Coastal dunes are challenging to manage due to their dynamic nature, vulnerable ecosystems, and recreational demand. A limited management approach was studied at Jockey's Ridge, the largest active dune on the US Atlantic coast. Visitor experience data, digital elevation models, and informal stories and photos were integrated in a case study approach. Data revealed the value of an integrated management approach that preserved the dune as a unique "living" geomorphological feature with interventions limited to the park borders. The accessibility of the dune to visitors facilitated intense, enjoyable interactions with nature. Elevation data show that the management approach has maintained the dune's unique naturally dynamic character, revealing the benefits of preserving processes rather than features.
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Coastal dunes are challenging to manage due to their dynamic nature, vulnerable ecosystems, and recreational demand. A limited management approach was studied at Jockey's Ridge, the largest active dune on the US Atlantic coast. Visitor experience data, digital elevation models, and informal stories and photos were integrated in a case study approach. Data revealed the value of an integrated management approach that preserved the dune as a unique "living" geomorphological feature with interventions limited to the park borders. The accessibility of the dune to visitors facilitated intense, enjoyable interactions with nature. Elevation data show that the management approach has maintained the dune's unique naturally dynamic character, revealing the benefits of preserving processes rather than features.
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Due to climate change the frequency of extreme precipitation increases. To reduce the risk of damage by flooding, municipalities will need to retrofit urban areas in a climate-resilient way. To justify this investment, they need insight in possibilities and costs of climate-resilient urban street designs. This chapter focused on how to retrofit characteristic (Dutch) typologies of urban residential areas. For ten cases alternative street layouts were designed with a determination of the life cycle costs and benefits. All designs are resilient to extreme rain events. The results show that most flat urban typologies can easily be retrofitted in a climate-resilient way without additional costs compared to the standard way of retrofitting. Climate proofing sloping areas are highly dependent on the situation downstream. When there is no space downstream to divert the water into waterways or parks, costs to provide storage easily rise above traditional levels for retrofitting. In addition to reducing flood risk, for each case one variant includes resilience to extreme heat events making use of green. The life cycle costs and benefits of the green variants showed that especially green designs in high-density urban areas result in a better value for money.
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Nederland heeft in het Natura 2000 Beheerplan Deltawateren richtlijnen vastgelegd voor natuurbehoud en biodiversiteit. De Nederlandse wateren en de deltagebieden maken tweederde uit van de Natura 2000 gebieden en vormen een belangrijk leefgebied voor kustbroedvogels en zijn voor trekvogels onmisbaar als rustgebied en plek om te foerageren. Om natuurbeheer effectiever te kunnen laten verlopen, is monitoring van de dynamiek van estuariene natuur in de deltabeheercyclus van groot belang. Het biedt publieke professionals mogelijkheden om systeemontwerpen en/of systeemingrepen (tijdig) aan te passen. Voor projectmonitoring wordt gebruik gemaakt van conventionele meettechnieken die veelal arbeidsintensief en dus kostbaar zijn. Doel van dit project is te onderzoeken of het monitoren van natuurherstelprojecten efficiënter kan. Kernvraag is of door de inzet van nieuwe meettechnieken meer of andersoortige data tegen lagere kosten, over grotere arealen en met betere temporele resoluties kan worden vergaard. Oftewel meer systeembegrip. Op drie locaties in de Westerschelde (Baalhoek, Knuitershoek en Perkpolder) wordt geëxperimenteerd met innovatieve meettechnieken om beter inzicht te krijgen op factoren die van invloed zijn op het functioneren van getijdenecosystemen. Data van negen kernparameters wordt ingewonnen: (1) vogelaantallen, (2) benthos als vogelvoedsel, (3) benthos als bioturbator, (4) middelgrootte schaal morfologie, (5) grootschalige morfologie, (6) korte termijn (dagelijkse) veranderingen in sedimenthoogte, (7) bodemdichtheid, (8) hydrodynamiek: stroming /golven en (9) sedimentconcentraties in water. Het activiteitenplan bestaat uit zes werkpakketten: (1)het fysiek inrichten van de meetlocaties, (2) data-acquisitie op zowel conventionele- als innovatieve wijze, (3) data-analyse door vergelijkend onderzoek, (4) het ontwikkelen van een afwegingskader voor publieke professionals, (5) een plan van doorwerking en (6) projectmanagement. Na afronding van elke meetcampagne worden data geanalyseerd en vergeleken met modellen en kennis die tot dan toe bekend is. Kennis en expertise wordt op de DeltaExpertise-site (HZ Body of Knowledge) gestructureerd en ontsloten met behulp van de Expertise Management Methodologie en de Soft Systems Methodologie.
Governments, fishermen, dredgers, nature organizations and researchers see that sand stocks are dwindling worldwide, while more and more sand from the North Sea will be needed to protect our coast against rising sea levels. We also extract a lot of sand in the Netherlands, especially from the North Sea. Every year we extract about 12 to 15 million cubic meters to protect our coast and about 15 million cubic meters as filling sand for roads and residential areas and for concrete and masonry sand. Every year we excavate a piece of seabed with the surface of the Schiermonnikoog island at a depth of about eighty centimeters. But our sand requirement continues to rise. Not only because we want to build more roads, homes and residential areas, but also because rising sea levels mean we need more and more sand for coastal protection. In this project a consortium of 21 partners and stakeholders will develop new knowledge and tools about the effects of sand extraction, with the goal to understand how it may be done sustainably despite the rising need for it. The project is led by Wageningen Marine Research and has been awarded funding under the ‘Onderzoek op Routes door Consortia’ (NWA ORC-call 2020/2021) scheme of the Dutch Research Council (NWO). Breda University of Applied Sciences will contribute with its MSP Challenge Simulation Platform, thereby developing and applying a bespoke sand extraction oriented North Sea edition, in close collaboration with data and simulation providing partners in the project.
Nature-based coastal management is mainstream in the Netherlands. About 12 Mm3 of sand is added annually to the coast to compensate coastal erosion and maintain high safety levels against flooding. This amount will likely increase to compensate for accelerated sea level rise. (Mega-)Nourishments may also strengthen and support biodiversity and recreational values of the coastal zone and associated wetland areas. However, the ecological and societal impacts of mega-nourishments on open coasts are not well established, hampering comparison of pros and cons of different nourishment strategies. This knowledge gap is largely due to the lack of suitable methods to monitor and predict the spreading of nourishment sand along the coast and into tidal basins. Ameland Inlet provides us with a unique opportunity to develop and test novel approaches to fill this knowledge gap in close collaboration with our consortium and stakeholders. In 2018 the first tidal inlet mega-nourishment (5 Mm3) was placed in the Ameland Inlet ebb-tidal delta, and geomorphic and biotic responses nearby are closely monitored in the Kustgenese 2.0 and SEAWAD programmes. Our research builds on the insights gained, will gather new data to investigate off-site effects (linked with SIBES/SIBUS sampling), and build a common knowledge-base with stakeholders. We will develop novel luminescence-based methods to monitor the temporal and spatial dispersal of nourishment sand. These insights will be combined with an inventory of off-site biotic responses to nourishment and the role biota play in the mixing of nourishment sand with natural sediments. Combined results will be used to develop and validate models to trace transport paths of individual grains and improve morphodynamic predictions. Throughout the project, we will collaborate and interact intensely with coastal managers and (local) stakeholders to address concerns and exchange insights, creating a platform for co-assessment and optimization of nourishment designs and strategies.
