Linking restoration ecology with coastal dune restoration

Restoration and preservation of coastal dunes is urgently needed because of the increasingly rapid loss and degradation of these ecosystems because of many human activities. These activities alter natural processes and coastal dynamics, eliminate topographic variability, fragment, degrade or elimina...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Geomorphology (Amsterdam) Vol. 199; pp. 214 - 224
Main Authors:	Lithgow, D., Martínez, M.L., Gallego-Fernández, J.B., Hesp, P.A., Flores, P., Gachuz, S., Rodríguez-Revelo, N., Jiménez-Orocio, O., Mendoza-González, G., Álvarez-Molina, L.L.
Format:	Journal Article Conference Proceeding
Language:	English
Published:	Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01-10-2013 Elsevier
Subjects:	Animal and plant ecology Animal, plant and microbial ecology Biological and medical sciences coasts Destabilization dunes Earth sciences Earth, ocean, space ecological succession Ecosystem health Ecosystem integrity Ecosystem sustainability ecosystems environmental health Exact sciences and technology Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology Geomorphology, landform evolution habitats humans indigenous species land restoration Marine and continental quaternary Natural succession Revegetation Surficial geology Synecology Terrestrial ecosystems United States South Africa Netherlands Southern Africa Europe Africa Western Europe Revegetation Ecosystem sustainability Ecosystem integrity Natural succession Ecosystem health Destabilization mobility environment protection habitat reforestation degradation coastal dunes North America human activity sustainable development preservation ecology ecosystems substrates vegetation effects internet landform evolution theory
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Summary:	Restoration and preservation of coastal dunes is urgently needed because of the increasingly rapid loss and degradation of these ecosystems because of many human activities. These activities alter natural processes and coastal dynamics, eliminate topographic variability, fragment, degrade or eliminate habitats, reduce diversity and threaten endemic species. The actions of coastal dune restoration that are already taking place span contrasting activities that range from revegetating and stabilizing the mobile substrate, to removing plant cover and increasing substrate mobility. Our goal was to review how the relative progress of the actions of coastal dune restoration has been assessed, according to the ecosystem attributes outlined by the Society of Ecological Restoration: namely, integrity, health and sustainability and that are derived from the ecological theory of succession. We reviewed the peer reviewed literature published since 1988 that is listed in the ISI Web of Science journals as well as additional references, such as key books. We exclusively focused on large coastal dune systems (such as transgressive and parabolic dunefields) located on natural or seminatural coasts. We found 150 articles that included “coastal dune”, “restoration” and “revegetation” in areas such as title, keywords and abstract. From these, 67 dealt specifically with coastal dune restoration. Most of the studies were performed in the USA, The Netherlands and South Africa, during the last two decades. Restoration success has been assessed directly and indirectly by measuring one or a few ecosystem variables. Some ecosystem attributes have been monitored more frequently (ecosystem integrity) than others (ecosystem health and sustainability). Finally, it is important to consider that ecological succession is a desirable approach in restoration actions. Natural dynamics and disturbances should be considered as part of the restored system, to improve ecosystem integrity, health and sustainability. •Restoration of coastal dunes is needed because of the impact of human activities.•Coastal dune restoration can be contrasting: re-vegetation and de-vegetation.•We explored how the success of these restoration actions has been analyzed.•We contrasted restoration with the ecological theory of natural succession.•Ecosystem integrity was monitored more frequently than health and sustainability.
Bibliography:	http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2013.05.007
ISSN:	0169-555X 1872-695X
DOI:	10.1016/j.geomorph.2013.05.007