Abstract
Human occupation of and alteration of the world's coast has transformed large stretches of it into Coupled Human-Natural Systems (CHANS) in which humans both influence and are influenced by coastal evolution. In such systems, human activity is as critical on natural resilience as processes and sediment supply derived from the natural setting. Pre- and post-storm observations of these interactions on the intensively developed Atlantic coast of the Gulf of Cádiz, (Spain and Portugal) are examined to determine natural and engineering resilience. Three case studies are used in three CHANS, showing that human interventions interact in complex ways with the natural system influencing post-storm recovery. In natural coasts, storm impact is assessed in terms of geomorphological response; on developed coasts, it is quantified as damage to infrastructure or loss of amenity. Preparedness, availability of resources, choice of response and the speed at which human agencies respond affect resilience for post-storm beach behaviour. Results show in some sites natural resilience adjusting by post-storm sediment transfers and an equilibrium morphology that may differ from pre-storm morphology; engineering resilience ensured that CHANS regained their pre-storm human infrastructure and amenity. Their management requires a fundamentally different approach to that of natural coastlines. The current immature stage of understanding of CHANS (especially the human preparedness and response components) is illustrated by the case studies presented where short-term political decisions and reactions to storms play a strong role in post-storm response. The nature and extent of many developed coasts as CHANS is slowly becoming more widely acknowledged, but to increase natural resilience and decrease vulnerability in CHANS better planning is required so that future storms are anticipated and when they happen, pre-planned human response actions are activated. Storms are an integral and inevitable element in the behaviour of coastal CHANS, not a disaster or emergency. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier B.V.]
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 144987 |
| Pages (from-to) | 1-13 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Science of the Total Environment |
| Volume | 768 |
| Early online date | 8 Jan 2021 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 10 May 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Funding for this research has been combined from various sources: Coastal Environments Research Group (RNM 911 of the Plan Andaluz de Investigación y Desarrollo e Innovación) funded field work in La Antilla. The authors acknowledge Luísa Bon de Sousa, Susana Costas and Haris Plomaritis for helping on data acquisition at Faro Beach. The participation of O. Ferreira is funded by project EW-COAST ( ALG-LISBOA-01-145-FEDER-028657 ). The work carried out in Camposoto was partially funded by Project CGL2014-53153 of Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad and RNM 328 Research Group of the Plan Andaluz de Investigación .
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
Funding Information:
Funding for this research has been combined from various sources: Coastal Environments Research Group (RNM 911 of the Plan Andaluz de Investigaci?n y Desarrollo e Innovaci?n) funded field work in La Antilla. The authors acknowledge Lu?sa Bon de Sousa, Susana Costas and Haris Plomaritis for helping on data acquisition at Faro Beach. The participation of O. Ferreira is funded by project EW-COAST (ALG-LISBOA-01-145-FEDER-028657). The work carried out in Camposoto was partially funded by Project CGL2014-53153 of Ministerio de Econom?a y Competitividad and RNM 328 Research Group of the Plan Andaluz de Investigaci?n.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021
Keywords
- CHANS
- Engineering resilience
- Gulf of Cadiz
- Natural resilience
- Storm impact