Ecological enhancement of coastal engineering structures: passive enhancement techniques

The rock type used in coastal engineering structures impacts biodiversity, but its effect has been understudied to date. We report here on whether different combinations of rock material and rock mass properties can improve habitat suitability and early phase ecological outcomes on coastal engineering structures. We examine two coastal engineering schemes that used different granites during construction. At site one, Shap granite boulders with a high number of cm-dm2 surface features (e.g. ledges) were deliberately positioned during construction (called passive enhancement), to a) maximise the provision of cm-dm scale intertidal habitat and b) determine which scale of habitat is best for ecological enhancement. At site two, Norwegian granite boulders were installed without passive enhancement, allowing for a direct comparison. Passive positioning of Shap granite boulders led to an increase in limpet (Patella vulgata, Linnaeus, 1758) abundance within two years but few limpets were recorded on the non-enhanced Norwegian granite. Positioning of boulder thus exerts a strong control on the mm and mm-dm scale geomorphic features present, with clear ecological benefits when suitable features are selected for and optimally positioned (i.e. passive enhancement) to maximise habitat features. An EcoRock scoring matrix was developed to aid in the selection of the most ecologically suitable rock materials for coastal engineering worldwide; this can help improve habitat provision on engineered structures in a rapidly warming world

Greening the Grey: A Framework for Integrated Green Grey Infrastructure (IGGI)

This report presents innovations from academia and practice designed to green grey infrastructure assets such as bridges, street furniture and coastal engineering structures that need to remain primarily grey for their essential function. We call this integrated green grey infrastructure (IGGI). We collated material on these innovations and assessed them using a critical success factors (CSF) framework that we –co-developed with a team of practitioners in government agencies and companies to help better evaluate the potential benefits and limitations of using IGGI measures compared to traditional grey engineering solutions. The CSF framework is outlined and demonstrated by assessing the engineering performance and ecosystem services benefits of ecological enhancements used in specific operational scale case studies. The case studies presented in this report show that simple, inexpensive ecological enhancement and green engineering solutions can deliver more multifunctional benefits than business as usual solutions for similar or reduced costs. These ecological enhancements and green engineering options have been compiled and assessed for historic conservation areas, urban areas, estuaries and at the coast. This report is intended to support asset managers, engineers, conservation and biodiversity teams, decision-makers, and other end-users to help them better identify IGGI options and evaluate these against business as usual grey engineering approaches

Maximising the ecological value of hard coastal structures using textured formliners

In order to enhance the ecological value of vertical hard coastal structures, hybrid designs with complex surface textures (such as a combination of grooves and pits) have been recommended. This strategy optimises ecological colonisation at two spatial scales: 1) at the mm-scale for barnacle abundance (shown to have bioprotective capabilities), and 2) at the cm-scale for species richness and abundance through the incorporation/creation of habitat features. To determine the optimal design for improving the intertidal habitat quality of vertical coastal defence structures, we conducted an ecological enhancement trial involving 160 artificial concrete tiles of different designs (and thus topographic complexity) and 24 cleared natural surfaces (150 × 150 mm) at three sites in the UK. Within 18 months, tile designs with intermediate levels of complexity (mm-scale surface roughness) were optimal in increasing barnacle cover compared to plain-cast tiles. Tiles with high complexity (with microhabitat recesses up to 30 mm deep) developed greatest species richness and mobile species abundance and had lowest peak air temperatures and highest humidity. Such textured ecological enhancements can help improve the habitat value of existing and future hard coastal structures by favouring the conservation of intertidal species in urban marine habitats and enhancing otherwise weak or absent ecosystem service provision

The BioGeo Ecotile: improving biodiversity on coastal defences using a multiscale, multispecies eco-engineering design

