Resilient Coastal Sites for Conservation in Alaska

Abstract

The characteristics of some coastal wetlands make them more likely to adapt to sea-level rise (SLR) and remain diverse and productive even as they adjust to climate-induced changes. In this project, TNC scientists mapped these characteristics and estimated the relative resilience of more than 1,800 coastal sites across the Arctic, Beringian and Pacific regions of Alaska based on their capacity to sustain biodiversity and natural services under four SLR scenarios. Each site received a resilience “score” based on the likelihood that its coastal habitats can and will migrate to adjacent lowlands.

While sea-level rise projections for Alaska are not as dire as in other parts of the United States such as in the Gulf and the Eastern seaboard, sea-level rise coupled with other impacts from climate change such as stronger storms and permafrost thaw, pose a substantial threat to Alaska’s tidal marshes.

The products of this study include:

• A report describing the methods used to evaluate sites and the results for each coastal shoreline region in the South Atlantic
• Downloadable datasets including results for additional sea-level rise scenarios
• To see how the migration space of resilient coastal sites was incorporated into the terrestrial Resilient & Connected Network (RCN), please visit the Resilient Land Mapping Tool.

Additional Resources

Downloadable datasets

Resilient Land Mapping Tool

Citation

Barnett, A. and Anderson, M.G. (2022). Resilient Coastal Sites for Conservation in Alaska. The Nature Conservancy, Center for Resilient Conservation Science.