David Kennedy, Ruth Reef, Vanessa Wong, Tom Spencer,  Iris Moeller, Susan Brooks were successful in the latest round of the Australian Research Council discovery program.

The role of vegetated foreshores in stabilising Australia’s shorelines.

The project aims to improve Australia’s capacity to predict shoreline position of estuarine saltmarsh with sea level rise, identify the role of vegetation in foreshore stabilisation and determine thresholds for shoreline retreat by quantifying the links between biological, geomorphological and sedimentary processes and shoreline position. Sea level rise and potential increases in storminess are predicted to lead to severe impacts on low lying salt marsh ecosystems and there is an immediate and critical need to understand and accurately predict the functioning, dynamics, and distribution of Australia’s coastal zones. Expected outcomes of this interdisciplinary project include an integrated modelling framework crucial for planning and management of sea level rise responses in Australia.