Living Shorelines Team

illustration of trees at shoreline

Ecosystem-friendly alternatives to traditional coastal defense structures are becoming more prevalent as they can provide superior coastal protective services to traditional infrastructure, while also generating additional benefits to society such as carbon sequestration and nursery functions. We are working to improve the science of living shorelines in North Carolina, including creating a vision for a marsh plant nursery at the Duke Marine Lab. Additionally, NSOE faculty are leading a global effort to test how intentionally including positive feedbacks generated by species into restoration can lead to drastic, and no cost increases in restoration efficiency. Duke Restore will provide a larger platform for integration of these findings across all the world’s ecosystems to maximize ecological and social restoration outcomes.

Our Team

Dr. Joe Morton
Faculty Advisor
Seneca RiceWoolf
1st Year Lead
Alice Daeschler
2nd Year Lead

Our Goals and Projects

The Living Shorelines Team is interested in alternatives to traditional coastal defense structures. This year, the team will focus on:

• Monitoring living shorelines at Cherry Point Air Station

• Creating a cost-benefit analysis of living shorelines compared to hardened structures

• Evaluating living shoreline performance metrics used by North Carolina organizations

• Testing oyster outplantings in and around living shorelines to determine survivorship in stressful conditions

Research Spotlight- Tiffany Paalman!

I’m Tiffany Paalman, a Ph.D. student in the Silliman lab. I’m interested in the relative effects of predators and habitat structure on influence foundation species recovery and function. By examining the roles of species interactions and environmental factors in influencing ecological processes in coastal ecosystems, I aim to inform future conservation, restoration, and management practices. Investigating the ecological impacts and structural development of living shorelines allows me the innovative opportunity to study how coastal species adapt to restoration efforts.

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