Risk factors for coastal conservation revealed by the Canterbury earthquakes

We're pleased to announce publication of the companion paper to ‘Coastal tectonics and habitat squeeze’ in the international journal Science of the Total Environment.

Risk factors for the conservation of saltmarsh vegetation and blue carbon revealed by earthquake-induced sea-level rise

dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.141241

This paper investigates the resilience of coastal vegetation to the effects of relative sea-level change which is the subject of very few empirical studies due to the scarcity of sea-level change events of appreciable magnitude in modern times. The novel opportunity provided by the Canterbury earthquakes allowed us to design a robust impact assessment to quantify effects and identify anthropogenic factors that influenced the pattern of losses or gains. 

The findings illustrate opportunities for managing risks to coastal vegetation types such as saltmarsh which are threatened by sea-level rise. 

The conservation of these characteristic ecosystems is of global importance for the sequestration and storage of blue carbon alongside many other ecosystem services that include considerable habitat values for characteristic wildlife such as waders and shorebirds in the Christchurch case.

In summarising results from the study we derived four key principles for building the resilience of coastal ecosystems that will be of interest to coastal managers worldwide.

Floodplain planning - a case study on regeneration oppportunities in a post-disaster setting

We're pleased to announce the findings of a three-part study on ecological 'regeneration' opportunities for the red-zoned lands in Avon / Ōtākaro river corridor. The study was supported by Avon-Ōtākaro Network in collaboration with Avon-Ōtākaro Forest Park and Greening the Red Zone.

This study provides an analysis of considerations for land-use planning (including sea level rise), with a focus on opportunities for ecological restoration and building resilience to climate change.

Case study on community-led restoration projects and climate change

A case study of three coastal restoration projects looking at community-led approaches and climate change is in the new publication "Adapting to the consequences of climate change: Engaging with communities".

Link to the article here "Community-led approaches and climate change: Perspectives from coastal restoration projects"

The aim of this new NZCS publication is to support work with communities as they adapt to the consequences of climate change. It has been written to assist coastal professionals, decision-makers and communities in preparing for sea-level rise and the associated effects of climate change.

2015 hottest year on record?

This recent information from NOAA is worth a look. It that shows very warm global conditions have prevailed since January.
 
via GIPHY

Read more about the trend versus historical averages on the Think Progress site here.

And some recent comment on the 10 things you need to know about climate change with implications for New Zealand.

There's a lot going on in the lead-up to the COP21 climate change summit in Paris ... watch this space!

Collaboration with NIWA to develop salinity models

The Resilient Shorelines team would like to thank the Brian Mason Scientific & Technical Trust and also NIWA for bringing their support to this exciting research.

An interesting though unexpected finding of this work was the discovery of a leak in the Woolston Tidal Barrage. The model calibration was excellent in the lower estuary and in the Avon / Ōtākaro. However there was a strong  anomaly between the modelled versus observed salinity datasets for the Heathcote / Ōpāwaho that have been influenced by the tidal barrage leakage. Read more about it here in the Brian Mason Trust report on 'Development of a fine-scale salinity model for the Avon Heathcote Estuary Ihutai'.

Read more here