| Description |
A quantitative assessment of long- and short-term physical changes in wetland-dominated coastlines is required to support vulnerability assessments of coastal ecological systems and their underlying physical systems. The USGS Coastal and Marine Geology Program (CMGP) is well positioned to address physical changes: 1) Previous CMGP projects have developed and characterized seaward-facing barrier island morphologic metrics to assess vulnerabilities to storms and long-term processes (Plant and Stockdon, 2012; Stockdon and others, 2013). 2) CMGP is well suited to address multiple spatial- and temporal-scale data sets, from elevation point measurements and marsh accretion to large changes in areal extent (Morton and Barras, 2011). Extending this approach and developing data sets and vulnerability assessments for the adjacent marsh shorelines is a logical next step—as well as a requirement—because of the strong physical process coupling both sides of barrier islands. This coupling is emphasized in the short term during storms and in the long term as sea-level rise modifies these dynamic environments. |
