ABSTRACT
This chapter provides some challenges for understanding, managing, and enhancing the ecological structure and function of Hudson River shore zones. It describes the influence of a few of the most important factors: slope, physical complexity, exposure to physical forces, species invasions, and management by humans. Ecologists have long known that physical complexity or heterogeneity tends to favor high biodiversity and high values of ecological processes. In many instances, it is obvious what a landowner or decision-maker is or is not willing to pay and this provides an estimate of value that could be assigned to either a conventional or ecologically enhanced shore zone treatment. In weighing consequences of various options, it is generally possible to identify the expected direction of change in ecological and engineering performance in response to some design change, but we often have imperfect information about the precise amount of these changes.
