Coastal Impacts, Recovery, and Resilience Post-Hurricane Sandy in the Northeastern US

Abstract

Post-Hurricane Sandy research has improved our understanding of coastal resilience during major storm events, accelerated sea level rise, and other climate-related factors, helping to enhance science-based decision-making, restoration, and management of coastal systems. The central question this special section examines is: “looking across the breadth of research, natural resource management actions and restoration projects post-Hurricane Sandy, what can we say about coastal impact, recovery, and resilience to prepare for increasing impacts of future storms?” These five studies, along with lessons from other published and unpublished research, advance our understanding beyond just the documentation of hurricane impacts but also highlights both natural and managed recovery, thereby advancing the developing field of coastal resilience.

Buying Time with Runnels: a Climate Adaptation Tool for Salt Marshes

“…Researchers and resource managers have recently pointed to the widespread increase of interior shallow water as an indicator of marsh loss (Watson et al 2017;Campbell and Wang 2019;Adamowicz et al 2020;Schepers et al 2020;Taylor et al 2020;Duran Vinent et al 2021;Himmelstein et al 2021), and have responded with management actions to stop or slow open water conversion (Wigand et al 2017;Raposa et al 2019;Adamowicz et al 2020;Babson et al 2020;Perry et al 2021;Wolfe et al 2021). However, in some marshes an increase in standing surface water could represent a recovery of "natural" hydrology after marshes were historically over-drained by ditches, and some marshes show potential for pool recovery (Wilson et al 2014;Smith and Pellew 2021).…”

“…A surge in restoration of Northwest Atlantic salt marshes (specifically, northeastern USA) occurred over the past decade, funded by the US government in the Communicated by Kenneth L. Heck aftermath of Superstorm Sandy in 2012 (Babson et al 2020). One technique involved digging "runnels"-small channels meant to drain standing water and promote revegetation (Wigand et al 2017;Raposa et al 2019;Babson et al 2020;Perry et al 2021;Wolfe et al 2021). As of 2019, knowledge on runnel efficacy as a tool to build marsh resilience to SLR (defined here as the ability of a marsh to resist a state-change to open water) had not been widely shared.…”

Advancing salt marsh restoration for coastal resilience: a learning exchange

“…After the storm roared up the east coast of the United States in October 2012, previously scarce federal dollars for restoration flowed for projects across the states most heavily impacted by the storm. The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) initiated 14 coastal marsh restoration projects on federal lands (Babson et al 2020). The U.S. Department of the Interior's (DOI) Hurricane Sandy Coastal Resiliency Competitive Grant Program (HSCR) administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), supported 15 additional marsh restoration projects led by non-federal partners including state and local governments, tribes, nonprofits, and universities (Dwyer et al n.d.).…”

An evaluation of the marine environmental resilience to the north of Qeshm Island

“…The specification of such challenges necessitates a problem-solving process (to revolve rudimentary problems into one, which can be analyzed) (Atkins et al, 2011). A need is also sensed as regards information, as to how the scientists make decisions and in relative to the background of populace (Babson et al, 2020). A simplification of structures and functions in socioeconomic-ecological systems is necessary to perform such a process.…”

“…It is essential to achieve a reliable level of ability to draw, predict, and solve environmental and human behavioral issues by consulting the scientific community, policymakers, and general public. A combination of change in dynamics and adaptability and the ability to modify and transform at different scales is considered one of the appropriate ways for elevating the awareness of complex systems, such as the Socioeconomic Status (SES 1 ) Coupled with the Human and Natural Systems (CHANS) (Bach et al, 2013). Coastal-marine systems act an imperative role in indicating the feedback from human and natural communities, reflecting on the complexities and uncertainties of dynamics and nonlinear communications (Bayani, 2016).…”