Evaluation of ecological engineering of “armoured” shorelines to improve their value as habitat

Chapman, M. G.; Underwood, A. J.

doi:10.1016/j.jembe.2011.02.025

Cited by 291 publications

(220 citation statements)

References 73 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

213

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…The total faunal density resulted a less powerful bioindicator in detecting the impacts at the whole beach scale; however, a significant difference was shown for the supralittoral zone, the most impacted beach sector. To conclude, there is a need of a major integration between ecologists and engineers (Chapman and Underwood, 2011); both the categories have to engage to fulfil gaps in what is known on coastal defence intervention effects, aiming at reducing impacts as much as possible and reach equilibrium between the immediate socio-economical needs and environmental sustainability.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Macrofaunal community abundance and diversity and talitrid orientation as potential indicators of ecological long-term effects of a sand-dune recovery intervention

Nourisson

Bessa

Scapini

et al. 2014

Ecological Indicators

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

a b s t r a c tIn the last decades the increasing urban development on coastal areas have produced extensive modifications on shores all over the world, making critical the active management of pressures on sandy beaches. The use of engineering solutions to counteract beach erosion has been significantly increasing; the ecological indicators used to monitor these interventions generally focus on short-and medium-term effects, while little is known on their effectiveness on long-term temporal scales. The following ecological indicators have been tested in the present study: (a) macrofaunal community abundance and diversity and (b) orientation behaviour of Talitrus saltator, a talitrid amphipod widespread on Mediterranean and European Atlantic sandy beaches. Two sites were considered on a sandy beach of the Portuguese Atlantic coast, one located in front of a natural dune and the other at about 500 m of distance, where the dune had been rebuilt between 2000 and 2008 using geotextile tubes. In 2011 and 2012, macrofauna sampling and orientation experiments on T. saltator were performed at both sites in spring and autumn; contemporaneously the main environmental variables were registered. Macrofaunal data were analysed through multivariate statistical tests, and for the orientation distributions the circular statistics were calculated and multivariate analyses for angular data were performed. Geotextiles appeared to be successful in stabilising the recovered dunes; accordingly, the diversity of the macrofaunal communities and the orientation performances of T. saltator showed no differences between the altered and control sites. Significant reductions were nevertheless observed in the artificial-dune site regarding the abundance of T. saltator and, to a lesser extent, macrofaunal densities, likely ascribable to the presence of geotextiles instead of a vegetated natural dune, preventing invertebrates to burrow into the sand. These results, complementing a more comprehensive study on these two sites, indicate the abundance of T. saltator as the best indicator to follow long-term effects of this kind of soft-engineering intervention. The use of this bioindicator may be recommended for the late phases of monitoring procedures in dune-recovery processes.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Macrofaunal community abundance and diversity and talitrid orientation as potential indicators of ecological long-term effects of a sand-dune recovery intervention

Nourisson

Bessa

Scapini

et al. 2014

Ecological Indicators

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Similarly, barrier islands, beaches, reefs, and mainland shorelines are naturally dynamic, responding to major storms and sea-level rise (51,52). Anthropogenic activities exacerbate coastal system dynamics, including coastal development; dredging sediments from rivers; enhanced riverine flood flows from development; increased nutrient fluxes and oxygen depletion; sea-level rise due to subsidence and climate change; coastal erosion control structures; and alteration of vegetation (50,(53)(54)(55)(56).…”

Section: Examples Of Improving Sustainability Analysis In Different Ementioning

confidence: 99%

Broader perspective on ecosystem sustainability: Consequences for decision making

Sidle

Benson

Carriger

et al. 2013

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Although the concept of ecosystem sustainability has a long-term focus, it is often viewed from a static system perspective. Because most ecosystems are dynamic, we explore sustainability assessments from three additional perspectives: resilient systems; systems where tipping points occur; and systems subject to episodic resetting. Whereas foundations of ecosystem resilience originated in ecology, recent discussions have focused on geophysical attributes, and it is recognized that dynamic system components may not return to their former state following perturbations. Tipping points emerge when chronic changes (typically anthropogenic, but sometimes natural) push ecosystems to thresholds that cause collapse of process and function and may become permanent. Ecosystem resetting occurs when episodic natural disasters breach thresholds with little or no warning, resulting in long-term changes to environmental attributes or ecosystem function. An example of sustainability assessment of ecosystem goods and services along the Gulf Coast (USA) demonstrates the need to include both the resilient and dynamic nature of biogeomorphic components. Mountain road development in northwest Yunnan, China, makes rivers and related habitat vulnerable to tipping points. Ecosystems reset by natural disasters are also presented, emphasizing the need to understand the magnitude frequency and interrelationships among major disturbances, as shown by (i) the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and resulting tsunami, including how unsustainable urban development exacerbates geodisaster propagation, and (ii) repeated major earthquakes and associated geomorphic and vegetation disturbances in Papua New Guinea. Although all of these ecosystem perturbations and shifts are individually recognized, they are not embraced in contemporary sustainable decision making.ecosystem stressors | complex system behavior | sustainability analysis | cascading effects | coastal zone management

show abstract

“…La mayoría de los fondos para la protección de las costas se dedican a estructuras rígidas como diques, espigones y muros (también denominada infraestructura 'dura' o 'gris'). Estas, en muchas ocasiones, degradan aún más los ecosistemas costeros y la costa adyacente [16][17][18]. Mientras la necesidad de protección costera y el planificar hoy para enfrentar el clima del futuro son cada vez más evidentes y apremiantes, sus altos costos potenciales y recientes desastres como Katrina (2005), Sandy (2012) o el tifón Haiyan (2013) lo urgen.…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

“…ingeniería ecológica o infraestructura verde) que utilizan, asemejan o recurren a elementos naturales, como sistemas dunares, arrecifes o humedales, para proporcionar defensa costera además de brindar su servicio como hábitat [17,19,20]. Este tipo de medidas naturales, en ocasiones referidas como infraestructura verde, vienen también respaldadas por experiencia y conocimiento creciente [16,19,21,22].…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

Uniendo ingeniería y ecología: la protección costera basada en ecosistemas

Reguero

Beck

Losada

et al. 2017

Ribagua

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Evaluation of ecological engineering of “armoured” shorelines to improve their value as habitat

Cited by 291 publications

References 73 publications

Macrofaunal community abundance and diversity and talitrid orientation as potential indicators of ecological long-term effects of a sand-dune recovery intervention

Macrofaunal community abundance and diversity and talitrid orientation as potential indicators of ecological long-term effects of a sand-dune recovery intervention

Broader perspective on ecosystem sustainability: Consequences for decision making

Uniendo ingeniería y ecología: la protección costera basada en ecosistemas

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About