FundaÃÃo Cearense de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento Cientifico e TecnolÃgico / A forma intensiva e desordenada com a qual as atividades antrÃpicas vÃm ocupando as regiÃes costeiras aliadas as crescentes alteraÃÃes advindas dos processos oriundos das mudanÃas climÃticas globais estÃo afetando a dinÃmica natural dos ecossistemas, conforme pode ser evidenciado atravÃs de diversos indicadores ambientais, sendo um dos principais a anÃlise da variabilidade temporal e espacial da linha de costa. Nas Ãltimas dÃcadas, pÃde ser evidenciado no litoral cearense um retrocesso generalizado da linha de costa, provocando prejuÃzos econÃmicos relevantes para a regiÃo por conta da destruiÃÃo de casas e estruturas em conseqÃÃncia desse fenÃmeno. Mediante esse fato, a adoÃÃo de estudos que visem determinar as taxas de recuo da linha de costa constituem uma ferramenta essencial para a correta tomada de decisÃes acerca do uso e gestÃo adequada da zona costeira. Partindo dessa premissa, o presente trabalho tem como objetivo calcular as taxas de recuo de linha de costa associando os resultados obtidos com os processos dinÃmicos pontuais, em uma anÃlise multitemporal utilizando imagens de sensoriamento remoto e fotografias aÃreas associadas a tÃcnicas de geoprocessamento. Para isso, foi utilizada a extensÃo Digital Shoreline Analysis System, para o software ArcGIS 9.0 que amplia as funcionalidades do programa, permitindo a automatizaÃÃo de grande parte das tarefas relacionadas com a anÃlise quantitativa da linha de costa, pressupondo como referÃncia uma linha de base. Foram tambÃm realizadas campanhas de campo a fim de obter registros fotogrÃficos das regiÃes que apresentaram atravÃs das anÃlises de gabinete elevados Ãndices de erosÃo. Os resultados evidenciam um forte carÃter erosivo em todas as regiÃes, apresentando Ãndices crÃticos para as praias da Caponga, Pacheco e Itarema onde foi constatada uma taxa de recuo mÃdio de linha de costa de -7.3 m/ano, -4 m/ano e -3.4 m/ano respectivamente. As demais regiÃes contempladas (IcaraÃ, Iracema, Iparana, Meireles) apresentaram taxas de recuo inferiores a -1.5 m/ano. Foi tambÃm analisada a variaÃÃo morfolÃgica na regiÃo da foz do rio Jaguaribe, onde foram evidenciados Ãndices de erosÃo na margem esquerda na ordem de -0.83 m/ano e deposiÃÃo na margem direita de +0.77 m/ano. A correlaÃÃo entre as taxas de recuo obtidas e a anÃlise dos parÃmetros ambientais dessas regiÃes demonstram que o comportamento espacial da linha de costa à diretamente afetado por uma junÃÃo de fatores ambientais, geolÃgicos e antrÃpicos. Desse modo, urge a necessidade de adoÃÃo de medidas sustentÃveis que visem o ordenamento da ocupaÃÃo das regiÃes litorÃneas no estado do Cearà com o intuito de mitigar os problemas oriundos da erosÃo costeira quanto ao uso indevido ou inadequado dessas Ãreas. / The intensive and disordered way as coastal regions are been occupied by antropic activities associated to increasing alterations generated by climatic changes, affecting the natural dynamics of ecosystems, made evident through several environmental indicators, among them the temporal and spatial variability analysis of the coastal line. During the last two decades was possible verify a general retrogadation of this coastal line, generating important economic damage to the regions by destructing houses and building. To study this problems and point out correct solutions e decisions to use and occupations of the littoral, it was necessary to know the rates of retreat of the coastal line through multi-temporal studies. From this point of view this study has as main objective calculate the coastal line retreat rates, associating the obtained results to the punctual dynamic processes in a multi-temporal analysis using satellite images and air photos in remote sensing and connected to geoprocessing. To this task, it was necessary to adapt the extension Digital Shoreline Analysis System â DSAS 3.2 to ArcMap 9.0. program to understand the evolution of coastal line during the last two decades. It was performed field trips to take notes and photos, in situ, about beaches erosion. The results show strong erosion in whole region, specially on Caponga, Pacheco and Itarema beaches, where the coastal line retreat rates were 7.3 m/y, 4 m/y and 3.4 m/y, respectively. The other places (IcaraÃ, Iracema, Iparana and Meireles), the rates were lower then 1.5 m/y. The estuary of Jaguaribe river was also studied, and the erosion index, on the left bank was 0.83 m/y, and deposition on the right bank 0.77 m/y. The correlation between the retreat rates obtained and the environment parameters analysis of these regions demonstrate that the coastal line spatial comportment is directly affected by a series of environmental factors, geologic and antropic. So, itâs necessary to adopt measures and proceedings that permit occupation in order of the coastal regions in Cearà State to mitigate the ocean action over continent.

