Breaching of coastal causeways and dikes (embankments) is a common method used to restore estuaries and marshes to a more natural state. Here, we reviewed literature pertaining to embankment breaches to assess the effectiveness of this restoration method and to provide practical advice for future breaches. While all methods of embankment breaching can be successful, active measures appear to be more successful than allowing breaches to occur naturally. Restoring tidal flow sooner, and to a greater degree, will speed recovery of impacted systems. Overall, recovery is often quick, with hydrology changing immediately. Sedimentation and erosion patterns also change soon after breaching, but it can take up to 15 years for sediment elevation to stabilize, and 60–100 years for equilibrium conditions to develop. Marsh plant communities recover rapidly, with most systems almost fully recovering within 5–20 years. Fish, bird, and invertebrate communities also mostly recover within five years. Unfortunately, recovery is often not complete. Even with large investments of time and money, systems can still exhibit variation from reference habitats in their biotic and abiotic conditions up to 130 years post breach. In some cases, this may be due to embankment remnants still impacting the system. Conversely, the systems may have changed too much, and/or global climate change may have altered successional pathways to such a degree that recovery to pre-disturbance conditions is unlikely. Regardless, breaching of coastal embankments often restores conditions that are more natural and increases estuary similarity to reference systems. As such, breaching is a useful prescription for coastal restoration, one that can deliver a considerable return on investment.

破坏沿海堤道和堤防（堤防）是将河口和沼泽恢复到更自然状态的常用方法。在这里，我们回顾了与堤防违规有关的文献，以评估这种恢复方法的有效性并为将来的违规提供实用建议。尽管所有破坏路堤的方法都可以成功，但主动措施似乎比允许自然发生破坏更成功。尽早恢复潮流，并在更大程度上恢复受影响系统的速度。总体而言，恢复通常很快，水文状况立即发生变化。破坏之后，沉积和侵蚀方式也会发生变化，但沉积物高度稳定可能需要15年，平衡条件的形成可能需要60-100年。沼泽植物群落迅速恢复，大多数系统会在5-20年内完全恢复。鱼，鸟和无脊椎动物社区也大多在五年内恢复。不幸的是，恢复通常是不完整的。即使投入大量时间和金钱，系统仍可以在破坏后长达130年的生物和非生物条件下呈现出与参考栖息地不同的状态。在某些情况下，这可能是由于路堤残余物仍在影响系统。相反，系统可能变化太大，和/或全球气候变化可能已将演替路径改变到某种程度，以致不可能恢复到扰动前的状况。无论如何，破坏沿海路堤通常会恢复更为自然的条件，并增加与参考系统的河口相似性。因此，破坏是沿海恢复的有用处方，