Evaluating impacts of living shorelines on estuarine habitat functions: Cedar Island project

The North Carolina Coastal Federation is planning to implement a nature-based solution along the shoreline of Cedar Island Bay in Cedar Island, Carteret County, NC. This shoreline has been eroding over the last several decades, resulting in loss of critically important oyster reef and salt marsh habitat. The nature-based solution (i.e., living shoreline) to be implemented is intended to mitigate shoreline erosion and provide habitat for marine flora and fauna via construction of a nearshore granite sill with landward salt marsh plantings. Regulatory agencies have raised concerns, though, about the limited data available regarding the effects of living shorelines on other coastal ecosystems. These concerns were initially communicated at a statewide workshop held in October 2023 hosted by the NC Division of Marine Fisheries and the Division of Coastal Management to discuss improvements to living shoreline designs and address permitting challenges. The NC Coastal Federation has requested assistance with monitoring of the shoreline at Cedar Island Bay to address research questions related to the ecological impacts of living shorelines on seagrasses and motile fauna.

Scholars @ ECU