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RELEEZE: RELease from coastal squEEZE

Type of Entry: Project
Website: https://www.tu-braunschweig.de/geooekologie/institut/usa/personal/maikepaul/r...
Duration: 01/06/2017 - 30/06/2018
Description: Nowadays, a manmade, solid dike line prevents the natural spatial shifts in coastal ecosystems, including the mainland coastline. An expected future sea level rise can lead to a loss of siltwaters and salt meadows in the dike foreland. This process, known as the "coastal squeeze", represents a critical tipping point of the natural coastal system, particularly the mud flat. In addition to the loss of the unique mud flat flora and fauna, the loss of coastal ecosystem services, including coastal protection, will have a strong impact on society. This loss would lead to enormous economic losses and costs for securing future coastal protection.

In order to prevent the loss of coastal ecosystems, their coastal protection functions and their value as a UNESCO World Heritage site, RELEASE from coastal squEEZE (RELEEZE) aims to identify management options for the barrier islands and the neighboring mainland coast, which keep a change from the line 'Strategy towards a nature-based strategy with increased flexibility and improved adaptability. By providing new space for sediment accumulation, salt meadows and dune ecosystems, their ecosystem services are being preserved as part of nature-based coastal protection solutions. This will increase the resilience of the coastal systems and protect them from exceeding the critical tipping points.

In an initial phase, natural sciences and social sciences first develop existing knowledge gaps and define jointly possible management options. Taking into account the opinion of relevant coastal actors (such as coastal protection, residents, tourism, nature conservation), these management options will be discussed to subsequently derive the necessary research activities for a second phase.
Keywords: Coastal landscapes and ecosystems, Management, Mudflat, Sea level
Contact: Mr. Prof. Dr. Boris Schröder-Esselbach
Technical University Braunschweig / Technische Universität Braunschweig (TU Braunschweig)
Langer Kamp 19c
38106 Braunschweig
GERMANY
Telephone: +49 (0)531 391 5629
Fax: +49 (0)531 391 8170
E-Mail: boris.schroeder@tu-braunschweig.de
Website: https://www.tu-braunschweig.de/
Financed by: BMBF (https://www.bmbf.de)
DLR (http://www.dlr.de/pt/#gallery/26469)