Natural Resource Management at South Topsail Beach, NC
Abstract
The undeveloped southern tip of Topsail Island, NC, known as South Topsail Beach,
has been accreting land and extending southwest into New Topsail Inlet at the rate
of approximately 100 feet per year for the past decade, growing to its current size
of roughly 135 acres. The dynamic coastal processes that dominate this landscape
create habitat that the federally threatened shorebird the piping plover (Charadrius
melodus), the loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta), and the annual plant seabeach
amaranth (Amaranthus pumilus) depend on for survival. Human disturbance and loss
of habitat due to shoreline stabilization are among the biggest threats to success
of these species throughout their habitat range. This Masters Project, in the form
of a management plan, seeks to address the needs of these threatened species, while
allowing for traditional and passive recreational uses at South Topsail Beach.
In an effort to better understand shoreline change at this location, and to inform
management recommendations for South Topsail Beach, a geospatial analysis using LIDAR
(light detection and ranging) data was performed. Areas of erosion and accretion
on both sides of New Topsail Inlet were identified and volumetric change was calculated
for the years 1996 through 2005. Beach profiles were created to more closely examine
spatial changes. Monitoring shoreline change over time can be used as a management
tool to indicate habitat size and quality on a local level. On a broader scale, this
type of analysis may be used to identify additional undeveloped dynamic inlet habitat
appropriate for conservation.
Type
Master's projectPermalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/399Citation
Wright, Katherine (2007). Natural Resource Management at South Topsail Beach, NC. Master's project, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/399.Collections
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