ABSTRACT
Rampant global urbanization has led to a drastic reduction in the global extent of many coastal landform habitats as a result of land reclamation, overexploitation of habitats, hard engineering, and/or extension of built infrastructure into the sea. Saltmarshes are dynamic landforms where ecological, geomorphological, and hydrodynamic systems interact to create highly productive and societally valuable intertidal landforms in sediment rich estuaries and open coasts. The diversity of coastal habitat types from rocky shores, beaches, dunes, muddy shores, and wetlands means that these habitats provide a wide spectrum of ecosystem services. Coasts are dynamic transitional zones that are under increasing pressure both from rapid urbanization and from climate related impact, including sea-level rise and more intense storms. On undeveloped or lightly developed coasts allowing coastal landforms to move inland may prove to be the most sustainable and least-cost option in the medium to long term.
