Suitability criteria for habitat creation
A project encouraging the best use of land breached for flood and coastal defence by making better predictions about the type of habitat that will succeed.
Documents
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Details
Objectives
Creating areas of land on coasts that can be allowed to flood (managed realignment) is useful for flood and coast defence, and for creating new habitats in the flood zones.
This project aimed to encourage the best use of this type of land by making better predictions about the type of habitat that will thrive. It was designed in response to a need for a framework to help choose appropriate sites and make decisions about habitats.
Outcome
This research project brought together the current scientific understanding of the physical, chemical and ecological factors that affect how habitats are created. This meant looking at saltmarsh, intertidal mudflat and eelgrass beds at coast and estuary realignment sites. It also provided tools for engineers and managers to select suitable sites in a given estuary or coastal location. The tools cover exploring the whole estuary using the Geographical Information System (GIS) to help with selecting sites. This includes assessing suitable sites at a local level using an influence diagram tool.
The outputs of this project do not predict the quality of the habitat or the overall success or failure of a scheme. These will vary depending on the purpose of the site and other priorities. However, they provide a clear path to picking the most appropriate sites.
This project ran from 2003 to 2004 at a cost of £65,600.