Barrier Dynamics and Response to Changing Climate

This book compiles and synthesizes the current state of understanding on barrier response to changing conditions. A majority of the world's population lives along the coast at the dynamic intersection between terrestrial and marine ecosystems and landscapes. As sea level continues to rise and hurricanes become more frequent and/or intense, coastal environments will adjust rapidly, on time scales that will significantly impact humans. Understanding the processes and interactions that drive landscape response to climate change is essential to human adaptation. As sandy, narrow, low-lying landforms; barrier spits and barrier islands are especially vulnerable to changing conditions. In the future, gradual changes in environmental conditions including sea level, storminess, the dominant direction of wave approach, the geographic distribution of important grass species, and the rate of sand supply will drive potentially rapid changes in barrier state (e.g., from slowly landward migrating to disintegrating). Unfortunately, attempts by humans to prevent change have the potential to hasten the loss of these landforms, threatening their continued existence as well as the recreational, financial and ecosystem service benefits they provide. As managers and governments struggle to determine how to plan for the future along low-lying coasts worldwide, and scientists work to conduct research that will provide useful guidance, a volume on barrier response to climate change will provide a much needed compilation that is relevant both for academics and for professionals who are tasked with managing coastal environments. As such, this volume and the constituent chapters is written for a broad audience of researchers and planners-including, physical scientists, social scientists, graduate students, and management professionals-interested in the impacts of climate change on coastal environments.