An Adaptive Managed Retreat Approach to Address Shoreline Erosion at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida

Climate change will greatly impact infrastructure and natural resources in low-lying coastal zones. Kennedy Space Center (KSC) encompasses 57,000 hectares on a barrier island that is at high risk of erosion and flooding resulting from natural processes and climate change. In 2010 and 2013/2014, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) implemented an adaptive management strategy to address the impact of increasing erosion on KSC. Two dunes totaling 1.7 kilometers in length were created to allow the shoreline to move landward slowly (i.e., managed retreat). The primary reason for building the dunes was to protect valuable national assets, but it was also anticipated that the dunes would provide habitat for wildlife. Post-construction monitoring efforts focused on vegetation and two protected species, Gopherus polyphemus (gopher tortoises) and Peromyscus polionotus niveiventris (southeastern beach mice). After five years of data collection, we found that desired species of vegetation proliferated and non-native species decreased over time. Numbers of G. polyphemus and their burrows increased steadily. P. polionotus niveiventris began using the dunes soon after they were planted and remained resident, based on trapping and radiotracking information. The created dunes have subsequently withstood two hurricanes and exhibited much less damage than the adjacent natural dunes. The use of green infrastructure appears to be effective for the simultaneous protection of NASA assets and conservation of important wildlife habitat. This adaptive management strategy using a managed retreat approach is a positive step toward addressing the uncertainty and variability of conditions associated with climate change and sea level rise.