Hard coastal defences support lower biodiversity than natural rocky shores. Ecological enhancement on coastal structures can improve biodiversity by increasing habitat heterogeneity. Most studies have investigated the effect of only one type of texture on intertidal biodiversity. There is a lack of eco-engineering designs that mimic the complexity of natural rocky shores and are scalable for real world applications and commercial manufacturing. To address these gaps, we developed a novel, multiscale (mm-cm), multispecies design called BioGeo Ecotile that is scalable and readily manufacturable. The hybrid design combines previously tested eco-engineering features (pits, holes, grooves and crevices), providing habitats for a range of intertidal organisms. To test the success of the design, Ecotiles and smooth tiles were deployed on rock armour and flood walls along Edinburgh's coast, Scotland. Post-deployment, data on species presence and abundance were collected at the start and end of the second settlement season. Textured Ecotiles supported higher species richness (F3,55 = 21.18, p < 0.001) and colonisation than smooth tiles and adjacent rock armour. Ecotiles supported more mobile species, some of which (crabs) were not recorded on the other treatments. Material type (concrete vs rock) significantly affected community composition, where concrete was dominated by fucoids and rock by barnacles. In this temperate setting, the Ecotiles have enhanced biodiversity of rock armour achieving practical conservation goals. This is the first known retrofit of tiles onto rock armour in the UK. The tiles can be scaled up to whole walls or rock armour units. We demonstrate that a science-design approach can achieve ecological and engineering goals simultaneously, which can accelerate widespread implementation of eco-engineering in large-scale projects

Leadership in Compassionate Care: Final Report 2012

This report reflects the initiation, planning, running and the important outcomes emerging from the Leadership in Compassionate Care Programme. The team worked in close partnership across the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Care, Edinburgh Napier University and NHS Lothian. This report also shares the highlights, challenges and solutions to embed compassionate care education and nursing practice.Additional co-authors: Fiona Smith, Stephen DM Smith, Ria Tocher, and Anne Waug

Sporadic colorectal cancer : the role of chronic inflammation

In this thesis, an in silico investigation of available online microarray data found that normal colon, polyps and CRC have distinct gene expression patterns and that several key inflammation-related genes are up-regulated in polyps. This was also the findings of a pilot microarray study using Affymetrix human GeneChip® technology on normal colon and polyps biopsied from one individual.  Validation of the microarray data for IL-1B and il-8 was performed by RT-PCR and also revealed an overall up-regulation of these genes in polyp compared to normal colon. A CRC case-control study was then used to assess the role of pro-inflammatory single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in IL-1B (-31 T/C), TNF-A (-308 G/A), TGF-B (-509 C/T) and IL-10 (-592 C/A, -1082 G/A) in sporadic CRC in the North East of Scotland.  Their interaction with aspirin use was also investigated. Whilst statistically significant associations were not found between any of the SNPs and CRC alone, a statistically significant halving in risk of CRC (OR, 0.50; 95% CI, 0.27-.097) was found in carriers of the variant IL-10-592 A allele who were regular aspirin users. Finally, the frequencies of 2 promoter, one exonic and one 3’-UTR COX-2SNPs were assessed in a Scottish population. The -899 and -197 COX-2 promoter SNPs were not identified but the allele frequencies of the exon-3 and 3’UTR COX-2 SNPs were similar to those reported in previous Caucasian studies. Further analysis including the COX-2 -765 G>SNP showed that -765 GG homozygotes infected with H. pylori had a significantly increased risk of developing pre-malignant changes of gastric cancer (OR 5.7, 95% CI, 2.3-14.1).  This result is in keeping with previous studies which have suggested that the variant C allele is associated with reduced COX-2 suppression and inflammatory response.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Geodiversity and biodiversity interactions: how natural rocky shore microhabitats can inform the ecological enhancement of engineered coastal structures