O objetivo deste trabalho é avaliar as variações espaço-temporais da dinâmica morfo-sedimentar do sistema praial de Ilha Comprida-SP. Assim, para reconhecer os padrões de onda encontrados na região, resultados do modelo global de ondas WAVEWATCH III foram utilizados. Da mesma forma, levantamentos de campo periódicos foram realizados em cinco diferentes setores com obtenção de dados morfológicos e sedimentares. Simulações com o modelo numérico MIKE21 SW foram realizadas para reconhecer as tendências de transporte e distribuição de força de onda. Os resultados mostraram uma tendência geral de transporte para NE, com maiores valores para a região sul em relação a norte, com dois setores principais de divergência residual: centro-sul e norte. A divergência centro-sul apresenta um aumento e uma migração para sul nos meses mais energéticos, enquanto que a divergência norte apresenta uma manutenção espacial ao longo das estações. A distribuição de força de onda mostrou-se mais elevada nos setores centro-sul e norte, coincidindo com os pontos de divergência. Dados granulométricos mostraram baixa variabilidade temporal, mas possuem diferenças espaciais que refletem a hidrodinâmica local. Os dados volumétricos apresentam maiores valores médios nos setores centro-norte e menores no centro-sul e norte. De modo geral, os resultados mostram que ao longo de uma linha de costa exposta a um mesmo padrão de ondas, sua variabilidade é um reflexo de alterações hidrodinâmicas locais. Tais conclusões são importantes para o conhecimento do estado atual das praias e de sua evolução. / The aim of this study is to evaluate the spatial-time variations on the beach system of Ilha Comprida-SP. Therefore, the wave reanalysis database from the global wave generation model WAVEWATCH III was used to recognize the wave pattern for the region. Furthermore, periodic field works at five different sectors have been conducted to collect morphological and sedimentological data. The numerical model MIKE 21 SW has been applied to propagate waves onshore and recognize the transport tendency and the nearshore wave power distribution. Results show a transport trend to the NE, with the southern sector being larger than the northern sector in magnitude, with two main residual longshore drift divergence spots: in the central-southern and northern regions. Moreover, the central-southern divergence spot become larger and migrated to the south during the most energetic months, while the northern divergence spot kept its position throughout the year. Wave power results show two main areas with higher values that coincide with the observed longshore divergence spots. Sediment data presents low temporal variability, although spatial variations have been found reflecting the hydrodynamic conditions. The volumetric data shows largest values in the central-northern sector, being smaller in the central-southern and northern regions. In summary, the findings show that along this wide open stretch of coastline, exposed to the same offshore wave regime, its variability is a result of local hydrodynamic conditions. These results help in further understanding the island\'s long term evolution and current state of its beaches.

