Replicating natural topography on marine artificial structures – A novel approach to eco-engineering

Evans, Ally J.; Lawrence, Peter J.; Natanzi, Atteyeh S.; Moore, Pippa J.; Davies, Andrew J.; Crowe, Tasman P.; McNally, Ciarán; Thompson, Bryan; Dozier, Amy E.; Brooks, Paul R.

doi:10.1016/j.ecoleng.2020.106144

Cited by 36 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…To optimise different design aspects of eco-engineered materials (e.g., surface chemistry, microtexture), multifactorial manipulative experiments are needed to determine how these properties independently and interactively determine colonisation. These experiments should ideally examine effects on colonisation and population establishment of a range of target and non-target (i.e., NIS) species, under a range of environmental conditions (e.g., high vs low water motion, sunny vs shaded settings), in order to disentangle drivers of variability in results and allow customisation of eco-engineered solutions to site conditions and environmental goals (Evans et al, 2021).…”

Section: Future Work and Implications For Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Material type influences the abundance but not richness of colonising organisms on marine structures

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Schaefer

Bishop

et al. 2022

Journal of Environmental Management

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Section: Future Work and Implications For Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Material type influences the abundance but not richness of colonising organisms on marine structures

Dodds

Schaefer

Bishop

et al. 2022

Journal of Environmental Management

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“…greater than or equal to 5 m). Some coastal protection systems comprise modular components at these larger scales (approximately 3 to 5 m [83,84]) and may be readily modified with structural complexity enhancements using specialized formliners or moulds [85]. It may also be possible to make the overall footprint of structures more variable from the outset to increase complexity at these largest scales (i.e.…”

Section: (A) Potential Ecological Consequences Of Multiscale Deficits In Structural Complexitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…texture or grooves) could provide multiscale structural complexities similar to that of natural shorelines, without increasing structure footprints or compromising their engineering function. Furthermore, directly replicating the full fingerprint of natural reef topography at a variety of spatial scales offers a novel approach to capture a mosaic of structural features that interact to support biodiversity in natural habitats [85].…”

Section: (A) Potential Ecological Consequences Of Multiscale Deficits In Structural Complexitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Artificial shorelines lack natural structural complexity across scales

et al. 2021

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From microbes to humans, habitat structural complexity plays a direct role in the provision of physical living space, and increased complexity supports higher biodiversity and ecosystem functioning across biomes. Coastal development and the construction of artificial shorelines are altering natural landscapes as humans seek socio-economic benefits and protection from coastal storms, flooding and erosion. In this study, we evaluate how much structural complexity is missing on artificial coastal structures compared to natural rocky shorelines, across a range of spatial scales from 1 mm to 10 s of m, using three remote sensing platforms (handheld camera, terrestrial laser scanner and uncrewed aerial vehicles). Natural shorelines were typically more structurally complex than artificial ones and offered greater variation between locations. However, our results varied depending on the type of artificial structure and the scale at which complexity was measured. Seawalls were deficient at all scales (approx. 20–40% less complex than natural shores), whereas rock armour was deficient at the smallest and largest scales (approx. 20–50%). Our findings reinforce concerns that hardening shorelines with artificial structures simplifies coastlines at organism-relevant scales. Furthermore, we offer much-needed insight into how structures might be modified to more closely capture the complexity of natural rocky shores that support biodiversity.

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“…In recent years, the term "eco-engineering" or "hard ecoengineering" has been spotlighted in many studies (Dafforn et al, 2015;Perkol-Finkel and Sella, 2015;Strain et al, 2018a,b;Evans et al, 2019;Salauddin et al, 2020a;O'Shaughnessy et al, 2020;Evans et al, 2021) to describe the adoption of biomimicry-based engineered interventions in sea defence structures that enhance biodiversity and species richness on the surface of the infrastructures and in surrounding areas. Recent research has focused on the introduction to existing coastal infrastructures of artificial, water-filled features to enhance the ecological well-being of these structures.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Eco-Engineering of Seawalls—An Opportunity for Enhanced Climate Resilience From Increased Topographic Complexity

et al. 2021

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In the context of “green” approaches to coastal engineering, the term “eco-engineering” has emerged in recent years to describe the incorporation of ecological concepts (including artificially water-filled depressions and surface textured tiles on seawalls and drilled holes in sea structures) into the conventional design process for marine infrastructures. Limited studies have evaluated the potential increase in wave energy dissipation resulting from the increased hydraulic roughness of ecologically modified sea defences which could reduce wave overtopping and consequent coastal flood risks, while increasing biodiversity. This paper presents results of small-scale laboratory investigations of wave overtopping on artificially roughened seawalls. Impulsive and non-impulsive wave conditions with two deep-water wave steepness values (=0.015 and 0.06) are evaluated to simulate both swell and storm conditions in a two-dimensional wave flume with an impermeable 1:20 foreshore slope. Measurements from a plain vertical seawall are taken as the reference case. The seawall was subsequently modified to include 10 further test configurations where hydraulic effects, reflective of “eco-engineering” interventions, were simulated by progressively increasing seawall roughness with surface protrusions across three length scales and three surface densities. Measurements at the plain vertical seawall compared favorably to empirical predictions from the EurOtop II Design Manual and served as a validation of the experimental approach. Results from physical model experiments showed that increasing the length and/or density of surface protrusions reduced overtopping on seawalls. Benchmarking of test results from experiments with modified seawalls to reference conditions showed that the mean overtopping rate was reduced by up to 100% (test case where protrusion density and length were maximum) under impulsive wave conditions. Results of this study highlight the potential for eco-engineering interventions on seawalls to mitigate extreme wave overtopping hazards by dissipating additional wave energy through increased surface roughness on the structure.

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Replicating natural topography on marine artificial structures – A novel approach to eco-engineering

Cited by 36 publications

References 50 publications

Material type influences the abundance but not richness of colonising organisms on marine structures

Material type influences the abundance but not richness of colonising organisms on marine structures

Artificial shorelines lack natural structural complexity across scales

Eco-Engineering of Seawalls—An Opportunity for Enhanced Climate Resilience From Increased Topographic Complexity

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