Coastal Vegetated Shingle - Threats & Management

Over 1994-2006 the general trend for coastal vegetated shingle (CVS) abundance in the UK was a weak decline of around 1% per year (Jones et al, 2011), although there is limited data available to give certainty into recent trends in Scotland (JNCC, 2019). Despite CVS being found on coastlines around the UK, it is an uncommon and declining habitat globally. There are a number of threats that CVS faces including coastal development, climate change, disturbance, invasive species, and scrub encroachment (Buglife, n.d.; Jones et al, 2011).

Threat: Coastal Infrastructure Development
Coastal development of infrastructure is one of the biggest threats to CVS. Construction of housing, recreation and tourism facilities, transport infrastructure, and artificial sea defences can damage or destroy fragile shingle habitats. Coastal defence construction is often driven by policy in reaction to storm or flood events. However, this short-term action can have long-lasting impacts on natural processes such as sediment accumulation, and can end up just shifting sea hazard issues around the coast - or creating new issues on the coastline such as erosion (Buglife, no date; Doody & Randall, 2003; Jones et al, 2011).

Threat: Climate Change
Changes in rainfall, temperature, and weather patterns due to climate change are impacting CVS in numerous ways. Rising temperatures globally are influencing the distribution of plants typically associated with coastal shingle - for example, oysterplant (Mertensia maritima) has disappeared from more southern areas in the UK due to a low tolerance for heat. Extreme weather events like storms are increasing erosion rates and removing sediment from shingle areas, resulting in a loss of habitat. Rising sea levels are also reducing shingle habitat, and potentially impacting on longshore drift (Buglife, no date; Jones et al, 2011; Jones et al, 2013; Burden et al, 2020)

Threat: Disturbance
Coastal vegetated shingle is fragile and vulnerable to trampling and erosion. Recreational and tourism activities such as walking, cycling, and off-road vehicles can break up surface shingle, damaging and destroying any vegetation and therefore causing a loss of habitat(Buglife, no date; Jones et al, 2011; Jones et al, 2013; NatureScot, 2023)

Management of Coastal Vegetated Shingle:
Sustainable management of CVS requires maintenance of natural coastal dynamics, with shingle moving in response to changes in sea levels and increased storm events (Jones et al, 2011). Key management practices for CVS include ensuring tidal and wave patterns occur as naturally as possible unimpeded, minimising disturbance, and maintaining habitat diversity. CVS does not exist in isolation, and optimum habitat is surrounded by a mosaic of all successional stages from bare shingle to deep grassland (Buglife, no date; Doody & Randall, 2003).