Submitted by Fabio Sobreira Campos da Costa (fabio.sobreira@ufpe.br) on 2016-04-13T12:35:48Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Dissertação_Mestrado_Gabriel_Dannunzio_Gomes_Junior.pdf: 5445671 bytes, checksum: 0fbfa28afa66b0dd5cc8217c1d6c2418 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-13T12:35:48Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Dissertação_Mestrado_Gabriel_Dannunzio_Gomes_Junior.pdf: 5445671 bytes, checksum: 0fbfa28afa66b0dd5cc8217c1d6c2418 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-08-26 / Existe uma crescente atenção voltada para o tema erosão costeira, devido principalmente à mudança climática de causas antrópicas, que está induzindo ao lento e gradual aumento do nível dos oceanos de forma irreversível a curto prazo, de acordo com a grande maioria dos cientistas do clima. Outro fator que influencia no aumento do risco de erosão costeira é a ocupação antrópica desordenada da área de pós-praia, que serve como proteção natural, bem como reserva de sedimentos para a área de praia, e que está constantemente sendo modificada pela ação das ondas e da corrente costeira. Este trabalho possui dois focos principais que estão interconectados. O primeiro trata do estudo de um caso de intervenção antrópica numa área de praia altamente suscetível à erosão costeira, numa zona urbana densamente povoada no litoral da zona metropolitana do Recife. Esta intervenção consiste na construção de um quebra-mar, com a intenção de proteger esta área de praia resultou na transferência da problemática da erosão costeira para a praia ao Norte. Numa segunda tentativa de resolver o problema, foi adotada uma terceira configuração que aparentemente teve um impacto positivo na prevenção da erosão costeira. Estudou-se os três cenários de configuração deste quebra-mar, utilizando-se de um pacote de software de simulação de ondas, correntes costeiras e transporte de sedimento, com o objetivo específico de se estudar, testar e encontrar soluções que possam eliminar a erosão costeira. O segundo foco deste trabalho trata-se de estudar o clima de ondas da região, através de medições feitas por um ondógrafo direcional durante um período de três anos. Para esta finalidade, desenvolveu-se uma metodologia de classificação das ondas a partir do espectro direcional, obtido através das medições, de forma a se distinguir com mais clareza as características de cada sistema de ondas que fazia parte deste espectro. Após esta etapa foi feita uma comparação entre o clima de ondas obtido através das medições, com o clima de ondas que faz parte da base de dados que acompanha o pacote de software utilizado na primeira etapa deste trabalho, de forma a validar o uso do software como uma ferramenta confiável no estudo do impacto da erosão. O resultado da comparação foi que o software possui uma base de dados confiável, mas que precisa de alguns ajustes para obter uma melhor descrição do clima de ondas da região. / There is increasing attention on the coastal erosion issue, mainly due to anthropogenic causes, first on the climate change, which led to the slow and gradual sea level rise, and also by the irregular occupation of the post-beach area, which serves as a natural protection and a sediment reserve to the beach area, which is constantly being modified by wave action and coastal currents. This work has two main focuses which are interconnected. The first is the study of a human intervention case in a beach area highly susceptible to coastal erosion in a densely populated urban area on the coast of the metropolitan area of Recife. This intervention , made by installing a breakwater with the intention to protect this beach area, but resulted in the transfer of the coastal erosion problem to the northern beach. In a second attempt to solve this problem, it was adopted a third configuration that apparently had a positive impact on the prevention of the coastal erosion. These three different breakwater configuration scenarios were studied, using a software package that simulates waves, coastal currents and sediment transport, with the specific objectives of studying, testing and finding solutions in order to eliminate the coastal erosion. The second focus of this work is to study the wave climate of the region, through the measurements of a directional wave buoy over a period of three years. For this purpose it was developed a practical wave partitioning method to be applied on the measured directional spectra, in order to more clearly distinguish the characteristics of each wave system that is part of the spectrum. After this step, a comparison was made between the wave climate obtained through the buoy measurements, and the wave climate obtained through the software package, used in the first stage of this work, in order to validate the use of this software as a reliable tool in the study of the coastal erosion impact. The result of this comparison is that the software has a reliable database, but it needs some tweaking to get a better description of the region wave climate.

Submitted by Fabio Sobreira Campos da Costa (fabio.sobreira@ufpe.br) on 2017-08-04T13:21:33Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 811 bytes, checksum: e39d27027a6cc9cb039ad269a5db8e34 (MD5) Mallmann D L B TESE 2016.pdf: 4902461 bytes, checksum: 0aba9da90444efabdff10b58184cab86 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-08-04T13:21:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 811 bytes, checksum: e39d27027a6cc9cb039ad269a5db8e34 (MD5) Mallmann D L B TESE 2016.pdf: 4902461 bytes, checksum: 0aba9da90444efabdff10b58184cab86 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-08-26 / O litoral central do estado de Pernambuco concentra grande parte da população do Estado, além de apresentar grande atrativo comercial e turístico. Paralelamente, a região sofre com o processo erosivo tanto estrutural (de médio e longo-termo) quanto episódico (de curto-termo), o que acarreta danos e prejuízos em termos ambientais e socioeconômicos. Neste contexto, o presente estudo foi desenvolvido