ADAPTATION TO A CHANGING CLIMATE IN THE COASTAL ZONE – A CASE STUDY OF PRIME HOOK NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

Abstract

Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge and its adjacent water bodies are important natural features along western Delaware Bay, USA. Historically salt and brackish marsh habitats, portions of the Refuge were diked and managed as freshwater impoundments starting in the early 1980s. Over the past decade, some of these impoundments have reverted to saline conditions, largely due to several storm events (including Hurricane Sandy in 2012) that have caused flooding, erosion, and opened several breaches between the Refuge and Delaware Bay. Because of these significant morphologic changes, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) completed a series of surveys and coastal engineering analysis to aid in developing restoration alternatives for managing the Refuge. As part of this effort, seasonal shoreline surveys were conducted in the fall of 2011 through the spring of 2017 to provide a temporal span of data for evaluating the rapid retreat.