NCCOS’ Effects of Sea Level Rise (ESLR) Program is dedicated to supporting the advancement of modeling to inform planning, immediate coastal management decisions, and flood mitigation project designs. ESLR-funded efforts can be leveraged by additional funding opportunities that allow for the application and advancement of newly developed models, creating a legacy of impact. While this impact can be difficult to track, one successful example is a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)-led project in the Gulf of Mexico, called the Cultural Heritage at Risk Tool (CHART).
The CHART team is developing advanced predictions of the vulnerability of estuarine habitats at pilot study sites in Apalachicola and the Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. These sites provide important environmental services, such as habitat for wildlife and protection for coastal communities from storm surge. In addition, the sites are home to shell middens (also called shell mounds) which contain Native American cultural artifacts. These habitats, which were created near the coast where shellfish were harvested, are increasingly at risk to erosion and flooding from sea level rise and storms.
These Native American cultural heritage and archaeological sites offer valuable knowledge of past communities and environments. This project leverages an advisory team of ancestral Tribes, coastal managers, and archaeologists to strengthen the effectiveness of coastal hazard data, focusing on assessing the vulnerability of shell mound sites to erosion and flooding from future sea level rise and storms. The research project also leverages the Hydro-MEM marsh model, the development and advancement of which has been supported through multiple ESLR projects. These projects have initiated a paradigm shift from landscape-based models that involve initial ecological conditions based on general oceanic (tidal) relationships that habitats prefer, to more advanced models that include more complex feedback between physical and biological processes. These dynamic models allow for extending beyond generating predictions of vulnerability to assessing actions that could be taken to restore marsh systems that may protect the shell middens.
This work is a great example of how complementary research programs can support science advancement and development of advisory groups that extend the usefulness of initial science investments. The team will leverage outputs from the Hydro-MEM marsh model as one piece of information to assess the vulnerability of the cultural heritage sites. Scientists will continue to develop and advance these models to improve upon ease of operation, application, and consideration of additional variables that allow us to better understand these key habitats, and think about possible ways to protect them and maintain their co-benefits like flood and erosion reduction, animal habitat, and recreation.
The CHART project is funded by the USGS Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center (SE CASC) and USGS Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program. The project team includes Dr. Kathryn Smith (USGS St Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center), Dr. Jayur Mehta (Florida State University), Dr. Davina Passeri (USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center) and Dr. Kristin Byrd (USGS Western Geographic Science Center). You can learn more about the project here.