Meeting papers

Figure 10: Beach erosion after Tropical Cyclone Daisy, 1972

How do vegetated dunes buffer our coasts to climate change impacts?
Climate change may increase both the occurrence and intensity of severe weather events and
cause sea level rise, increasing storm tide inundation, permanent inundation and beach erosion.
An important ecosystem service that naturally vegetated foreshores provide is the buffering of
beaches and dunes to help slow coastal erosion impacts. 3

Healthy dune systems absorb wave and wind energy and can reduce flooding, wind, and storm
surge impacts. Dune vegetation helps hold dunes and foreshores together, making them more
resilient to wind and wave erosion 4. Dune vegetation slows the wind near the surface of the dune
and allows sand to drop out of the air. This reduces wind impacts on the dunes and nearby
settlements and recreational areas.

Healthy dune systems are self-regenerating and can rebuild more easily after severe weather
events, given enough time between storms and availability of suitable material for rebuilding.
Dunes in good condition means that there are sources of seeds and runners nearby to recolonise
disturbed areas after storm events. Vegetation and natural debris act as an entrapment point,
allowing the lodgment of sand and seeds that contribute to the rebuilding and revegetation of
frontal dunes after disturbance. 5


3 Morris et al. (2021). The Australian Nature-Based Methods for Reducing Risk from Coastal Hazards. Earth

Systems and Climate Change Hub Report No. 26. NESP Earth Systems and Climate Change Hub, Australia.
4 Clark GF, Fischer M, Hunter C (2021). Coasts: Coastal ecosystems and habitats. In: Australia State of the

environment 2021, Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment,
Canberra, https://soe.dcceew.gov.au/coasts/environment/coastal-ecosystems-and-habitats6
5 De Battisti, D. (2021). The resilience of coastal ecosystems: A functional trait-based perspective. Journal of

Ecology. 109


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