Scientific Summary:

Sea-level rise (SLR) due to climate change threatens California shorelines because of restricted opportunities for upslope migration and due to shoreline erosion, putting our coastal habitats at risk. California’s resource managers are increasingly pursuing “living shoreline” initiatives that use natural habitats to promote shoreline resiliency.

In direct alignment with SSINP SLR Research Objective 3.1, our team of investigators from CSU Long Beach, CSU Fullerton, San Diego State University, and OC Coastkeeper seeks to leverage a well-established, ongoing restoration effort in Newport Bay, Newport Beach by substantially expanding the monitoring scope and, importantly, extending the timeline to determine the extent to which oyster and eelgrass beds can act as living shorelines that promote shoreline resiliency while providing a suite of ecological benefits beyond the targeted organisms, including habitat creation and trophic support. We propose a robust, long-term monitoring framework that quantifies more than 45 physical and biological metrics; our team will apply a statistical approach to evaluate which of the metrics we measure are the most cost-effective and accurate indicators of functional outcomes, and which best predict the restoration trajectory of oyster and eelgrass beds. We will thus contribute to the development of monitoring protocols that can be applied inexpensively and can be used to predict a broad array of success outcomes (SSINP SLR Research Objective 3.1). Results will be shared with government agencies and organizations (e.g., Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project, Orange County MPA Collaborative, Native Olympia Oyster Collaborative) and the public, promoting living shorelines to address sea level rise. Because CSULB, CSUF, and SDSU are Hispanic-Serving Institutions, where > 50% of students are low-income, first-generation college students, our project will benefit disadvantaged CA communities via education and workforce development through direct involvement of at least seven paid undergraduate and M.S. students.

Plain Language Summary:

Sea-level rise (SLR) due to climate change may cause habitat loss and shoreline erosion along the California coastline. California’s resource managers are seeking to understand whether native habitat restoration could address SLR by preventing shoreline erosion while also providing ecological benefits. Ideally, monitoring protocols for such projects should be low-cost and efficient so that measuring a few simple factors could predict a broad array of restoration outcomes. Investigators from CSU Long Beach, CSU Fullerton, San Diego State University, and OC Coastkeeper will leverage an ongoing oyster and eelgrass restoration effort in Newport Bay, Newport Beach by expanding the scope and duration of monitoring to determine how effectively these habitats can promote shoreline resiliency while providing additional ecological benefits, including habitat creation and food chain support. We will evaluate which of over 45 measured physical and biological factors are the most cost-effective and accurate indicators of long-term restoration success, contributing to the development of less costly and simplified monitoring protocols. Because CSULB, CSUF, and SDSU are Hispanic-Serving Institutions, where > 50% of students are low-income, first-generation college students, our project will benefit disadvantaged CA communities via education and workforce development through involvement of multiple paid students.

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Student awards funded by COAST