North Atlantic/Gulf Coast LCC Coastal Resilience Research Associate Hired

Available or Expected Products & Tools:

Compilation and synthesis of existing Gulf and Atlantic Coast vulnerability/resiliency information on priority coastal species and models that quantitatively link sea level rise and increased storm severity and frequency with system response, impacts to habitats and species, and restoration and management alternatives.

1. Identification of thresholds of viability for these species under different rates of sea level rise.
   1. E.g., rare dune plant and animal species, marsh nesting birds, tidal marsh vegetation.
   2. Assessment of restoration and management alternatives to increase persistence/resilience of these species and their habitats as well as evaluation of their effectiveness.
      1. E.g., assessment of beach restoration activities and their effects on rare dune biota, beach nesting birds, etc.
      2. E.g., assessment of particular types of nature based approaches (e.g. shellfish living shorelines) and their effects on non-target and/or rare species.
      3. Compilation of existing efforts to relate to use of natural and nature-based approaches to community resilience.
      4. Assessment of how these alternatives relate to use of natural and nature-based approaches for community resilience (i.e. whether approaches to increasing community resilience will also increase persistence/resilience of priority coastal resources).
         1. May need to reduce scope to selected types of natural and nature-based approaches
         2. Pilot effort(s) to incorporate species and habitat information into community resilience planning.
            1. Drawing from #3 with studies from each region representing its major coastal ecosystem types.
            2. Final results compiled and made available in report, website(s), data portal(s).
            3. Identification of additional science needs and approaches to address information gaps.