Investigating the potential for green-gray mangrove protection systems to establish, restore, and protect mangrove-associated biodiversity.....

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Investigating the potential for green-gray protection systems to establish, restore, and protect shoreline benthic ecosystems and mangrove-associated biodiversity in South Florida.Urbanization and climate change are replacing ecosystems with artificial protection structures. Coastal regions worldwide are vulnerable to sea level rise and intensifying storm events and thus have traditionally relied on engineered, human-made solutions for protection. Yet, as recognition of the poor durability of these structures and their negative impacts on coastal ecosystems increases, so does interest in investigating sustainable and ecologically informed defense methods. Over the past forty years, mangrove forests have become recognized as cost-effective, nature-based solutions that protect shorelines whilst delivering ecosystem services. This project will first evaluate how SEAHIVE structures-a novel engineered marine and mangrove ecosystem protection system-support mangrove ecosystems in urban Southeast Florida. Methods include: tree characteristics measurements, underwater camera surveys, and Autonomous Reef Monitoring System units for standardized biodiversity monitoring and comparison. The aim is to then cross-compare/translate key findings and monitoring methods to the Philippines, in sites being restored by green-gray infrastructure. With researchers at the Institute of Zoology, King's College London, and University of Miami, this project will fill knowledge gaps about shoreline protection and mangrove restoration systems, with the goal of sharing management techniques across regions that differ in mangrove-biodiversity, socio-political, and economic backgrounds, but that face similar ecological challenges.