Premium
Evidence for elevated coastal vulnerability following large‐scale historical oyster bed harvesting
Author(s) -
Brandon Christine M.,
Woodruff Jonathan D.,
Orton Philip M.,
Donnelly Jeffrey P.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
earth surface processes and landforms
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.294
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1096-9837
pISSN - 0197-9337
DOI - 10.1002/esp.3931
Subject(s) - overwash , oyster , intertidal zone , flood myth , storm , coastal erosion , oceanography , geology , storm surge , deposition (geology) , spartina alterniflora , mangrove , sedimentary rock , shore , environmental science , marsh , hydrology (agriculture) , barrier island , wetland , fishery , ecology , geography , geomorphology , sediment , paleontology , geotechnical engineering , archaeology , biology
Abstract Living coastal barriers, such as coral reefs, tidal marshes, mangroves and shellfish beds are widely recognized for their potential role in mitigating flood risk. Limited data exists, however, for assessing the effectiveness of these natural defenses as forms of flood mitigation. In particular, very few mature shellfish beds exist today for modern study due to their destruction in the past few centuries. As an alternative method of study, we present here sedimentary reconstructions of storm overwash from coastal ponds internal to New York Harbor. We use these reconstructions to show that the initial degradation of oyster beds following European settlement of the area coincides with a significant increase in wave‐derived overwash deposition at all three of our field sites. Numerical simulations of two flood events of record in the harbor (Hurricane Sandy and a severe winter storm in 1992) were run without and with oyster beds of varying heights (1 m above the seafloor‐to‐intertidal). Simulations show that the removal of these oyster beds increases wave energy directly off‐shore of our field sites by between 30% and 200%. Sedimentary reconstructions and wave modeling experiments therefore both support oyster beds serving as a significant form of coastal protection prior to European disturbance. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.