Natural enough? A multi-metric ecosystem function evaluation of sill living shorelines

This study addresses a deficit in research on if living shorelines designed with sills can support multiple ecosystem functions simultaneously. A total of 24 ecosystem functional metric proxies were studied; to include: above-ground biomass, below-ground biomass, species density (eastern oysters, ribbed mussels, marsh periwinkles, eastern mud snails, smooth cordgrass, salt meadow cordgrass, black needle rush), wave climate, elevation, sediment characterization (deposition, fraction, bulk density), and carbon and nitrogen sequestration. Locations with living shorelines had ecological functions comparable to unprotected fringing salt marsh shorelines in 16 of 24 metrics with 9 metrics being enhanced by the presence of a living shoreline project. Living shorelines had greater sediment deposition and elevation and provided distinctive wave attenuation capabilities that were not supported by unaltered reference shorelines. Sill living shorelines reduced the wave energy by 30% to 60%. Living shorelines support multiple ecosystem functions simultaneously.