The value of coastal wetlands for storm protection in Australia (original) (raw)

Spatially-explicit valuation of coastal wetlands for cyclone mitigation in Australia and China

Scientific Reports, 2018

Coastal wetlands are increasingly recognised for their pivotal role in mitigating the growing threats from cyclones (including hurricanes) in a changing climate. There is, however, insufficient information about the economic value of coastal wetlands for cyclone mitigation, particularly at regional scales. Analysis of data from 1990-2012 shows that the variation of cyclone frequencies is related to EI Niño strength in the Pacific Ocean adjacent to Australia, but not China. Among the cyclones hitting the two countries, there are significant relationships between the ratio of total economic damage to gross domestic production (TD/GDP) and wetland area within cyclone swaths in Australia, and wetland area plus minimum cyclone pressure despite a weak relationship in China. The TD/GDP ratio is significantly higher in China than in Australia. Despite their extensive and growing occurrence, seawalls in China appear not to play a critical role in cyclone mitigation, and cannot replace coastal wetlands, which provide other efficient ecosystem services. The economic values of coastal wetlands in Australia and China are respectively estimated at US$52.88 billion and 198.67 billion yr −1 for cyclone mitigation, albeit with large within-country geographic variation. This study highlights the urgency to integrate this value into existing valuations of coastal wetlands. Coastal wetlands play a pivotal environmental and economic role in protecting coastlines from cyclones, mitigating climate change through carbon sequestration and storage, serving a nursery function for fisheries or recreation function for humans, and mediating the effects of floods or enhancing water quality 1-5. Protection from cyclones is paramount due to the overwhelming trend of coastal urbanisation 6,7. Coastal wetlands attenuate the potential catastrophic damage of cyclones, relying on their ability to dissipate storm energy 8-10. The natural shield provided by wetlands outweighs engineering measures, such as seawalls and bulkheads 11,12 , which have a defined lifespan, require continual maintenance, and could not replace the fishing, recreational and other roles of coastal wetlands. Such structures can also be costly to build, and exacerbate coastal erosion or cause knock-on effects in neighbouring regions 13,14. Despite these shortcomings, hard-engineering options such as seawalls are often the preferred options, resulting in extensive irreversible modification of the coastline, e.g. the 'New Great Wall' of China 15. Nonetheless, so far, no studies have quantitatively determined the advantage of coastal wetlands over seawalls from the perspective of ecosystem services. Valuations of wetland protection from coastal natural disasters (including cyclones) generally fall into two classes: ecological or functional valuation and economic or monetary valuation. Increasing academic attention has been paid to the role of wetlands in shielding coastal regions from cyclones since the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Studies have assessed the impact of coastal natural disasters based on anecdotal evidence 16 , post-hoc observations 17 , remote sensing, and modelling 18. The validity of such studies is limited by the ability to constrain confounding factors. Thus, there is ongoing debate over the conclusions of such studies. Lee, et al. 10 stated that remote sensing may be ineffective in detecting cryptic degradation, resulting in fragmented mangroves, which may not provide the protection that intact mangroves can. Pinsky, et al. 19 stressed the controversial function of coastal wetlands for storm protection due to the variation of geomorphic, ecological and hydrodynamic factors that determine wave attenuation among locations and times. Further, most studies used whole countries as units

The ecosystem service value of protected areas for cyclone protection in Queensland, Australia

Protected areas and the natural environment deliver a wide range of ecosystem services that contribute to human wellbeing. Here we examine the value of protected areas for cyclone and coastal protection in Queensland, Australia. Natural events such as cyclones threaten the health or wellbeing of human society however we can plan to minimize their impacts. Sea level rise, as well as an increase in cyclone intensity and storm surges associated with climate change will result in the erosion of shores and habitats, increased salinity of estuaries and freshwater aquifers, altered tidal ranges in rivers and bays, changes in sediment and transport, and amplified risk of coastal flooding that, in turn, will increase the vulnerability of coastal populations. Coastal wetlands, such as mangroves and floodplains, barrier islands and coastal vegetation all play a critical role in reducing the impacts of floodwaters produced by coastal storm events and tropical cyclones as well as in physically b...

