As sea levels rise due to climate change, California’s shores are expected to erode, causing the destruction of habitat. California’s resource managers are increasingly pursuing living shoreline initiatives that use natural habitats to promote shoreline resiliency — though their effectiveness is not always clear.
The goal of this project is to develop monitoring protocols for restoration projects that are efficient and low cost by identifying the key factors that predict a broad array of restoration outcomes. Funded by California Sea Grant and the California State University Council on Ocean Affairs, Science and Technology (COAST), investigators will leverage an ongoing oyster and eelgrass restoration effort in Newport Bay. By expanding the scope of environmental monitoring — to include more than 45 physical and biological factors — and extending the timeline of monitoring, the research team will evaluate which metrics are the most cost-effective and accurate indicators of long-term restoration success.
Results will be shared with government agencies and organizations such as the Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project, the Orange County Marine Protected Area Council and the Native Olympia Oyster Collaborative.