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Encyclopedia of Coastal Science

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Science Series ((EESS))

Vegetated Coasts

Vegetated coasts are those where rooted vascular plants are a persistent feature of the coastal landscape. This can include dunes, salt marshes, sea-grass beds, gravel barriers, and rocky coastlines. The type of vegetation, as well as its importance in shaping the coastal environment, varies according to climate, sedimentary deposits, and wave and tidal energy regimes. These variables control both the type of vegetation that can survive, and the physical context within which the plants interact with sedimentary and geomorphic processes to shape coastal landscapes. Vegetation not only exists in many coastal settings, it is an important biogeomorphic agent and as such is an integral link between the ecological and landform dynamics of coastal systems. While the presence of vegetation in dunes or on salt marshes has long been recognized as an essential characteristic of those environments, the importance of plant growth forms and their adaptations to stressful...

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Cross-references

  1. Bioengineered Shore Protection

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  2. Dune ridges

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  3. Mangroves, Coastal Ecology

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  4. Salt Marsh

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  5. Tidal Creeks

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  6. Tidal Environments

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  7. Wetlands

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Cross-references

  1. Beach and Nearshore Instrumentation

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  2. Beach Stratigraphy

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  3. Coastal Sedimentary Facies

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  4. Coastal Soils

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  5. Jet Probes

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  6. Mining of Coastal Materials

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  7. Monitoring, Coastal Geomorphology

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  8. Nearshore Geomorphological Mapping

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  9. Offshore Sand Sheets

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  10. Sequence Stratigraphy

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  11. Shoreface

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Cross-references

  1. Coastal Currents

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  2. Coastal Upwelling and Downwelling

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  3. Pressure Gradient Force

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  4. Remote Sensing of Coastal Environments

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Cross-references

  1. Cliffed Coasts

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  2. Gravel Beaches

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  3. Shore Platforms

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  4. Weathering in the Coastal Zone

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Authors
  1. Denise J. Reed
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  2. Charles W. Finkl
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  3. Syed M. Khalil
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  4. George A. Maul
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  5. Terry R. Healy
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, USA

    Maurice L. Schwartz

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Reed, D.J., Finkl, C.W., Khalil, S.M., Maul, G.A., Healy, T.R. (2005). V. In: Schwartz, M.L. (eds) Encyclopedia of Coastal Science. Encyclopedia of Earth Science Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3880-1_21

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