The coast has called many of us home , to soak in its natural beauty and witness its variety of grand vistas . Like many , I answered this call with a deep appreciation for what the Lowcountry had to offer . What drew me to this place was the dynamic natural landscapes along the coast and how they are influenced by the rising and falling tides , seasonal rainstorms , and the occasional tropical storms passing through . From those environmental factors , what we are left with here in the Lowcountry is a wide variety of natural habitats and wildlife that also call the coast home , with the marsh welcoming and offering shelter to all .
The expanse of tidal salt marsh is a wonderful example of an assemblage of plants and wildlife accustomed to living along the coast . These native plants and animals thrive in an area influenced by the ebb and flow of seawater , which would be foreboding to their inland counterparts . While the tides contribute to the unique characteristics of the marsh , over time they also encourage changes throughout the landscape . Some changes are so subtle , they ’ re only noticeable over decades . In other cases , the changes are so dramatic that it ’ s hard not to notice . Despite the constant changing of the tides , the marshes prove to be resilient and adaptive .
Following a bout of severe weather events in recent years , the term “ resilience ” has been used frequently to describe the ability of our community to respond to coastal conditions . But what does resilience mean for the ecosystem ? Much of the foundations of resilience , in theory , comes from the seminal work of Canadian ecologist C . S . Holling . Through his work , he defined ecological resilience as “ the capacity of a natural system to resist change and maintain function following disturbances .” These disturbances can range from intense hurricanes over the course of a few days to sea level rise and water quality impairment over several decades . Disturbances are often layered and occur simultaneously to form a compound effect . Amid the layered disturbances , more resilient ecosystems will stabilize to their “ normal ” conditions and functions . Less resilient ecosystems will eventually change to create new conditions with different functions once they hit a “ threshold ” or “ tipping point .”
For environmental researchers , finding this tipping point can be challenging . The future presents many uncertainties for us , but looking into the past and understanding where we are now may provide some clues . In 2019 , the Kiawah Conservancy , with funding from the Town of Kiawah Island , engaged with the College of Charleston Lowcountry Hazards Center on the Marsh Vulnerability Study to map changes in the tidal salt marshes around Kiawah Island . Most of the initial focus was placed on mapping changes in the vegetation shorelines along creeks and riverbanks over several decades . This allowed us to identify areas where sediment erosion and accretion have occurred since 1977 .
In 2022 , a collaboration between the Kiawah Conservancy , Kiawah Island Community Association , and Town of Kiawah Island funded a project to acquire high-resolution aerial surveys
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