The global decline in estuarine and coastal ecosystems (ECEs) is affecting a number of critical benefits, or ecosystem services. We review the main ecological services across a variety of ECEs, including marshes, mangroves, nearshore coral reefs, seagrass beds, and sand beaches and dunes. Where possible, we indicate estimates of the key economic values arising from these services, and discuss how the natural variability of ECEs impacts their benefits, the synergistic relationships of ECEs across seascapes, and management implications. Although reliable valuation estimates are beginning to emerge for the key services of some ECEs, such as coral reefs, salt marshes, and mangroves, many of the important benefits of seagrass beds and sand dunes and beaches have not been assessed properly. Even for coral reefs, marshes, and mangroves, important ecological services have yet to be valued reliably, such as cross-ecosystem nutrient transfer (coral reefs), erosion control (marshes), and pollution control (mangroves). An important issue for valuing certain ECE services, such as coastal protection and habitat-fishery linkages, is that the ecological functions underlying these services vary spatially and temporally. Allowing for the connectivity between ECE habitats also may have important implications for assessing the ecological functions underlying key ecosystems services, such coastal protection, control of erosion, and habitat-fishery linkages. Finally, we conclude by suggesting an action plan for protecting and/or enhancing the immediate and longer-term values of ECE services. Because the connectivity of ECEs across land-sea gradients also influences the provision of certain ecosystem services, management of the entire seascape will be necessary to preserve such synergistic effects. Other key elements of an action plan include further ecological and economic collaborative research on valuing ECE services, improving institutional and legal frameworks for management, controlling and regulating destructive economic activities, and developing ecological restoration options.

https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1890/10-1510.1

The value of estuarine and coastal ecosystem services

https://oss.deltares.nl/documents/48999/59759/Roelvink_2009.pdf

Modelling storm impacts on beaches, dunes and barrier islands

Empirical parameterization of setup, swash, and runup

We provide a brief synopsis of the unique physical and ecological attributes of sandy beach ecosystems and review the main anthropogenic pressures acting on the world's single largest type of open shoreline. Threats to beaches arise from a range of stressors which span a spectrum of impact scales from localised effects (e.g. trampling) to a truly global reach (e.g. sea-level rise). These pressures act at multiple temporal and spatial scales, translating into ecological impacts that are manifested across several dimensions in time and space so that today almost every beach on every coastline is threatened by human activities. Press disturbances (whatever the impact source involved) are becoming increasingly common, operating on time scales of years to decades. However, long-term data sets that describe either the natural dynamics of beach systems or the human impacts on beaches are scarce and fragmentary. A top priority is to implement long-term field experiments and monitoring programmes that quantify the dynamics of key ecological attributes on sandy beaches. Because of the inertia associated with global climate change and human population growth, no realistic management scenario will alleviate these threats in the short term. The immediate priority is to avoid further development of coastal areas likely to be directly impacted by retreating shorelines. There is also scope for improvement in experimental design to better distinguish natural variability from anthropogenic impacts. Sea-level rise and other effects of global warming are expected to intensify other anthropogenic pressures, and could cause unprecedented ecological impacts. The definition of the relevant scales of analysis, which will vary according to the magnitude of the impact and the organisational level under analysis, and the recognition of a physical–biological coupling at different scales, should be included in approaches to quantify impacts. Zoning strategies and marine reserves, which have not been widely implemented in sandy beaches, could be a key tool for biodiversity conservation and should also facilitate spillover effects into adjacent beach habitats. Setback and zoning strategies need to be enforced through legislation, and all relevant stakeholders should be included in the design, implementation and institutionalisation of these initiatives. New perspectives for rational management of sandy beaches require paradigm shifts, by including not only basic ecosystem principles, but also incentives for effective governance and sharing of management roles between government and local stakeholders.

/pdf/threats-to-sandy-beach-ecosystems-a-review-50zdg3kglj.pdf

Threats to sandy beach ecosystems: A review

https://appliedecology.cals.ncsu.edu/absci/wp-content/uploads/Gilman-et-al2008.pdf

Threats to mangroves from climate change and adaptation options: A review

This study provides field evidence of the existence, magnitude and formative processes of a sea-level-rise hotspot located in one of the world’s most densely populated coastal areas encompassing Boston, Providence, New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Norfolk Virginia Beach.

/pdf/hotspot-of-accelerated-sea-level-rise-on-the-atlantic-coast-4orf5q1it9.pdf

Hotspot of accelerated sea-level rise on the Atlantic coast of North America

A simple model for the spatially-variable coastal response to hurricanes

Onshore volume transport (Stokes drift) due to surface gravity waves propagating toward the beach can result in a compensating Eulerian offshore flow in the surf zone referred to as undertow. Observed offshore flows indicate that wave-driven undertow extends well offshore of the surf zone, over the inner shelves of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, and North Carolina. Theoretical estimates of the wave-driven offshore transport from linear wave theory and observed wave characteristics account for 50% or more of the observed offshore transport variance in water depths between 5 and 12 m, and reproduce the observed dependence on wave height and water depth. During weak winds, wave-driven cross-shelf velocity profiles over the inner shelf have maximum offshore flow (1–6 cm s−1) and vertical shear near the surface and weak flow and shear in the lower half of the water column. The observed offshore flow profiles do not resemble the parabolic profiles with maximum flow at middepth observed within the su...

/pdf/observations-and-a-model-of-undertow-over-the-inner-360an63bi3.pdf

Observations and a Model of Undertow over the Inner Continental Shelf

Anyone who has ever ventured to a beach has without a doubt watched in wonder, if not awe, what waves, tides, and currents may produce—or destroy—over timescales ranging from minutes to millennia. The second edition of Beach Processes and Sedimentation clearly and succinctly explains the physical processes responsible for shaping our coastlines. The material is presented at a level suitable for advanced undergraduates with backgrounds in physical science and beginning graduate students in any marine science discipline, including those interested in coastal management or policy. It will also serve as a valuable reference for those who have left their student years behind and for whatever reason find themselves in need of a reintroduction to beach dynamics.

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1029/98EO00170

Peter Howd

Papers

Empirical parameterization of setup, swash, and runup

Hotspot of accelerated sea-level rise on the Atlantic coast of North America

A simple model for the spatially-variable coastal response to hurricanes

Observations and a Model of Undertow over the Inner Continental Shelf

Beach Processes and Sedimentation, Second Edition