Shoreline Hardening

Habitats Affected:

Water column, SAV, wetlands, soft bottom

Common Sources:

Bulkheads, jetties, seawalls, groins

Impacts:

• Increased wave energy on shoreline due to hardened structures accelerates erosion of wetlands and leads to loss of intertidal soft bottom habitat.
• Increased turbidity in the water column.
• Deepening of nearshore habitat and elevated turbidity due to hardened structures deters future colonization of wetland or SAV plants.
• Reduced fish and invertebrate use of hardened shore due to decrease in habitat complexity and toxicity of wood preservatives.
• Prevents landward migration of wetlands (along estuarine shorelines) or barrier islands (along oceanfront).

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