The Value of Coastal Wetlands for Hurricane Protection

Ambio, 2008

Coastal wetlands reduce the damaging effects of hurricanes on coastal communities. A regression model using 34 major US hurricanes since 1980 with the natural log of damage per unit gross domestic product in the hurricane swath as the dependent variable and the natural logs of wind speed and wetland area in the swath as the independent variables was highly significant and explained 60% of the variation in relative damages. A loss of 1 ha of wetland in the model corresponded to an average USD 33 000 (median ¼ USD 5000) increase in storm damage from specific storms. Using this relationship, and taking into account the annual probability of hits by hurricanes of varying intensities, we mapped the annual value of coastal wetlands by 1km 3 1km pixel and by state. The annual value ranged from USD 250 to USD 51 000 ha À1 yr À1 , with a mean of USD 8240 ha À1 yr À1 (median ¼ USD 3230 ha À1 yr À1 ) significantly larger than previous estimates. Coastal wetlands in the US were estimated to currently provide USD 23.2 billion yr À1 in storm protection services. Coastal wetlands function as valuable, selfmaintaining ''horizontal levees'' for storm protection, and also provide a host of other ecosystem services that vertical levees do not. Their restoration and preservation is an extremely cost-effective strategy for society.

Economic Risk, Tropical Storm Intensity and Coastal Wetlands: A Factor Analysis

2014

Coastal communities are highly sensitive to economic damage from tropical storms. Wetland restoration is often proposed as a measure of protection from storm damage. This paper investigates the relationship between coastal storms, wetlands and communities by analyzing storm events and resulting damages from storms making landfall in Louisiana. A factor analysis is used to describe the extent to which wetlands mitigate economic damages, and an assessment of factor scores suggest that there is a storm intensity threshold for mitigation provided by wetland ecosystems.

Evidence of Diminishing Marginal Product of Wetlands for Damage Mitigation

Natural Resources, 2015

Communities along the USA coast are highly vulnerable to coastal storms. Trends in population growth, climatic events and land use are likely to exacerbate future damages. Coastal management entities are faced with decisions about how to manage resources in a manner that improves environmental quality and provides the maximum benefit for coastal populations. This is particularly true along the USA coast of the Gulf of Mexico, where coastal storms are common, land loss is rapid and states are planning ambitious and costly coastal restoration projects. Many of these projects are intended to mitigate hurricane damages by using wetlands as storm buffers. The physical science literature shows that wetlands do provide situational protection from storm surge. However, little economic analysis has explored the effect of wetlands on economic losses. This analysis uses hurricane simulation data to estimate county-or parish-level damages based on observed damages from coastal storms making landfall along the Gulf coast. A model describing these damages as a function of wetland area, socioeconomic conditions and storm intensity allows the estimation of the value of wetlands for their protective ecosystem services. This analysis finds that wetlands are valuable for storm damage mitigation and that wetland area change is most impactful where wetlands are most scarce. The implications of these finding are significant for coastal restoration decisions in a changing environment.

The benefits of cyclones: A valuation approach considering ecosystem services

Ecological Indicators, 2018

Cyclones (i.e. typhoons, hurricanes) are known for their destructive power and negative effects on livelihoods. Potential benefits are often ignored, when some people depend on cyclone impacts. Currently few publications on potential benefits exist, and most concern a single country or cyclone. This study documents an overview of the existing global knowledge on cyclone benefits and presents a regional focus on Bangladesh, the Philippines, and Japan. The results expand available options for ecosystem based adaptation schemes by highlighting how benefits can be valued as ecosystem services. Responses from experts in SouthEast Asia suggest that although cyclones are commonly understood to result in detrimental effects; various cases proved to have practical benefits. Example benefits include an increase in soil organic matter content, eliminating the need for fertilizers; collecting increased wind power through wind farms; and selling collected debris as a form of additional income. The results further show which ecosystem service valuation approaches can be applied to the identified benefits of cyclones, and which type of services and valuation approaches require further attention. While cyclone impacts cannot be precisely anticipated, knowledge of their benefits and corresponding valuation approaches form an important basis to offset their devastation.

A lesson from cyclone Larry: An untold story of the success of good coastal planning

Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 2007

When tropical cyclone Larry crossed the Queensland coast on 20 March 2006, commercial, recreational and naval vessels in the port of Cairns, 60 km north of the eye of the cyclone and others closer to the eye, were protected from the destructive winds by sheltering in deep mangrove creeks in Trinity Inlet and off other coastal rivers. The Trinity Inlet mangroves are protected under the comprehensive multi-use Trinity Inlet Management Plan, agreed by the local and state government agencies (Cairns City Council, the Cairns Port Authority and the Queensland Government). Using this Australian example and one from the town of Palompon in Leyte province, central Philippines, we show how long-term mangrove habitat protection resulting from well-conceived coastal planning can deliver important economic and infrastructure benefits.

