American Littoral Society Promote the study and conservation of marine resources and their habitats, defend
the coast from harm, and empower others to do the same
50 Years of Caring for the Coast
Assessing the Impacts of Hurricane Sandy on
Coastal Habitats
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Rapid Assessment
• Requested by National Fish and
Wildlife Foundation to coordinate a
regional assessment to rapidly
evaluate the impacts of Sandy
• Focused on the physical effects on
coastal habitats and species which
depend on them
• Identify realistic opportunities to
address and remediate challenges
Approach
• Information gathered by telephone
from interviews: natural resource
managers and NGOs (LISS Habitat
Work Group)
• Geospatial change analysis
• Summaries of impacts, impact trends
and priority areas
Geospatial Analysis
Barrier Island Marsh
Littoral Society “Rapid Assessment”
• 65% of Beach and dune areas:
moderate to high impact
• 14-17% of tidal marsh areas:
moderate impact
• 9% upland forest areas: moderate
impacts
Belmar, New Jersey
Mantoloking Breach
Tuckerton, NJ on Barnegat Bay
Sandy Hook (Gateway) National Recreation Area (NJ)
Sandy Hook
Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, West Pond
Prime Hook NWR (DE) Before Sandy
Prime Hook NWR (DE) After Sandy
Kimbles Beach, NJ
Long Island Sound
Long Island Sound
Region Wide Trends
• Inlet modification
• Dune and beach erosion
• Lowered elevations
• Innundation of Tidal Marsh and
Impacts to Prey communities
• Maritime forests
• New and “Moved” habitat
• Debris and Wrack
Region Wide Trends
• Sewage, oil and industrial
contamination
• Disturbance of forest canopy
• Vulnerability leading to ‘knee-jerk”
rebuilding actions
The “good news”
• Strong evidence of success and value
of natural coastal features responding
well to storm, providing mitigation and
protection to built community
• Lesson learned? Provides arguments
for expanded use of habitat protection
and restoration as part of regional
response and mitigation strategies
The “bad news”
• Little recognition of the creation of new
habitat through natural storm response
processes
• Rush to rebuild may negatively impact
these areas and miss opportunities to
restore habitat
Inventory of Priority Projects
• Assessment created a fairly detailed
inventory of both impacted sites, a
base data set in the geospatial
analysis, and a set of priority
recommendations from professionals
• Opportunities to integrate into
response framework (FEMA,
Congressional Supplemental Funding)
LISS Habitat Workgroup Summary Recommendations
• Coordinated Tri-state restoration
response
• Develop stewardship protocols
• Integrate coastal habitat planning,
restoration and enhancements into
floodprotection investment
decisions
• Floodproof pollution sources
• Blend grey and green infrastructure
THANK YOU
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