Repository Data for Living Shoreline Pilot Project Monitoring by the Coastal Habitat Restoration Team in the Great Bay Estuary, New Hampshire

Over the past six years, the New Hampshire (NH) Department of Environmental Services has shifted its preference for shoreline stabilization from traditional engineered shorelines (e.g., seawalls, concrete armoring) to nature-based living shoreline (LS) solutions. To improve the expectations and outcomes of future projects, we monitored three LS pilot projects in the Great Bay Estuary of NH from 2019 - 2022, estimated short-term recovery of the soil biogeochemistry, plant community, and habitat use by fauna, and documented adaptive management needs. Each LS was paired with a nearby (+ 14.9 mV, High: -119.0 + 25.3 mV). Opportunistic foraging waterfowl and burial by wrack led to annual replacement replanting and seasonal wrack removal as adaptive management needs of these and future projects. LS projects in the Great Bay Estuary provide functional salt marsh habitat and improved shoreline resilience that can serve as a valuable strategy for coastal restoration.