This map shows the intensities of coastal urban expansion in the selected 156 counties between 19. This preliminary observation suggests some intersections between tidal flat erosions and urban expansions. While the Atlantic Coast, which belongs to Zone A and Zone B, has been rapidly urbanized during the three decades, the rates of urbanization in the other two zones (Zone C and Zone D) are relatively mild. Researchers also identified the largest tidal flat cluster from South Carolina and Georgia in Zone B, which is followed by Delmarva Peninsula in the eastern shore of Delaware, in Zone A, Southern Coastal Texas in Zone C, and the San Francisco Bay Area in Zone D. Instead, New York City, Miami and Seattle relied highly on other land sources over the three decades. This finding suggests that tidal flats are not a major land source for urban expansions in these three cities. ![]() In contrast, three major cities – New York City, Miami and Seattle – have had significant urban expansions, but they do not overlap the large clusters of tidal flat erosions. The top eight are all in this area: Prince William County, Virginia Horry County, South Carolina the city of Newport News, Virginia Gloucester County, Virginia Richmond County, New York New Hanover County, North Carolina the city of Hampton, Virginia and Duval County, Florida.įindings also show several cities have considerably affected nearby tidal flats while expanding urban areas, including Boston Wilmington, North Carolina Charleston, South Carolina Savannah, Georgia Jacksonville Palm Bay Fort Myers Tampa Houston, Corpus Christi, Texas and San Jose, California. (FAU)įindings from the study reveal massive urban expansions throughout the entire contiguous coastal U.S., in which the Atlantic Coast shows outstandingly high rates. This map shows the intensities of tidal flat erosion in the selected 156 counties between 19. Except for the Great Lakes, all these shorelines are seashores. has shorelines in the north (Great Lakes), east (Atlantic Ocean), south (Gulf Coast) and west (Pacific Ocean). These counties were grouped into four zones based on administrative divisions and geographical factors. Tidal flats surrounding new urban areas have undergone considerable degeneration and the patterns appear more significant as they get closer to new urban locations.įor the study, researchers divided the 156 counties into four groups: Northern Atlantic Coast (Zone A) Southern Atlantic Coast (Zone B) the Gulf Coast (Zone C) and the Pacific Coast (Zone D). Urban expansions have not only substantially squeezed the space of tidal flats, but also significantly affected the surrounding tidal flat environments over three decades. Results of the study, published in the journal Science of The Total Environment , reveal how human activities, rather than natural factors, have impacted tidal flat environments in the contiguous U.S. They overlapped the maps to conduct a series of correlation assessments between urban expansion and tidal flat erosion over the 31-year study period. ![]() They used annual maps of tidal flats and urban expansions and a pixel-based approach to track and analyze land cover transitions. They examined data from 1985 to 2015 to identify change patterns of tidal flats and urbanization in those counties, of which 76% were by the seaside, and assessed correlations between tidal flat loss and urban expansion. ![]() Out of 226 seaside counties, researchers selected 156 that were directly by the seaside and had a share of tidal flats greater than 1% as of 1985. For the first time, a new Florida Atlantic University study provides a “big picture” examination that demonstrates the impacts of urban expansion on tidal flat environments across the contiguous U.S. To date, research investigating patterns of tidal flat loss due to urban expansion has only been conducted in small areas. A mud flat on Amelia Island (Patrick Fitzgerald, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
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