Current Projects

Assessment of Irish Saltmarshes

Our research group aims to advance our understanding of Irish salt marshes (in terms of geomorphology, composition and ecosystem service provision) to complement the already large body of knowledge in northwest European countries (e.g. the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany). We aim to inform coastal management in Ireland and facilitate a shift away from ‘hard’ engineering towards more nature-based coastal solutions (particularly for flood risk management). An improved understanding of the variation in composition and morphology of Irish marshes and the hydrodynamic settings within which they flourish is key if we want to successfully implement nature-based coastal solutions to the hazards posed by climate change.

We focus primarily on the links between marsh morphology, substrate composition and hydrodynamic forcing. We regularly measure key parameters of marsh composition (e.g. vegetation type, substrate organic content and particle size), marsh elevation and slope, and monitor inundation frequency and wave characteristics near marsh edges at a number of Irish salt marshes.

Response of an Anthropogenically Initiated Urban Barrier Island to Past and Future Environmental Change

Abbie Nugent

Large-scale sedimentary features, such as barrier islands, may act to protect urban coasts from climate change impacts. An adequate understanding of, and ability to predict, geomorphological processes that govern the long-term natural and/or human induced changes of such landforms in a highly managed context is thus essential to the successful mitigation of future urban coastal flood risk. This project will contribute to a better understanding of how the semi-natural North Bull Island offshore of Dublin, Ireland, has been responding to physical drivers, both ‘natural’ (waves, tides, climate), and human (management intervention and human use) drivers over the past decades.

Such knowledge is key to exploring how the island may respond to a range of future climate and human intervention scenarios and how such change may alter the delivery of ecosystem services presently derived from the beach, dune, salt marsh and intertidal habitats present on the island. In a larger, global context, this case study will allow lessons to be learnt for the potential future, context-dependent incorporation of dynamic coastal depositional features as elements of urban coastal climate change adaptation.

Comparison of Natural and Managed Coastal Wetland Restoration

Juliet Rounce

Restoration of coastal wetlands occurs naturally (e.g., via breaching) or through planned management schemes. Such restoration plans should be underpinned by consideration of ecosystem services, including flood defence, increased biodiversity, community health benefits and carbon sequestration. Broadly, due to greater rates of carbon burial and lower mineralisation compared with terrestrial environments, coastal wetlands are commonly considered as carbon sinks. Saltmarsh sediments accumulate carbon, the rate of which is regulated by relative sea level rise. It is therefore important to understand how present functioning will alter through time and under changing hydrodynamic forcing.

Monitoring of restoration sites commonly focuses on ecology, therefore, this project will look at the hydrogeomorphological aspect, with the aim to assess site suitability for restoration and understand the response of restoration sites to future climate scenarios. Comparing natural and managed sites, this project will assess the interaction and variation of biophysical and hydrological processes, such as current carbon stocks and plant productivity, utilising field monitoring of water levels, waves and sediment transport, alongside ecological surveys.

Analysis of Seagrass-Saltmarsh interactions in a connected Coastal Seascape

Kevin O'Leary

Intertidal seagrass beds and saltmarsh ecosystems represent some of Ireland’s most valuable natural ecosystems, due to their roles in coastal defence, food provision for fisheries, and carbon sequestration. They also provide habitat for many of Ireland’s protected species, including migratory bird species. While both environments are found in the intertidal zone, little is known of the interactions and exchanges between these systems, and how they may influence the functions and resilience of these environments when they exist concurrently.

This project aims to identify and quantify the interactions between seagrass and saltmarsh systems to further our understanding of their joint development and response to changing environmental drivers, supporting a management approach which considers intertidal seagrass-saltmarsh systems as a connected seascape. Through literature and archival review, and a field study at the Malahide Estuary, Dublin, this project will look at the ecological and hydrodynamic exchanges between these systems, as well as their joint response to external hydrometeorological drivers.

This project is supported by a Trinity Research Doctorate Award.

NATURESCAPES

Nature-based Solutions (NBS) are increasingly recognised as crucial in addressing the interrelated challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss and social injustice. Despite this, we lack an understanding of the synergies and trade-offs that multiple NBS offer and of who benefits under which conditions. Moreover, the challenge of implementing NBS remains significant, and a greater understanding of the best methods of NBS implementation is needed to achieve inclusive, sustainable development.

The NATURESCAPES project, funded by an EU Horizon grant, will investigate the above challenges in various case study regions across the global North and South. The project kicked off in November 2023 and will run over four years, involving the collaboration of researchers from several universities and NGOs. The team at Trinity College will contribute to the NATURESCAPES project by mapping and assessing existing NBS in the Dublin Bay area and determining the benefits that NBS in different configurations generate for climate, biodiversity, and communities with the help of citizen science.

REWRITE

Within European coastal zones, intertidal areas consisting of soft sediment emerging during each low tide form complex seascapes covering over 10,000 km² along the 35,000 km of tidal coastline. These habitats provide vital ecosystem services and have the potential to address the biodiversity-climate crisis by contributing to carbon neutrality, climate resilience and biodiversity support. However, these seascapes are disappearing, fragmented, and polluted, leading to a decline in their provision of goods and services.

Rewilding, the process of restoring and preserving natural ecosystems by allowing them to regenerate independently with minimal human interference, is primarily recognised as one of the most promising NBS for fostering ecosystem services, biodiversity, and sustainability. The REWRITE project, funded by an EU Horizon grant, aims to rewild European shores, ensuring climate resilience, biodiversity support, and societal benefits for the future. The project commenced in October 2023 and will run over five years with input from 25 partners from 11 European states, the UK, Canada, and the USA, bringing together an interdisciplinary consortium of natural and coastal environment and social sciences and humanities experts. Trinity College will contribute to the REWRITE project by investigating the ecological and social functioning of intertidal seascapes within Dublin Bay and assessing how factors such as CO₂ increase, temperature rise, sea level rise, extreme events, and biodiversity loss impact these seascapes at local and global scales.

To read more about the REWRITE project, visit the webpage here.

Life in the Currents

The Life in the Currents (LIC) project represents a novel investigation into the role of naturally driven variability in the historical and contemporary exploitation of marine life in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean. The project will assess the impacts of natural and anthropogenically driven climatic and oceanic variability on marine ecosystems and the effects of these changes on terrestrial life and human societies. The outcome of the project is anticipated to resolve intriguing questions, such as: how do ocean circulations impact primary biological production and coastal geomorphologies; how do oceanic-riverine interactions affect marine ecosystems (e.g., river flooding as a control of terrestrial nutrient run-off into marine ecosystems); to what degree can variable ocean dynamics explain historical variability in fish catch documented for the past 500-hundred years and, how unique are ocean circulation changes within the span of human habitation in Northeast Atlantic?

The LIC project was one of two winners of the Prendergast Challenge-based awards in 2023 and involves a multidisciplinary team of researchers from the Schools of Computer Science and Statistics, Engineering, Geography, History, Mathematics, and Zoology.