Wave attenuation by flattened vegetation (Scirpus mariqueter)

With the capacity to reduce wave energy and trap sediment, Scirpus mariqueter has become an important native species of annual grass for ecology restoration at the Yangtze Estuary in eastern China. Due to seasonal variances of biophysical characteristics, S. mariqueter usually bends and breaks in winter, resulting in flattened stems that may...

Can cheniers protect mangroves along eroding coastlines? – The effect of contrasting foreshore types on mangrove stability

Mangrove forests are increasingly valued as wave-attenuating buffers in coastal flood defence strategies. However, as mangroves are vulnerable to wave-induced erosion, this raises the question, how can the stability of these protective mangrove forests be promoted? To address this question, we investigate how mangrove dynamics in a microtidal...

A probabilistic framework for windows of opportunity: the role of temporal variability in critical transitions

The establishment of young organisms in harsh environments often requires a window of opportunity (WoO). That is, a short time window in which environmental conditions drop long enough below the hostile average level, giving the organism time to develop tolerance and transition into stable existence. It has been suggested that this kind of...

Tropical Biogeomorphic Seagrass Landscapes for Coastal Protection: Persistence and Wave Attenuation During Major Storms Events

The intensity of major storm events generated within the Atlantic Basin is projected to rise with the warming of the oceans, which is likely to exacerbate coastal erosion. Nature-based flood defence has been proposed as a sustainable and effective solution to protect coastlines. However, the ability of natural ecosystems to withstand major...

Modelling spatial and temporal patterns in bioturbator effects on sediment resuspension: A biophysical metabolic approach

Tidal flats are biogeomorphic landscapes, shaped by physical forces and interaction with benthic biota. We used a metabolic approach to assess the overarching effect of bioturbators on tidal landscapes. The benthic bivalve common cockle (Cerastoderma edule) was used as model organism. The effect of C. edule on sediment resuspension was...

Tidal-flat reclamation aggravates potential risk from storm impacts

A better understanding of how tidal-flat reclamation changes the flood hazard is critical for climate-proofing coastal flood defense design of heavily urbanized areas. Since the 1950s, large-scale reclamation has been performed along the Shanghai coast, China, to fulfill the land demands of city expansion. We now show that the loss of tidal...

Seagrass coastal protection services reduced by invasive species expansion and megaherbivore grazing

Seagrasses provide an important ecosystem service by creating a stable erosion-resistant seabed that contributes to effective coastal protection. Variable morphologies and life-history strategies, however, are likely to impact the sediment stabilization capacity of different seagrass species. We question how opportunistic invasive species and...

The potential of coastal ecosystems to mitigate the impact of sea-level rise in shallow tropical bays

Shallow tropical bays in the Caribbean, like Orient Bay and Galion Bay in Saint Martin, are often sheltered by coral reefs. In the relatively calm environment behind the reefs, seagrass meadows grow. Together, these ecosystems provide valuable ecosystem services like coastal protection, biodiversity hotspots, nursery grounds for animals and...

Historic storms and the hidden value of coastal wetlands for nature-based flood defence

Global change amplifies coastal flood risks and motivates a paradigm shift towards nature-based coastal defence, where engineered structures are supplemented with coastal wetlands such as saltmarshes. Although experiments and models indicate that such natural defences can attenuate storm waves, there is still limited field evidence on how...

Ocean model resolution dependence of Caribbean sea-level projections

Sea-level rise poses severe threats to coastal and low-lying regions around the world, by exacerbating coastal erosion and flooding. Adequate sea-level projections over the next decades are important for both decision making and for the development of successful adaptation strategies in these coastal and low-lying regions to climate change....

An integral approach to design the Roggenplaat intertidal shoal nourishment

The Eastern Scheldt, a tidal basin in the southwest of The Netherlands, underwent large physical and ecological changes due to a system-wide human interference. The construction of a storm surge barrier at the seaward side and closure of the upstream branches in the 1980s resulted in intertidal flat erosion. This has far reaching consequences...

A process based model of cohesive sediment resuspension under bioturbators’ influence

Macrozoobenthos may affect sediment stability and erodibility via their bioturbating activities, thereby impacting both the short- and long-term development of coastal morphology. Process-based models accounting for the effect of bioturbation are needed for the modelling of erosion dynamics. With this work, we explore whether the fundamental...

Predicting long-term and short-term tidal flat morphodynamics using a dynamic equilibrium theory

Dynamic equilibrium theory is a fruitful concept, which we use to systematically explain the tidal flat morphodynamic response to tidal currents, wind waves, sediment supply, and other sedimentological drivers. This theory stems from a simple analytical model that derives the tide- or wave-dominated tidal flat morphology by assuming that...

Windows of opportunity for salt marsh vegetation establishment on bare tidal flats: The importance of temporal and spatial variability in hydrodynamic forcing

Understanding the mechanisms limiting and facilitating salt marsh vegetation initial establishment is of widespread importance due to the many valuable services salt marsh ecosystems offer. Salt marsh dynamics have been investigated by many previous studies, but the mechanisms that enable or disable salt marsh initial establishment are still...

A mixed modeling approach to predict the effect of environmental modification on species distributions

Human infrastructures can modify ecosystems, thereby affecting the occurrence and spatial distribution of organisms, as well as ecosystem functionality. Sustainable development requires the ability to predict responses of species to anthropogenic pressures. We investigated the large scale, long term effect of important human alterations of...