Resilient Coastal Sites for Conservation in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic

Abstract

Sea levels are expected to rise by 1 to 6 feet over the next century, and coastal sites vary markedly in their ability to accommodate such inundation. Sites flanked by extensive lowlands provide space for the coastal habitats within to migrate landward in response to sea-level rise. The amount of space available for habitat migration is determined by the landforms, topography and elevation rise surrounding the tidal zone. However, that potential habitat migration can be strongly influenced by human activities. Even a site that is naturally predisposed to allow for migration may not be able to accommodate sea-level rise if development or disturbances interfere with natural processes. For example, hardened shoreline can create barriers to migration, a lack of sediment can prevent the necessary accumulation of substrate, and an overabundance of nitrogen can disrupt root development, destabilizing the marsh.

In this study, TNC scientists evaluated 10,736 sites in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic for the size, configuration and adequacy of their migration space, and for the natural processes necessary to support the migration of coastal habitats in response to sea-level rise (SLR). Each site received a resilience “score” based on the likelihood that its coastal habitats can and will migrate to adjacent lowlands.

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 Northeast and Mid-Atlantic.
• A web map allowing users to view and interact with the results for any coastal site
• A storymap allowing users to explore a variety of coastal conservation strategies such as land acquisition, restoration, enhancing productivity, conserving biodiversity and others
• 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

Web map

Storymap

Downloadable datasets

Citation

Anderson, M.G. and Barnett, A. (2017). Resilient Coastal Sites for Conservation in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic US. The Nature Conservancy, Eastern Conservation Science.