ABSTRACT

Coastal zones are important components of marine ecosystems that link upland and marine areas, and are often maintained by landslides, though these habitat forming processes are poorly understood. They are also often sites of commercial development, including mining, and restoration. In this ecosystem restoration project, we rapidly removed a large volume of shoreline armoring from the perimeter of an intertidal earthen filled mine structure. The remaining feature mimicked the toe of a large land slide characteristic of the region. Physical and ecological monitoring allowed us to understand how coastal ecosystems respond to large scale coastal sediment processes, including landslide function that forms them, and restoration actions to restore them. As a course of restoration, over 22,936 m³ of non-native armor totaling 0.47 hectares was rapidly removed from the perimeter of a 2.8 hectare earthen pier. Three years after removal, the feature is less than half its original configuration (area). Beach composition and ecological community of the restoration area responded positively relative to pre-project conditions and to the control site. Applying these results to historic deep seated landslides that define coastal zones of the region, we conclude that nearshore ecosystems are resilient and respond similarly to episodic natural and restored large-scale hydrodynamic processes.

摘要

沿海地区是连接高地和海洋区域的海洋生态系统的重要组成部分，尽管这些生境的形成过程还鲜为人知，但通常由滑坡维持。它们通常也是商业发展的场所，包括采矿和恢复。在此生态系统修复项目中，我们从潮间带土填充的矿井结构的外围迅速移除了大量海岸线装甲。其余特征模仿了该地区大型滑坡特征的脚趾。物理和生态监测使我们能够了解沿海生态系统如何应对大规模的沿海沉积物过程，包括形成它们的滑坡功能以及为恢复它们而采取的恢复行动。恢复过程中，超过22,936 m ³ 从2.8公顷土墩的周边迅速拆除了总计0.47公顷的非本地装甲。删除三年后，该功能不到其原始配置（区域）的一半。修复区的海滩组成和生态群落相对于项目前的状况和控制地点都表现出积极的反应。将这些结果应用到定义该地区沿海地区的历史性深层滑坡中，我们得出结论，近岸生态系统具有弹性，并且对偶发的自然和恢复的大规模水动力过程具有类似的响应。