Seagrass beds are so effective in protecting tropical beaches from erosion, that they can reduce the need for regular, expensive beach nourishments that are used now.
In a recent article in the journal BioScience, biologists and engineers from The Netherlands and Mexico describe experiments and field observations around the Caribbean Sea. “A foreshore with both healthy seagrass beds as well as calcifying algae, is a resilient and sustainable option in coastal defense”, says lead author Rebecca James, PhD-candidate at the University of Groningen and the Royal Dutch Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), The Netherlands. “Because of erosion, the economic value of Caribbean beaches literally drains into the sea.”
Increasing erosion with climate change
The authors looked at beaches of the Caribbean Sea, where almost a quarter of the Gross Domestic Product is earned in tourism, mainly around the beaches. “With the increase of coastal development, the natural flow of water and sand is disrupted, natural ecosystems are damaged, and many tropical beaches have already disappeared into the sea”, co-author Rodolfo Silva, professor of Coastal Engineering at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma of Mexico says. “Until now, expensive coastal engineering efforts, such as repeated beach nourishments and concrete walls to protect the coast, have been made to combat erosion. Rising sea-level and increasing storms will only increase the loss of these important beaches.”
Experimental field flume
To find out to what extent seagrass beds are able to hold sand and sediment on the beach foreshores, James and her promotor, professor Tjeerd Bouma (NIOZ and Utrecht University), conducted a simple but telling experiment. With a portable and adjustable field flume to regulate water motion in a Caribbean bay, they observed when particles on the sea bed started moving. “We showed that seagrass beds were extremely effective at holding sediment in place”, James says. “Especially in combination with calcifying algae that “create their own sand”, a foreshore with healthy seagrass appeared a sustainable way of combating erosion.”
More seagrass, less erosion
Along the coastline of the Mexican peninsula of Yucatan, the team put their theory to the test. “By looking at beaches with and without protection of healthy seagrass beds, we showed that the amount of erosion was strongly linked to the amount of vegetation: more seagrass, meant less erosion”, co-author dr. Brigitta van Tussenbroek of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma in Mexico says. At beaches where seagrass beds were destroyed, the researchers saw a sudden strong increase in erosion, resulting in an immediate need of expensive beach nourishments.
Promising future prospects
Both NGO’s and engineering industry welcome these novel insights. “To date, seagrass beds are too often regarded as a nuisance, rather than a valuable asset for preserving touristically valuable coastlines. This study could change this perspective completely”, Bas Roels of World Wildlife Fund Netherlands says. “The study opens opportunities for developing new tropical-beach protection schemes, in which ecology is integrated in engineering solutions”, adds Mark van Koningsveld, professor at the Delft University of Technology and working for the international marine contractor Van Oord.
According to co-author Johan Stapel of the Caribbean Netherlands Science Institute (CSNI) on St. Eustatius this will require a multilateral approach in conservation and restoration, as seagrass faces increasing pressure from various sources of pollution and invasive species. “Fortunately, NIOZ has a strong tradition in successfully restoring all kinds of coastal vegetation from seagrass to mangroves”, Bouma concludes.
Learn more: Seagrass saves beaches and money
The Latest on: Restoring coastal vegetation
[google_news title=”” keyword=”restoring coastal vegetation” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: Restoring coastal vegetation
- Have you seen Wally? Emotional support gator with devoted following disappears in Coastal Georgiaon April 30, 2024 at 8:31 am
An emotional support alligator with a devoted social media following has gone missing in Coastal Georgia.Above file video: Wally goes viral after Phillies gameSign up for our NewslettersWally, who has ...
- Local actions with ripple effects: Making waves through coastal cleanup effortson April 30, 2024 at 2:26 am
With an advocacy of protecting the coastal environments around its power plants, Aboitiz Power Corporation (AboitizPower) subsidiaries Therma South, Inc. (TSI) in Davao del Sur and Therma Visayas Inc.
- A tech giant is helping restore these Sacramento Valley rice fields to a floodplain. Here’s whyon April 29, 2024 at 9:59 am
Conservationists say fish and birds will soon thrive at the intersection of the Sacramento and Feather rivers and Butte Creek.
- Federal funds to help restore Lake Superior sandbaron April 27, 2024 at 12:37 pm
Preservation of rare coastal dunes and old-growth pines will be central to restoration plans for the western end of Wisconsin Point, the Lake Superior sandbar in Superior, Wis., that for centuries has ...
- Louisiana federal refuges, state wildlife areas get $3.9 million to restore wetlands, forestson April 26, 2024 at 2:44 pm
Nature-based improvements to forests and wetlands in seven national wildlife refuge complexes and five state wildlife management areas in Louisiana will be funded with more than $3.9 million of federa ...
- Earth Day drive plants 10,000 mangrove propagules for coastal protection in Iligan Cityon April 26, 2024 at 1:24 am
ILIGAN CITY (PIA) -- Iliganons planted 10,000 mangrove propagules along the banks of the Mandulog River in Barangay Santiago on April 21, as part of their efforts to safeguard the marine ecosystem.
- Restoring coastal habitat boosts wildlife numbers by 61%—but puzzling failures mean we can still do betteron April 22, 2024 at 10:11 am
Humans love the coast. But we love it to death, so much so we've destroyed valuable coastal habitat—in the case of some types of habitat, most of it has gone.
- Residents of historic Black neighborhood hope restoration effort can save their salt marshon April 22, 2024 at 2:00 am
New hand-carved creeks in the Maryville marsh could make the salt marsh more resilient to drought, floods, sea-level rise and climate change and sustain life.
- Bright Lit Place: The people who fight for — and depend on — Everglades restorationon April 21, 2024 at 6:07 am
Without freshwater from the Everglades, mangrove forests that protect the shoreline struggle to keep up with sea rise. Spongy peat soils and sawgrass marshes that help clean and recharge South ...
- Dune Restoration: Save the Bay revitalizes dunes at Easton’s Beach and across the Ocean Stateon April 19, 2024 at 12:53 pm
There’s a reason the state is known as the Ocean State. Rhode Island’s total shoreline is 400 miles long, an impressive amount of coast for the smallest state in the country. But the large amount of ...
via Bing News