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Coastal Resilience
Nicole Maher, PhD.
Wetlands Specialist, The Nature Conservancy
•Windows operating system running on
an ArcGIS server
•The interface is a Java script open
layers application
•Google maps – base cartography
Working Hypothesis:
With more complete information, natural resource
and land use managers can make decisions that
enhance both ecological and socio-economic
resilience in the face of sea level rise and
coastal hazards.
Wetlands are vibrant & productive places!
Illustration © Barbara Harmon
Source: Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment
If we want to rely on these ecosystem
services into the future, we have to
explicitly incorporate them in our
planning!
Natural Resources
Natural Resources
Vacant Parcels
Vacant Parcels &
Migration Impediments
Natural Resources&
Human Communities
Long Island Sound’s Changing Salt
Marshes: A Remote Sensing Approach to
Sea Level Rise and Possible Salt Marsh
Migration
Mark Hoover, Department of Natural Resources
Management and Engineering
Daniel Civco, Professor of Geomatics
Adam Whelchel, The Nature Conservancy
Marsh Migration Example:
Barn Island, Stonington, CT
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Barn Island WMA
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2006 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050 2060 2070 2080 2090 2100
YearsA
cres
Low Marsh
High Marsh
1 m. - 100 years
Source: TNC/University of Connecticut
LM +26 acres
HM -86 acres
Beware the Siren Song of Simple Models
Odysseus and the Sirens
John William Waterhouse, 1891Simple models generate beautiful maps with a specific outcome.
Don’t mistake output map for a predicted future.
Modeling &
Management Decisions
Use Tools Appropriately
SLAMM outputs
from Roger Fuller, TNC
Don’t use models to generate a prediction of the future.
Manage for uncertainty. Expect surprises!
Compare many alternative scenarios and choose a
management strategy that is robust in all scenarios and
adaptable.
Long Island Salt Marsh SET Network: Marsh Elevation & Sediment Accretion Project
The Nature Conservancy
NYS DEC
NYC Dept Parks & Recreation
USGS, USFWS &The Nature Conservancy
PROJECT COMPONENTS:
•Long Island SET Network
•Elevation & Surface Accretion
•Porewater geochemistry
•Belowground production and respiration
www.coastalresilience.org
Photo: Steve Papa, USFWS
SMSTS Gardiner County Park 2010
Break Out Group “B”:
Coastal Wetlands Restoration & Protection Priorities in the Face of SLR
Goal:
Identify partners, data needs and strategies for assessing short and long
term coastal wetland vulnerability and adaptability to SLR
Products:
1. What do we need to know and who is collecting this data now?
2. How can we leverage or add to existing monitoring, modeling and
mapping efforts?
3. What viable strategies are available for adapting to SLR?
4. How should we prioritize candidate sites for the above strategies –
restoration, upland protection, or other action?