Gaining Ground—Wetlands, Hurricanes, and the Economy: The Value of Restoring the

2011

11 2 1 Ta c o m a Av e n u e S o u t h , Ta c o m a WA 9 8 4 0 2 t e l e p h o n e : 2 5 3. 5 3 9. 4 8 0 1 • f a x : 2 5 3. 5 3 9. 5 0 5 4 i n f o @ e a r t h e c o n o m i c s. o r g w w w. e a r t h e c o n o m i c s. o r g The Authors David Batker, cofounder and executive director of Earth Economics, has worked for 20 years in over 30 countries changing economic policy to effect measurable physical improvements for people and ecosystems. His areas of work include climate change, fisheries, forest, coastal management, hazardous waste, land use, energy, agriculture, trade and international finance and improving lending requirements of international banks. With a B.S. in geology and biology from Pacific Lutheran University, he completed his graduate training in economics at Louisiana State University under Herman Daly, one of the world's foremost ecological economists. He has work experience in mining and oil and has worked at the World Bank, Greenpeace International and the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement. Isabel de la Torre, cofounder of Earth Economics, was executive director of the Industrial Shrimp Action Network (ISA Net) and the United States Society for Ecological Economics before she joined Earth Economics. She organized and cofounded ISA Net and the South East Asia Fishers for Justice. She has worked with local and national governments around the world, and NGOs working on international institutions on trade, finance, energy, forestry, fishery, toxics, environmental justice, indigenous peoples, coastal management, women, and human rights issues. She has degrees in communications and law from the University of the Philippines and has worked as a reporter, newspaper editor, and senior legal staff in the Philippines. Robert Costanza, the director of the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics at the University of Vermont, he received his Ph.D. from the University of Florida in 1979 in systems ecology with a minor in economics. He also has a master's degree in Architecture and Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Florida. Dr. Costanza is cofounder and past president of the International Society for Ecological Economics (ISEE) and was chief editor of its journal Ecological Economics from its inception until September 2002. He currently serves on the editorial board of eight other international academic journals. Paula Swedeen, has 20 years of forest conservation and management experience as a wildlife biologist, policy analyst, and ecological economist, and has applied her expertise to a wide array of issues, including endangered species conservation, forest carbon protocol development and valuation of ecosystem services. She joined Pacific Forest Trust after working for the Washington Departments of Natural Resources and Fish and Wildlife, and as a private consultant. She holds a Ph.D. in Ecological Economics from The Union Institute, a master's degree in Political Science and Environmental Studies from Western Washington University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Indiana University. John Day, a distinguished professor of Louisiana State University and a leading expert on the Louisiana wetlands, received his Ph.D. in marine and environmental sciences from the University of North Carolina in 1971. He has a master's degree in zoology from the Louisiana State University. His research interests are in systems and wetland ecology as well as ecological modeling. Roelof Boumans, an expert modeler, received his doctorate degree in 1994 as an ecosystem ecologist at the Department of Oceanography and Coastal Systems in Louisiana State University. His dissertation focused on the material fluxes through estuaries and involved processing large datasets through field book and datalogger recording. He developed insight into estuarine hydrology and published reports on ecological consequences to altering hydrology. Dr. Boumans worked on developing a landscape model of the Great Bay estuary while holding a postdoctoral position at the Jackson Laboratory at the University of New Hampshire. He is now recognized as one of the world's top system modelers. Kenneth Bagstad, is a post-doctoral associate at the University of Vermont, where he received his PhD in 2009. Ken serves as the lead modeler for the NSF-funded Artificial Intelligence for Ecosystem Services (ARIES) project, which is building a series of web-accessible tools to map, assess, and value ecosystem services for environmental decision-making. Ken has also assisted in ecosystem service valuation studies for Louisiana, Washington State, Arizona, and Ontario, advised researchers working on Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) studies for Michigan and Utah, and explored markets and ecosystem service-based funding mechanisms for ecological restoration in Illinois and Washington State. Ken also holds a B.A. from Ohio Wesleyan University and and an M.S. from Arizona State University.

Coastal wetlands mitigate storm flooding and associated costs in estuaries

As storm-driven coastal flooding increases under climate change, wetlands such as saltmarshes are held as a nature-based solution. Yet evidence supporting wetlands’ storm protection role in estuaries - where both waves and upstream surge drive coastal flooding - remains scarce. Here we address this gap using numerical hydrodynamic models within eight contextually diverse estuaries, simulating storms of varying intensity and coupling flood predictions to damage valuation. Saltmarshes reduced flooding across all studied estuaries and particularly for the largest – 100-year – storms, for which they mitigated average flood extents by 35% and damages by 37% ($8.4M). Across all storm scenarios, wetlands delivered mean annual damage savings of $2.7M per estuary, exceeding annualised values of better-studied wetland services such as carbon storage. Spatial decomposition of processes revealed flood mitigation arose from both localised wave attenuation and estuary-scale surge attenuation, wit...