline water intrusion (where salt water replaces fresh water in aquifers) in coastal regions (Cooper et al, 2013). However, another important and unavoidable consequence of sea-level rise will be groundwater inundation (where groundwater tables reach the land surface leading to localized flooding) in lowlying coastal areas (Masterson et al, 2013;Rotzoll and Fletcher, 2013).…”