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Understanding the sensitivity of tidal flats to environmental changes is challenging. Currently, most studies rely on process-based models to systematically explain the morphodynamic evolution of tidal flats. In this study, we proposed an alternative empirical approach to explore tidal flat dynamics using statistical indices based on long-term time series of daily surface elevation development. Surface elevation dynamic (SED) indices focus on the magnitude and period of surface elevation changes, while morphodynamic signature (MDS) indices relate sediment dynamics to environmental drivers. The statistical analyses were applied to an intervention site in the Netherlands to determine the effect of recently constructed groynes on the tidal flat. Using these analyses, we were able to (1) detect a reduction in the daily SED and (2) determine that the changes in the daily SED were predominantly caused by the reduction in wave impact between the groynes rather than the reduction in tidal currents. Overall, the presented results showed that the combination of novel statistical indices provides new insights into the trajectories of tidal flats, ecosystem functioning, and sensitivity to physical drivers (wind and tides). Finally, we suggested how the SED and MDS indices may help to explore the future trajectories and climate resilience of intertidal habitats.

Yalimapo beach, near the Maroni River estuary in French Guiana, is an important turtle nesting site. The interaction of massive mud banks migrating alongshore from the distant Amazon River with discharge from the Maroni River generates strong beach morpho-sedimentary changes. The eventual degradation of the marine turtle nesting habitats resulting from these changes represents a threat to the offspring, and consequently, to the turtle population. Field operator counts of green and leatherback turtle nests were combined with high-resolution topographic measurements of the beach over four field surveys in 2012 and 2014 to map the topographic modifications susceptible to affect nesting on Yalimapo beach. We assumed that the survival of nests was at stake when the depth of sand between the egg chamber and the topographic surface (i.e. the top) of the beach was < 50 cm, and that beach surface lowering > 10 cm represented unfavourable conditions for nest safety with unequal nest survival across the beach. Erosion of the beach surface exceeding a depth of 50 cm therefore results in nest destruction. Digital elevation models were produced to quantify the topographic modification of nesting on Yalimapo beach and highlight the endangered nesting areas. As the modification of the beach is not linear, some sectors are more eroded than others, resulting in unequal nest survival across the beach. Overall, up to 40% of the nests were presumed destroyed over the 2 years of survey, but true losses would depend on the species and the preferential locations of their nesting habitats. The relatively unfavourable conditions that prevailed during the 2 years of the survey are consistent with persistent erosion of Yalimpao beach since 2011. This ongoing erosion could explain in part the drastic decline of the leatherback turtle population in western French Guiana over the period 2001–2018. The substrate quality and dynamics of the nesting beach in relation to the preferred nesting habitat of each species are therefore critical issues that should be considered in the conservation strategies of marine turtles. The beach nesting conditions of marine turtles in French Guiana, as elsewhere, could be further aggravated in the future by climate change effects, including sea-level rise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Braided gravel‐bed rivers show characteristic temporal and spatial variability in morphological change and bedload transport under steady flow and sediment supply rates. Their morphodynamic behavior and long‐term evolution in response to nonstationary external forcing is less well known. We studied daily morphological changes in a well‐constrained reach of an Alpine braided river that is subject to regulated sediment‐laden flows, associated with hydroelectric power exploitation, as well as occasional floods. We found that net reach erosion and deposition were forced by upstream sediment supply, albeit in a nonlinear fashion. The spatial distribution of morphological change and inferred spatially‐distributed sediment transport rates varied strongly along the braided reach and between successive sequences of flushing. Local morphological change was driven by two factors: (1) local relief, leading to the preferential filling of topographic lows and erosion of highs, particularly during longer duration floods, which allow braided dynamics to be maintained; and (2) system memory, leading to a negative autocorrelation in bed level changes where erosion was followed by deposition of similar magnitude and vice versa. This effect was associated with the temporary storage of high sediment loads from flushing due to the abrupt on‐off nature of these flows and reveals the relatively efficient transport of sediment in a river that is heavily impacted upon by flow abstraction. In general, the internal morphodynamics of the braided river condition their own response to external forcing events and thus sediment transfer. Key Points: Braided river response to long‐duration floods shows the effects of local relief; filling of lows and erosion of highsMorphodynamic response to short and abrupt sediment‐laden flows reveals system memory with