Coastal barrier islands are found along many continental shorelines worldwide, including the heavily populated eastern seaboard and Gulf Coast of the United States. Coastal barrier islands are very popular areas for residential development but also provide critical protection for adjacent shorelines from high-energy oceanic waves. They create a variety of shoreline and wetland habitats that support diverse plant and animal assemblages, including migratory birds and commercially important fish species. Despite the large number of engineering, natural, and social science researchers who conduct research on these ecosystems, no organization currently exists for fostering communication among these researchers and evaluating the future sustainability of these important ecosystems. The focus of the current project is to develop an interdisciplinary network that will address the effective management of U.S. barrier island ecosystems under the pressures of global climate change (e.g., sea level rise and increased hurricane activity) and continued urbanization. Through the formation of the Coastal Barrier Island Network (CBIN), scientists and municipal planners will interact through workshops, summer courses for students, a newsletter, and an interactive web site that will emphasize public and educational outreach activities.
Climate change may have potentially devastating impacts on barrier island ecosystems and the associated socioeconomic and cultural infrastructures of these heavily populated areas. Predicted increases in sea level and the frequency of intense storms will particularly impact barrier island ecosystems due to their extreme vulnerability to both. By facilitating communication among barrier island researchers from multiple disciplines, as well as with managers, this project will lead to better understanding and more effective management strategies for protecting barrier islands. Educational and outreach activities will lead to improved public understanding of the value of barrier islands.
Federal Award ID: 0741928 On a world scale, coastal barrier islands are considered one of the most fragile and threatened ecosystems given the current predictions for the impacts of continued climate warming. This research project was designed most generally to build and coordinate a multidisciplinary network of scientists, management agencies, and stakeholders interested in the future preservation and management of coastal barrier islands of the USA. Found primarily on the Eastern Seaboard and Gulf Coast, these islands provide a host of ecosystem and economic services that are critical to the large percent of the US population found along within these coastal areas. These ecosystem services include the critical protective barrier from wave action that enables the existence of inshore waters and wetlands, and which provide the habitat supporting a major recreational and commercial seafood industry. This protection from wave action is also critical for ameliorating storm damage. Overall, the conclusions of this CBIN network included the recommendation that coastal management strategies should include a detailed evaluation of geological. ecological, and economic impacts of future land development for private or commercial interests. Within this evaluation process, the strategic use of native vegetation for enhanced substrate stability and protection of existing structures should be studied further and applied level at the local. Although the persistence of these coastal barrier islands is temporally dynamic by nature, certain strategies related to the use of native vegetation could lead to greater substrate stability and the sustainability of native biodiversity, including a greater resistance and resilience following the inevitable storm impacts that are predicted to increase in intensity and frequency in the coming future. Land managers must also plan for increases in sea level rise within the context of approving future private and commercial land development, including specific building architectures and site selection to avoid or minimize storm damage. The strategic use of native vegetation could also enhance these efforts, although artificial, man-made structures may still be needed in the immediate future to offset cataclysmic damage to existing, grandfathered structures. However, future land management objectives should focus on the use native vegetation and site selection for buildings that could also serve to ameliorate future storm damage and impacts due to seal level rise. Our CBIN network also advises the continued application of extensive areas that should remain undeveloped and undisturbed to serve as refugia for enhancing the preservation of the native biodiversity of these important and unique ecosystems.