no intuito de abordar a problemática da erosão costeira nos municípios de Paulista, Olinda, Recife e Jaboatão dos Guararapes, com especial atenção àquela associada à escala temporal de horas a dias, além de discutir suas causas. Adicionalmente, foi contemplado neste estudo o conceito do risco e a sua aplicação no domínio do gerenciamento costeiro. Para tanto, o estudo foi dividido em quatro capítulos centrais (Capítulos 2, 3, 4 e 5), em consonância com os seus objetivos específicos. O primeiro deles (Capítulo 2), teórico, foi dedicado à elaboração do estado-da-arte dos estudos que abordam o tema “risco” aplicado à erosão costeira nas escalas local, regional e global. Entre os resultados, observou-se que tais estudos tem se avolumado ao longo do tempo e que ainda existem indefinições no que se refere ao conceito do risco, o qual nem sempre é aplicado segundo a métrica da equação que o descreve, na qual o risco é o produto entre a incerteza associada a um evento e suas consequências. O segundo (Capítulo 3) objetivou caracterizar o processo erosivo em curso na área de estudo e sua elaboração indicou que, embora as praias nos municípios contemplados sofram frequentemente com a erosão, o mesmo não necessariamente está relacionado à retração da linha de costa. Muitas vezes, tal processo é produto da ocupação inadequada dos setores da praia, a qual não permite que o sistema se ajuste diante de qualquer oscilação nas condições hidrodinâmicas. O terceiro capítulo central da tese (Capítulo 4) trata das forçantes associadas aos eventos de alta energia, os quais promovem episódios erosivos de curto-termo na região. Corroborando estudos anteriores, os resultados apontam para a contribuição do vento, em especial da intensificação da sua componente sul, bem como da maré, na ocorrência de tais eventos. As ondas, embora contribuam, apresentam menor importância. Finalmente, o Capítulo 5 apresenta uma análise de risco à erosão episódica simples e semi-quantitativa para duas praias do litoral de Paulista, município identificado como área crítica no que se refere à erosão. A abordagem metodológica procurou ser fiel à equação que descreve o risco e fez uso de dados pretéritos e de ferramentas computacionais acessíveis. Os resultados demonstraram que, mesmo diante de cenários frequentes, as praias não apresentam a resiliência necessária para se ajustar às oscilações energéticas impostas por ondas e níveis de água, sofrendo alterações consideráveis, em especial nas áreas mais ocupadas. Como considerações finais, pode-se dizer que o conceito do risco tem amplo potencial de aplicação ao gerenciamento costeiro, em especial no que se refere ao manejo da erosão costeira e, finalmente, que a manutenção da resiliência costeira é fundamental para a redução de riscos associados a este processo por meio da atenuação das suas consequências. / The central coast of Pernambuco State concentrates much of the state's population, and present great commercial and tourist attraction. At the same time, the region suffers with coastal erosion in both time scales, structural (medium and long-term) and episodic (short-term), which causes damages in environmental and socioeconomic aspects. In this context, the present study was developed in order to aim the problem of coastal erosion in the cities of Paulista, Olinda, Recife and Jaboatão dos Guararapes, with special attention to that associated with the time scale of hours to days, besides discussing its causes. Additionally, it was considered in this study the concept of risk and its application in the field of coastal management. Therefore, the study was divided into four main chapters (Chapters 2, 3, 4 and 5), in consonance with their specific goals. The first of them (Chapter 2), theoretic, was dedicated to the development of state-of-art of studies addressing the topic "risk" applied to coastal erosion in local, regional and global scales. Among the results, it was observed that such studies has been increasing over time and that there are indeterminations as regards the risk concept, which is not always applied according to the metric of equation that describes it, in which risk is the product of the uncertainty associated with an event and its consequences. The second (Chapter 3) aimed to characterize the erosion process in progress in the study area and its development indicated that although the beaches in the covered municipalities often suffer from erosion, it is not necessarily related to the shoreline retreat. Often, such a process is a product of inadequate occupation of the beach areas, which does not allow the system to fit on any fluctuation in hydrodynamic conditions. The third central chapter of the thesis (Chapter 4) deals with the forcings associated with high-energy events, which promote erosion episodes of short-term in the region. Corroborating previous studies, the results point to the wind contribution, particularly to the intensification of its southern component as well as the tide, as most responsible for the occurrence of such events. The waves, although contributing, present lower importance. Finally, Chapter 5 presents a risk analysis to short-term erosion that was conducted by a simple and semi-quantitative method and applied to two beaches located in Paulista, municipality identified as a critical area with regard to erosion. The methodological approach sought to be faithful to the equation that describes the risk and uses past data and accessible computational tools. The results showed that, even face to frequent scenarios, the beaches do not present the resilience necessary to adjust its shape to the energy oscillations caused by waves and water levels, undergoing considerable changes, especially in the urban areas. As final considerations, it can be said that the risk concept has broad potential application to coastal management, especially with regard to the management of coastal erosion and finally that the maintenance of coastal resilience is key to reducing risk associated with this process through the mitigation of their consequences.

