Ecosystem Services and Coastal Management: Tools to Counteract Sediment Losses

A special issue of Land (ISSN 2073-445X). This special issue belongs to the section "Landscape Ecology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 January 2025 | Viewed by 1428

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Biosciences and Territory, Università degli Studi del Molise, Campobasso, Italy
Interests: ecosystem services accounting; environmental accounting; evaluation of effectiveness-protected areas; payment ecosystem services

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biosciences and Territory, Università degli Studi del Molise, Campobasso, Italy
Interests: ecosystem services accounting; environmental accounting; evaluation of effectiveness-protected areas; payment ecosystem services; costs and benefit analysis of coastal management

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Civil, Construction-Architectural and Environmental Engineering Department (DICEAA), Environmental and Maritime Hydraulic Laboratory (LIam), University of L’Aquila, Monteluco di Roio, L’Aquila, Italy
Interests: coastal engineering; ocean engineering; environmental engineering; water waves hydraulics; physical modeling
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

(1) Introduction, including scientific background and highlighting the importance of this research area.

Land transformation processes, the lack of sediment supply from rivers to the coast and the artificialization of the coastline are only some of the factors influencing coastal erosion. These factors change the structure and function of natural ecosystems and their capacity to provide ecosystem services fundamental to ensuring human well-being. Carbon sequestration, erosion protection, biodiversity protection and recreational tourism are examples of ecosystem services supplied by marine coastal ecosystems for the benefit of the community. Mapping, quantifying and economically evaluating ecosystem services and including the results of this process in planning and programming tools can be useful for effective natural capital governance and reducing the effects of coastal erosion on human infrastructure.

Conventional artificial barriers (e.g., breakwaters, artificial reefs), in addition to being costly, can alter the ecological and geological balance of ecosystems and export the effects of sediment losses to downdrift neighbouring areas.

On the other hand, nature-based solutions can help enhance the natural ecosystems' resilience and mitigate the effects of the erosive action of the sea.

In this context, coastal and marine protected areas, considered instruments of command and control, contribute to reducing the effects of coastal erosion by conserving natural habitats and ecosystems.

The conservation and restoration of dune and marine habitats, such as Posidonia oceanica meadows, can help to improve natural coastal defence and mitigate the effects induced by wave and storm surges.

(2) Aim of the Special Issue and how the subject relates to the journal scope.

This Special Issue aims to collect papers (original research articles and review papers) that explore and provide insights into the complex phenomenon of coastal morphodynamics, suggesting solutions to improve coastal governance.

(3) Suggested themes and article types for submissions.

This Special Issue will welcome manuscripts that link the following themes:

  • Environmental accounting methods for coastal management;
  • Tools and governance for coastal management;
  • Contribution of protected natural areas to coastal erosion protection;
  • Tools and analysis methodology for mapping, quantification and economic valuation of ecosystem services supplied by coastal marine ecosystems;
  • Nature-based engineering techniques and best management practices for coastal erosion mitigation;
  • Tools and models for studying evolutionary scenarios of shoreline changes;
  • Impacts of changes in nutrient supply from rivers to the sea on costal morphodynamics;
  • Impacts of artificial coastal defences on natural ecosystems and coastal morphodynamics;
  • Socio-economic impacts of erosion and artificial coastal defences.

We look forward to receiving your original research articles and reviews.

Prof. Dr. Margherita Palmieri
Prof. Marucci Angelo
Prof. Dr. Marcello Di Risio
Guest Editors

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • ecosystem services
  • coastal morphodynamics
  • natural capital
  • river ecosystems
  • coastal management
  • nature-based solutions
  • protected natural areas

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

25 pages, 9535 KiB  
Article
An Innovative GIS-Based Policy Approach to Stream Water Quality and Ecological Risk Assessment in Mediterranean Regions: The Case of Crete, Greece
by Nektarios N. Kourgialas, Chrysoula Ntislidou, Eleana Kazila, Agathos Filintas and Catherina Voreadou
Land 2024, 13(11), 1801; https://doi.org/10.3390/land13111801 - 31 Oct 2024
Viewed by 625
Abstract
Due to the multiple pressures from human activities, many freshwater ecosystems are facing degradation. To address this issue, a new approach for assessing stream water quality and ecological (WQE) risk using a multi-criteria analysis through a GIS-based policy tool has been developed. The [...] Read more.
Due to the multiple pressures from human activities, many freshwater ecosystems are facing degradation. To address this issue, a new approach for assessing stream water quality and ecological (WQE) risk using a multi-criteria analysis through a GIS-based policy tool has been developed. The suggested methodology integrates eight different factors along the contaminant pathway from source to streams, including: (a) rainfall variability, (b) soil texture, (c) soil erodibility, (d) slope, (e) river buffer zone, (f) point source contamination buffer zone, (g) non-point source contamination of NO3, and (h) non-point source contamination of PO4. Utilizing fuzzy GIS tools, the above factors and their related maps were spatially overlaid (raster-based suitability for raster reclassification) to obtain the final stream WQE risk map. The final map depicts the spatial distribution of streams concerning their water quality risk and is represented by two classes of WQE risk. The first class is characterized as “appropriate”, in which there is no need for any further actions, while the other one is characterized as “non-appropriate”, indicating that actions should be taken to ensure the sustainability of streams’ water quality. The proposed approach was implemented for the island of Crete, which is located in the Southeast Mediterranean region. The developed methodology was validated using the Hellenic evaluation system (HESY2), an especially established and adapted to the Mediterranean river systems ecological quality metric method, obtained by in situ measurements that were conducted during different monitoring programs (1989–2015). Moreover, this study summarizes appropriate measures and practices that ensure the sustainable management of Mediterranean river basins. These practices can be adopted by local authorities, owners of polluting units, and farmers/breeders to improve the resiliency of streams’ water quality issues in the Mediterranean region. Full article
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