The primary aims of this thesis were two-fold. First, this thesis examined the interplay between geodiversity and biodiversity on natural rocky shores from regional – site – microhabitat scales exploring how rock material and rock mass properties influence geomorphological and biogeomorphological processes that shape microhabitats, which in turn exerts an influence over biota. A key finding from this part of the thesis was that lithology is not an important determinant of species richness and abundance at the national or regional scale, being more a modifier of patterns than a driver. At the site scale, lithology exerts more of an influence, with complex lithologies (such as limestone) and associated microhabitats more likely to have higher species richness and abundance than adjacent areas of the shore platform that lack this geomorphic complexity. All the work in this thesis was conducted in the mid-upper intertidal zone, between Mean Tide Level (MTL) and Mean High Water Springs (MHWS), as this zone has high exposure during low tide and most coastal defences are built at this level, meaning interventions at this tidal height hold the most biodiversity potential. Natural shore surveys were also conducted at this height to directly inform engineering design and to contribute to biogeomorphological theory as more species were found to congregate in microhabitats for refuge in the mid-upper intertidal zone. Results of surveying the mid-upper intertidal zone of several rocky shores across the UK highlight that it is critical to account for both lithology and the presence of geomorphic features (microhabitats) to better understand the distribution of species and their habitat requirements. The location of species within quadrats on each shore was recorded relative to their position on either the shore platform surface or within microhabitats, such as pools, cracks, pits and ledges. Results showed that microhabitat type is a key driver of species distribution within shores, while lithology modifies patterns between shores (10s of km scale). Although the most suitable habitat varied with location, deep pools (2.8-24 cm deep) were significant in increasing species richness and abundance where they were present while crevices and ledges facilitated significantly greater mobile species abundance, particularly compared to the adjacent shore platform. These findings improve the understanding on the interrelationships between geodiversity and biodiversity and highlight the need for ecological and biogeomorphological surveys to incorporate species distributions within geomorphic features and processes in greater depth. The second aim drew from this new understanding of the rock and microhabitat preferences of intertidal species on natural rocky shores to evaluate the effectiveness and further the evidence base for ecological enhancement, i.e. improving the quantity and quality of available habitat for species on artificial structures, on new and existing artificial coastal defences. With the construction and expansion of coastal defences in the intertidal zone globally, ecologically enhanced designs are needed to mitigate some of the impacts of construction on the intertidal zone, such as disturbance from the addition of artificial substrate and habitat loss. To do this, an ecological enhancement trial using 160 artificial concrete tiles of 8 different designs and 24 cleared natural surfaces was conducted at three UK sites over an 18-month period, representing the largest (to date) UK enhancement trial of this kind. Key findings from this trial showed that intermediate complexity in the form of mm-scale grooves was statistically significant in increasing the abundance of early-colonising species (i.e. barnacles) from 2 months onwards compared to plain-cast control tiles and designs of higher complexity. Additionally, the design with the highest level of habitat complexity (up to 30 mm deep pits) significantly increased humidity and reduced temperature compared to lower complexity designs. Species richness and abundance was greatest in the microhabitats of the most complex design during monitoring from 2-18 months after installation. These designs highlight the value of ecological enhancement from the mm-cm scale in providing habitat that would otherwise be absent on plain-cast artificial coastal structures, such as seawalls. A secondary ecological enhancement trial was conducted on passively enhanced (passive positioning and optimised material choice for ecology) rock armour boulders at a live coastal defence scheme in Hartlepool. From laboratory testing, Portland limestone and Carboniferous limestones (Hartlepool and Welsh) were optimal boulder material choices for rock armour revetments, combining ecological and engineering suitability. Adding in field survey results showed the importance of considering ecological suitability from the mm-dm (decimetre) scale and including rock material and rock mass properties in making engineering recommendations. Ledges at the dm-scale in field surveys on the revetment at Hartlepool were the optimal geomorphic feature in significantly increasing limpet abundance on the boulder surface. To conclude, the findings from natural shores were utilised to suggest improvements to future ecological and biogeomorphological survey techniques on natural and artificial shores. These in-depth surveys were coupled with findings from ecological enhancement trials to provide detailed recommendations on the design of future enhancements on artificial shores, with specific design parameters delineated

Iona Celtic Art: the Work of Alexander and Euphemia Ritchie

No abstract available

Iona

No abstract available