LIVING SHORELINES: RESTORING MULTI-FUNCTION BUFFERS ON COASTAL SHORELINES

摘要

Rapidly growing human populations and changes to land use and shorelines are having severe negative impacts on water quality and wildlife habitat. A prime example is the Chesapeake Bay; one of the nation's most populated coastal watersheds. Approximately 70% of Virginia's and 90% of Maryland's populations live In the coastal counties along the Bay (Crossett et al., 2004). Sprawl has been eating up land and spreading impervious surfaces where once the land could slow and absorb runoff. As a result of regional growth and development and the desire to protect waterfront investments through shoreline modifications or erosion control structures, there has been a continued degradation, fragmentation, and loss of critical nearshore habitats. Loss of forest cover causes about one-half of the Bay's streamside and shoreline forests to be in a disturbed or degraded state (Sprague et al, 2006). Damage is not limited to the nearshore habitat, but can be traced all the way from the upland riparian areas through the intertldal zone to the shallow sub tidal areas. Throughout this entire region, natural habitats with all their diverse interconnections are being weakened or destroyed.