Morphodynamics and management challenges for beaches in modified estuaries and bays

Ana Vila-Concejo¹, Thomas E Fellowes¹, Shari Gallop^{2

3}, Irene Alejo⁴, Donatus B Angnuureng⁵, Javier Benavente⁶, Jorn W Bosma⁷, Emmanuel K Brempong^{5

8

9}, Pushpa Dissanayake¹⁰, Md Yousuf Gazi^{1

11}, Rita González-Villanueva⁴, Ricardo Guimarães¹², David M Kennedy¹³, John L Largier^{14

15}, Marlies A van der Lugt^{16

17}, Juan Montes⁶, Mara Orescanin¹⁸, Charitha B Pattiaratchi¹⁹, Luci Cajueiro Carneiro Pereira²⁰, Remo Luan Marinho da Costa Pereira²¹, Timothy Price⁷, Maryam Rahbani²², Laura Del Río⁶, Michael Rosenthal²³, Matthieu de Schipper¹⁷, Anne M Ton¹⁶, Lukas WinklerPrins²⁴, Zhongyuan Chen²⁵

Affiliations

¹ Geocoastal Research Group, School of Geosciences and Marine Studies Institute, Faculty of Science, The University of Sydney, and Sydney Institute of Marine Science, Chowder Bay, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
² School of Science, University of Waikato, Tauranga, New Zealand.
³ Environmental Research Institute, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand.
⁴ Marine Research Centre (CIM), University of Vigo, Vigo, Spain.
⁵ Centre for Coastal Management-Africa Centre of Excellence in Coastal Resilience (ACECoR), University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana.
⁶ INMAR/Earth Sciences Department, University of Cádiz, Cádiz, Spain.
⁷ Faculty of Geosciences, Department of Physical Geography, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
⁸ Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (DFAS), University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana.
⁹ LEGOS, OMP, UMR 5566 (CNES-CNRS-IRD-University of Toulouse), Toulouse, France.
¹⁰ Coastal Geology and Sedimentology, Institute of Geosciences, University of Kiel, Germany, and NLWKN, Lower Saxony Government, Germany.
¹¹ Department of Geology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
¹² Programa de Engenharia Oceânica, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
¹³ School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
¹⁴ Coastal and Marine Sciences Institute, University of California Davis, Bodega Bay, CA, USA.
¹⁵ Department of Environmental Science & Policy, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA.
¹⁶ Deltares, Delft, The Netherlands.
¹⁷ Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands.
¹⁸ Department of Oceanography, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA, USA.
¹⁹ Oceans Graduate School & The UWA Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia.
²⁰ Universidade Federal do Pará Instituto de Estudos Costeiro, Bragança, Brazil.
²¹ Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech, Barcelona, Spain.
²² Department of Marine Science and Technology, University of Hormozgan, Bandar Abbas, Iran.
²³ Rhelm Consulting, Neutral Bay, NSW, Australia.
²⁴ Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
²⁵ State Key Laboratory for Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.

PMID: 40881337
PMCID: PMC12337578
DOI: 10.1017/cft.2024.7

Review

Morphodynamics and management challenges for beaches in modified estuaries and bays

Ana Vila-Concejo et al. Camb Prism Coast Futur. 2024.

. 2024 Aug 27:2:e11.

doi: 10.1017/cft.2024.7. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Geocoastal Research Group, School of Geosciences and Marine Studies Institute, Faculty of Science, The University of Sydney, and Sydney Institute of Marine Science, Chowder Bay, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
² School of Science, University of Waikato, Tauranga, New Zealand.
³ Environmental Research Institute, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand.
⁴ Marine Research Centre (CIM), University of Vigo, Vigo, Spain.
⁵ Centre for Coastal Management-Africa Centre of Excellence in Coastal Resilience (ACECoR), University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana.
⁶ INMAR/Earth Sciences Department, University of Cádiz, Cádiz, Spain.
⁷ Faculty of Geosciences, Department of Physical Geography, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
⁸ Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (DFAS), University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana.
⁹ LEGOS, OMP, UMR 5566 (CNES-CNRS-IRD-University of Toulouse), Toulouse, France.
¹⁰ Coastal Geology and Sedimentology, Institute of Geosciences, University of Kiel, Germany, and NLWKN, Lower Saxony Government, Germany.
¹¹ Department of Geology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
¹² Programa de Engenharia Oceânica, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
¹³ School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
¹⁴ Coastal and Marine Sciences Institute, University of California Davis, Bodega Bay, CA, USA.
¹⁵ Department of Environmental Science & Policy, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA.
¹⁶ Deltares, Delft, The Netherlands.
¹⁷ Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands.
¹⁸ Department of Oceanography, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA, USA.
¹⁹ Oceans Graduate School & The UWA Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia.
²⁰ Universidade Federal do Pará Instituto de Estudos Costeiro, Bragança, Brazil.
²¹ Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech, Barcelona, Spain.
²² Department of Marine Science and Technology, University of Hormozgan, Bandar Abbas, Iran.
²³ Rhelm Consulting, Neutral Bay, NSW, Australia.
²⁴ Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
²⁵ State Key Laboratory for Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.

PMID: 40881337
PMCID: PMC12337578
DOI: 10.1017/cft.2024.7

Abstract

There is a relative lack of research, targeted models and tools to manage beaches in estuaries and bays (BEBs). Many estuaries and bays have been highly modified and urbanised, for example port developments and coastal revetments. This paper outlines the complications and opportunities for conserving and managing BEBs in modified estuaries. To do this, we focus on eight diverse case studies from North and South America, Asia, Europe, Africa and Australia combined with the broader global literature. Our key findings are as follows: (1) BEBs are diverse and exist under a great variety of tide and wave conditions that differentiate them from open-coast beaches; (2) BEBs often lack statutory protection and many have already been sacrificed to development; (3) BEBs lack specific management tools and are often managed using tools developed for open-coast beaches; and (4) BEBs have the potential to become important in "nature-based" management solutions. We set the future research agenda for BEBs, which should include broadening research to include greater diversity of BEBs than in the past, standardising monitoring techniques, including the development of global databases using citizen science and developing specific management tools for BEBs. We must recognise BEBs as unique coastal features and develop the required fundamental knowledge and tools to effectively manage them, so they can continue providing their unique ecosystem services.

Keywords: coastal evolution; ecosystem services; estuarine beaches; global coasts.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare none.

Figures

**Figure 1.**
World map of BEBs in the peer-reviewed literature (black dots) and case studies presented in this paper (blue dots).

**Figure 2.**
BEBs case study locations and photographs. For world location, please refer to Figure 1.

**Figure 3.**
Conceptual diagram showing the challenges of managing BEBs in modified estuaries and a summary of the future steps arising from this paper.

See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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Morphodynamics and management challenges for beaches in modified estuaries and bays

Affiliations

Morphodynamics and management challenges for beaches in modified estuaries and bays

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

References

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Miscellaneous