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...

EBB-tidal delta morphology in response to a storm surge barrier

The ebb-tidal delta of the Eastern Scheldt tidal inlet has been under the influence of a storm surge barrier for the past 25 years. This barrier caused a strong decrease in average tidal currents through the inlet. The morphological response of the ebb-tidal delta is characterized by several different processes: (1) an overall decrease in...

Eastern Scheldt Inlet Morphodynamics

In the south-western part of the Netherlands, the system of estuaries, tidal basins and islands called the Delta, has been shaped and studied by humans for centuries. By far the largest event that determined its current configuration was the storm surge that occurred in 1953. This giant flooding gave rise to one of the largest engineering...

Ebb-tidal delta morphology in response to a storm surge barrier

The Eastern Scheldt ebb-tidal delta morphology has been adapting for the past 25 years in response to the construction of the Eastern Scheldt storm-surge barrier in 1986. As a result of the barrier, there has been a decrease in tidal amplitudes, volumes, and average flow velocities, and there is hardly any sediment exchange through the barrier....

Historical Morphological development of the Eastern Scheldt tidal basin (the Netherlands)

The Eastern Scheldt tidal basin has changed drastically in the past five centuries under the influence of both human interventions as well as extreme events. In 1530 A.D. a storm-surge inundated large parts in the landward end of the basin, and in the following four centuries local inhabitants reclaimed about as much land as was inundated in...