The seagrass extent has been declining globally. The human activities that are most likely to cause seagrass loss are those which affect the water quality and clarity. However, turbidity following coastal erosion is often left out from marine ecosystem vulnerability indices. This study quantified the coastal erosion for Tsimipaika Bay in northwestern Madagascar by using change detection analysis of satellite imageries. The annual coastal erosion data was then used to create an index for seagrass vulnerability to turbidity following coastal erosion. Considering that the height of seagrass species plays an important role in their survival following turbidity, the seagrass vulnerability index (SVI) was based on two factors; seagrass species height and their distance to the nearest possible erosion place. The results for the coastal erosion showed that the amount of erosion was particularly high in 1996, 2001 and 2009 for Tsimipaika Bay. The highest erosion occurred in 2001 with a land loss area of about 6.2 km2 . The SVI maps revealed that 40% of the seagrass communities had minimum mean SVI values in 2001 and 50% had the maximum mean SVI during the year 2009. This study showed that it is possible to use coastal erosion to measure seagrass vulnerability; however, the index requires configuration such as including the total amount of annual coastal erosion and incorporating bathymetric data. The entire project was built and automated in Jupyter Notebook using Python programming language, which creates a ground for future studies to develop and modify the project.

This study uses topographic profiles, washover fan volumes, and shoreline retreat rates to explore relationships between barrier types and Hurricane Harvey storm washover sedimentation. Pre- and post-Hurricane Harvey topographic profiles were created on 15 transects using Bare Earth LiDAR (2016) and surveyed elevations (2019). Depth and area of washover fan measurements were collected to estimate washover fan volumes. An inverse relationship was found between washover fan volume and pre- and post-storm barrier heights. Based on the topographic profiles, one section of shoreline had a scarp up to 3m high which blocked overwash, but appears to have increased shoreline erosion. In contrast, a low-lying section of shoreline generated relatively large washover fans, but experienced less shoreline retreat. Shoreline retreat was further quantified between 2014 and 2019 using Google Earth Imagery from 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2019 to track migration of the shoreline. The entire shoreline in the study area is undergoing relatively rapid retreat, but the results suggest that Hurricane Harvey increased erosional rates. The Colorado River Jetty borders the study area and may have acted as an anthropogenic barrier, likely reducing storm surge energy and contributing to marsh aggradation on transects in its close proximity. The study findings indicate that the identification and incorporation of other variables that influence washover magnitude would further the understanding of this complex natural system. The research results provide valuable information on the interaction of hurricane storm surge with natural and anthropogenic barriers, beach and dune erosion, and marsh aggradation along the coast of Texas.

This thesis describes the processing of 3D Laser measurements from Vestpynten, Svalbard to find out the erosion pattern at the site as a basis for the design of an appropriated shore protection suggestion and also to evaluate the applicability of 3D laser measurement systems in Arctic environments. 3D laser measurements would be interesting for the analysis of areas with limited  accessibility, since 3D laser measurement allows very precise recordings of the landscape/ surfaces without the need of accessing the investigation area. Based on the processed pictures and further erosion analysis the thesis suggests an erosion protection design for Vestpynten, based on geosynthetics. This was found to be necessary, since the road connecting Bjørndalen to Longyearbyen is at Vestpynten only a few meters away from the edge of the instable, eroding cliff. The suggested geosynthetic protection design is expected to be appropriate in terms of ecological and economical requirements of the site.

