Reefense: Living shoreline mosaics can achieve ecological and engineering outcomes with interdisciplinary design

Living shorelines that comprise oyster reefs within a mosaic of multiple coastal habitats can be a resilient and adaptive coastal protection alternative to conventional engineered structures. The success of an oyster reef living shoreline depends on the evolution of a stable base substrate that provides initial short-term coastal protection, to the growth of a living oyster reef and associated habitats in the longer-term, which can enhance protection and provide other ecosystem services. Interdisciplinary global teams that include ecologists, biologists, engineers, techno-economists, and industry are leading the development and implementation of innovative reef-based coastal protection (“Reefense”) solutions that can be scaled to face the challenges of climate change.