Year: 2022
Relevance
Erosion is a common issue for most shoreline property owners and resource managers. To combat erosion, property owners often harden their shorelines with bulkheads or seawalls. While these methods are somewhat effective at reducing erosion, they also are associated with continual maintenance and a loss of intertidal habitat. This intertidal habitat is extremely important for producing the ecosystem functions and services necessary to maintain a healthy coastal ecosystem.
Response
The Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium's Living Shorelines Program seeks out and evaluates alternatives to hardened shorelines, such as living shorelines, for environmental and economic benefits. This program gathers information to produce outreach materials for a range of stakeholders, such as environmental managers, contractors and property owners, about the pros and cons of different methodologies. During this reporting period, the program provided 94 presentations, routine site visits and 25 publications on improving the effectiveness and ease of implementing living shorelines.
Results
Extension specialists informed decision-making on protection, restoration or enhancement of more than 6.4 linear miles of shoreline in Mississippi and Alabama. Their efforts led to protecting about 48 acres with an annual ecosystem service value approaching $3.2 million (based on ecosystem service values from Costanza et al. 2014).
Recap
Living shorelines education and extension efforts led to the protection of 48 acres of marine habitat that included more than 6.4 miles of shoreline and has an annual ecosystem service value approaching $3.2 million. (2022)