Coastal areas are vulnerable to different natural hazards, including hurricanes, cyclones, tsunami, floods, coastal erosion, and saltwater intrusion. These hazards cause extensive social, ecological, economic, and human losses. Continued climate change and sea-level rise is expected to substantially impact the people living in coastal areas. Sea level rise poses serious threats for the people living in the coastal zone, which leads to coastal erosion, inundations in the low-lying areas, tidal water encroachment and subsequent salt-water intrusion, as well as the displacement of the people living along the coast. Coastal erosion is one of the biggest environmental threats in the coastal areas globally. In Bangladesh, coastal erosion is a regularly occurring and major destructive process, impacting both human and ecological systems at sea level. The Lower Meghna estuary, located in southern Bangladesh, is among the most vulnerable landscapes in the world to the impacts of coastal erosion. Erosion causes population displacement, loss of productive land area, loss of infrastructure and communication systems, and, most importantly, household livelihoods. For a lower middle-class country, such as Bangladesh, with limited internal resources, it is hard to cope with catastrophic natural hazards, such as coastal erosion and its related consequences. This research aims to advance the scientific understanding of past and future coastal erosion risk and associated changes in land change and land cover using geospatial analysis techniques. It also aims to understand the patterns and drivers of human perception of coastal erosion risk. To place the research questions and objectives in content, Chapter 1 includes a brief introduction and literature review of the coastal erosion context in Bangladesh. Chapter 2 assesses different methods of prediction to investigate the performance of future shoreline position predictions by quantifying how prediction performance varies depending on the time depths of input historical shoreline data and the time horizons of predicted shorelines. Chapter 3 evaluates historical land loss and how well predicted shorelines predict amounts of succeeding LULC resources lost to erosion. Chapter 4 focuses on the patterns and drivers of erosion risk perception using data from spatially explicit measures of coastal erosion risk derived from satellite imagery and a random sample survey of residents living in the coastal communities. In summary, this research advances our scientific understanding of past and future coastal erosion risk and associated changes in land change and land cover using geospatial analysis techniques. It also enhances the understanding of the patterns and drivers of human perception of coastal erosion risk by combining satellite imagery and social survey data. Compared to much of the coastal erosion literature, this work draws from a 35-year time series of satellite-derived shorelines at annual temporal resolution. This time depth enables us to employ a temporal design strategy expected to yield a robust characterization of space-time erosion patterns. This study also enabled us to assess how well predicted shorelines predict amounts of succeeding LULC resources lost to erosion by using long-term historical data. The innovative we use has potential applications to other deltas and vulnerable shorelines globally. While empirical results are specific to the project's study area, results can inform the region's shoreline forecasting ability and associated mitigation and adaptation strategies. / Doctor of Philosophy / Coastal erosion is a global problem. Coastal Bangladesh has one of the highest rates of erosion in the world. Erosion causes population displacement, loss of productive land area, loss of infrastructure and communication systems, and, most importantly, household livelihoods. With an aim to advance our understanding of coastal erosion hazard, this study assessed past and future coastal erosion risk and associated changes in land change and land cover and human risk perceptions using different geospatial and statistical analysis techniques. First, different methods of coastal erosion prediction were evaluated to investigate the performance of future shoreline position predictions. Second, the historical land loss was estimated and how well predicted shorelines predict amounts of succeeding LULC resources lost to erosion were assessed. Finally, the patterns and drivers of human perception of coastal erosion risk were explored.

Efforts to mitigate shoreline erosion through living shoreline methods along the USA Atlantic seaboard have often incorporated the cultivation and transplantation of smooth cordgrass, Spartina alterniflora. Assessments of these transplants at several sites in the Indian River Lagoon have shown that survival is variable after a year (survival: 10-93%). Lower survival has been attributed to environmental variables such as dislodgement by wave energy, and transplant shock due to salinity changes from cultivation to estuarine conditions. To improve living shoreline projects, we examined the effects of cultivation salinity (0 ppt, 15ppt) on transplantation success, and the success of anchoring plants to biodegradable mats (Jute mesh, 5 individuals per 50 cm2) and utilizing oyster bags as breakwaters in facilitating reestablishment of new transplants. Spartina alterniflora individuals were grown under salinity treatments for 20 weeks; plants grown in 15 ppt produced new shoots with significantly greater heights than those grown in freshwater. The plants were then transplanted to two sites in the IRL, and monitored after four weeks. After four weeks there was a greater net increase in stem density and larger decrease in plant height for plants grown in 15 ppt. Jute-mesh mats and oyster bags did not impact growth or survival of transplants. Low-saline (15 ppt) conditions increased shoot growth of the project by 50% in four weeks at a cost of 30 cents per additional shoot produced by an individual. Longer-term monitoring will determine if benefits persist or decrease over time, and if the cost is justified by the benefits.

No / This evidence review was commissioned as part of the Joint Research Programme project ‘Working Together to Adapt to a Changing Climate: Flood and Coast’ (2018 to 2021). The project is a response to concerns about the impacts of climate change and the likelihood of significantly higher levels of risk to communities due to increased flooding (including inland) or coastal erosion. It aims to produce new learning about, and enhanced guidance for, community engagement practice in situations where this might be particularly challenging, for example, in situations where there is a low likelihood of building or maintaining flood defences in the medium to long term. / Environment Agency / The publisher requests that no file be uploaded. However, the latest version of the full file is available on the Government website on the link above.