Natural protection of the coast: mapping coastal protection service provided by nearshore marine habitats

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Natural protection of the coast: mapping coastal protection service provided by nearshore marine habitats Sandra Ramos1, Jacinto Cunha1, Ana Bio1*, Eva Amorim1 and Michael Elliott2 1 Centro Interdisciplinar de Pesquisa Marine e Ambiental (CIIMAR), Portugal 2 Institute of Estuarine and Coastal Studies, University of Hull, United Kingdom Given the global climatic changes, coastal zones are more vulnerable to sea level rise and climate extreme events. Nearshore marine habitats, such as sand dunes and salt marshes, have the ability to naturally provide protection to floods, storm waves and erosion, which has been considered as an important ecosystem service. The NW of Portugal is part of the Iberian Peninsula ecoregion, receiving the influence of three oceanic water masses. Its coast features rocky and sandy beaches and several estuaries, some of them under environmental protection. This area is highly urbanized, hosting the second major city of Portugal (Porto) and supporting several human activities, with tourism exponentially growing over the last decade. The coastal zones are prime real estate areas and new tourism economic opportunities are growing fast, stressing the need to manage human activities without compromising ecosystem health and the maintenance of ecosystem services, namely coastal protection. Integrated in the MarRISK project, different modelling tools will be combined to assess coastal protection provided by the natural habitats, like sand dunes and salt-marshes of NW Portugal. Using different habitat features, as bathymetry, topography and waves data obtained within the MarRISK project, with vegetation and land-cover profiles, the protection service provided by sand dunes and salt-marshes will be assessed. Output maps will represent the amount of avoided erosion or inundation along the NW-Portuguese coast, in the presence/absence of the nearshore marine habitats. These maps will be important to help decision-makers understand the importance of protecting these natural habitats. Acknowledgements This research was supported by the Strategic Funding UID/Multi/04423/2013 through national funds provided by FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and by the European Union MarRISK project: Adaptación costera ante el Cambio Climático: conocer los riesgos y aumentar la resiliencia (0262_MarRISK_1_E), through EP INTERREG V A España-Portugal (POCTEP) program. Sandra Ramos was supported by a FCT scholarship (SFRH/BPD/102721/2014). Keywords: ecosystem services, Climate Change, Dunes, Coastal ecosystems, coastal management Conference: IMMR'18 | International Meeting on Marine Research 2018, Peniche, Portugal, 5 Jul - 6 Jul, 2018. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Biodiversity, Conservation and Coastal Management Citation: Ramos S, Cunha J, Bio A, Amorim E and Elliott M (2019). Natural protection of the coast: mapping coastal protection service provided by nearshore marine habitats. Front. Mar. Sci. Conference Abstract: IMMR'18 | International Meeting on Marine Research 2018. doi: 10.3389/conf.FMARS.2018.06.00012 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 28 Apr 2018; Published Online: 07 Jan 2019. * Correspondence: PhD. Ana Bio, Centro Interdisciplinar de Pesquisa Marine e Ambiental (CIIMAR), Matosinhos, Portugal, anabio@ciimar.up.pt Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Sandra Ramos Jacinto Cunha Ana Bio Eva Amorim Michael Elliott Google Sandra Ramos Jacinto Cunha Ana Bio Eva Amorim Michael Elliott Google Scholar Sandra Ramos Jacinto Cunha Ana Bio Eva Amorim Michael Elliott PubMed Sandra Ramos Jacinto Cunha Ana Bio Eva Amorim Michael Elliott Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.