alternating local erosion and sedimentationThe internal morphodynamics of a braided river condition their own response to upstream flow events and thus downstream sediment transfer [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerical models that predict channel evolution are an essential tool for investigating processes that occur over timescales which render field observation intractable. The current generation of morphodynamic models, however, either oversimplify the relevant physical processes or, in the case of more physically complete codes based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD), have computational overheads that severely restrict the space–time scope of their application. Here we present a new, open-source, hybrid approach that seeks to reconcile these modelling philosophies. This framework combines steady-state, two-dimensional CFD hydraulics with a rule-based sediment transport algorithm to predict particle mobility and transport paths which are used to route sediment and evolve the bed topography. Data from two contrasting natural braided rivers (Rees, New Zealand, and Feshie, United Kingdom) were used for model verification, incorporating reach-scale quantitative morphological change budgets and volumetric assessment of different braiding mechanisms. The model was able to simulate 8 of the 10 empirically observed braiding mechanisms from the parameterized bed erosion, sediment transport, and deposition. Representation of bank erosion and bar edge trimming necessitated the inclusion of a lateral channel migration algorithm. Comparisons between simulations based on steady effective discharge versus event hydrographs discretized into a series of model runs were found to only marginally increase the predicted volumetric change, with greater deposition offsetting erosion. A decadal-scale simulation indicates that accurate prediction of event-scale scour depth and subsequent deposition present a methodological challenge because the predicted pattern of deposition may never "catch up" to erosion if a simple path-length distribution is employed, thus resulting in channel over-scouring. It may thus be necessary to augment path-length distributions to preferentially deposit material in certain geomorphic units. We anticipate that the model presented here will be used as a modular framework to explore the effect of different process representations, and as a learning tool designed to reveal the relative importance of geomorphic transport processes in rivers at multiple timescales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Short, A D, 2016. The Coastal Studies Unit and development of the Australian beach models. In: Vila-Concejo, A.; McCarroll, R.J.; Kennedy, D.M., and Bruce, E. (eds.), Proceedings of the 14th International Coastal Symposium (Sydney, Australia). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue, No. 75, pp. 1-7. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. The Australian coast provides an ideal laboratory in which to undertake beach research on a continental scale. The 30 000 km of open coast surrounds an entire continent that ranges from tropical to temperate latitudes (9-43°S); with tides ranging from <0.5 to 12 m; average breaker wave height from <0.5 m to ∼3 m; beach sediment from fine to medium sand, half of which is carbonate; and many of the ∼12 000 beach systems are embayed. Commencing in the mid-1970s this laboratory was utilized by members of the Coastal Studies Unit (CSU) leading to the development of beach models that encompass the full range of beach types and states that incorporate every Australian beach and most global beaches. This paper will review the development of these models, based initially on beach research on the micro-tidal, wave-dominated southeast coast; then expanding into both the higher wave energy environments of southern Australia and the higher tide range environments of northern Australia; culminating with an assessment of every beach system around the coast. The end result was the wave-dominated, tide-modified and tide-dominated beach models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Louisiana shoreline is rapidly retreating as a result of factors such as sea-level rise and land subsidence. The northern Gulf of Mexico coast is also a hotspot for hurricane landfalls, and several major storms have impacted this region in the past few decades. A section of the Louisiana (USA) coast that has one of the highest rates of shoreline retreat in North America is the Caminada-Moreau headland, located south of New Orleans. Bay Champagne is a coastal lake within the headland that provides a unique opportunity to investigate shoreline retreat and the coastal effects of hurricanes. In order to examine the influence of hurricanes on the rate of shoreline retreat, 35 years (1983–2018) of Landsat imagery was analyzed. During that period of time, the shoreline has retreated 292 m. The overall rate of shoreline retreat, prior to a beach re-nourishment project completed in 2014, was over 12 m per year. A period of high hurricane frequency (1998–2013) corresponds to an increased average shoreline retreat rate of >21 m per year. Coastal features created by multiple hurricanes that have impacted this site have persisted for several years. Bay Champagne has lost 48% of its surface area over the last 35 years as a result of long-term shoreline retreat. If shoreline retreat continues at the average rate, it is expected that Bay Champagne will disappear completely within the next 40 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]