Print Email Facebook Twitter Maintaining Tropical Beaches with Seagrass and Algae Title Maintaining Tropical Beaches with Seagrass and Algae: A Promising Alternative to Engineering Solutions Author James, Rebecca K. (Universiteit Utrecht) Pietrzak, J.D. (TU Delft Environmental Fluid Mechanics) Candy, A.S. (TU Delft Environmental Fluid Mechanics) Katsman, C.A. (TU Delft Environmental Fluid Mechanics) van der Boog, C.G. (TU Delft Environmental Fluid Mechanics) Riva, R.E.M. (TU Delft Physical and Space Geodesy) Slobbe, D.C. (TU Delft Physical and Space Geodesy) Klees, R. (TU Delft Physical and Space Geodesy) Date 2019 Abstract Tropical beaches provide coastal flood protection, income from tourism, and habitat for flagship species. They urgently need protection from erosion, which is being exacerbated by changing climate and coastal development. Traditional coastal engineering solutions are expensive, provide unstable temporary solutions, and often disrupt natural sediment transport. Instead, natural foreshore stabilization and nourishment may provide a sustainable and resilient long-term solution. Field flume and ecosystem process measurements, along with data from the literature, show that sediment stabilization by seagrass in combination with sediment-producing calcifying algae in the foreshore form an effective mechanism for maintaining tropical beaches worldwide. The long-term efficacy of this type of nature-based beach management is shown at a large scale by comparing vegetated and unvegetated coastal profiles. We argue that preserving and restoring vegetated beach foreshore ecosystems offers a viable, self-sustaining alternative to traditional engineering solutions, increasing the resilience of coastal areas to climate change. Subject coastal erosioncoastal managementcoastal protectionecosystem servicesnature-based engineering To reference this document use: http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:e3c7086f-1800-493b-b9de-4c3f15a4b1db DOI https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biy154 Embargo date 2020-02-01 ISSN 0006-3568 Source BioScience, 69 (2), 136-142 Part of collection Institutional Repository Document type journal article Rights © 2019 Rebecca K. James, J.D. Pietrzak, A.S. Candy, C.A. Katsman, C.G. van der Boog, R.E.M. Riva, D.C. Slobbe, R. Klees, More Authors Files PDF 181030_JamesRK_etal_MS_be ... unlink.pdf 7.74 MB Close viewer /islandora/object/uuid:e3c7086f-1800-493b-b9de-4c3f15a4b1db/datastream/OBJ/view