ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Mar. Sci.
Sec. Coastal Ocean Processes
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmars.2025.1671752
The Synergistic Effect between Engineering Measures and Ecological Measures in Coastal Erosion Prevention
Provisionally accepted
- 1State Key Laboratory of Water Disaster Prevention, Hohai University, Nanjing, China
- 2Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Coastal Ocean Resources Development and Environment Security, Hohai University, Nanjing, China
- 3Zhejiang Institute of Hydraulics and Estuary, Hangzhou, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Coastal areas, especially salt marshes, are key regions for ecological stability and coastal protection, but they are increasingly threatened by erosion, sea-level rise, and invasive species. This study focuses on the synergistic effects of engineering measures (soft mattresses) and ecological restoration (native Suaeda salsa) on the coastal geomorphological evolution and ecosystem resilience in the Tiaozini tidal flat of Jiangsu Province, China. Through field measurements (using RTK-GPS, UAV terrain scanning, and vegetation plot sampling) and bio-morphodynamic coupling models, the hydrodynamic processes, sediment transport, vegetation growth, and morphological changes were studied. The results show that soft mattresses altered the flow field, reduced the hydrodynamic force in the sheltered areas, promoted sediment deposition, and transformed the sheltered areas from an erosive environment to a depositional one. The presence of Suaeda salsa enhanced the resilience of the coast by increasing bed roughness, weakening tidal energy, and stabilizing sediments, maintaining a stable sedimentation rate even under strong tidal dynamics. The synergy between soft mattresses and Suaeda salsa significantly improved the restoration efficiency. In the high-tide flat, the cumulative sediment accumulation over four years reached 1.767×104 m3, which is 32.26% higher than the accumulation achieved by relying solely on engineering measures and 82.54% higher than that achieved by relying solely on ecological measures. Additionally, the artificial planting intensity and offshore sediment supply affected the coverage of Suaeda salsa. Moderate planting intensity and adequate sediment supply increased the survival rate and the resilience of the ecosystem. This study clarifies the biophysical feedback between Suaeda salsa and coastal geomorphology, providing a scientific basis for the engineering-ecological integrated strategy for coastal erosion control and ecological restoration.
Keywords: coastal erosion prevention, engineering measures, ecological restoration, synergistic effect, bio-morphodynamic modeling
Received: 23 Jul 2025; Accepted: 24 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Geng, Dou, Gu, Cao, Yao, Zhou and Shao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Peng Yao, p.yao@hhu.edu.cn
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.