Nature-Based Coastal Adaptation and Ecosystem Restoration Under Climate Change

Dear Colleagues,

Coastal zones are increasingly exposed to interacting climatic and anthropogenic pressures, including sea level rise, storm intensification, disrupted sediment dynamics, coastal urbanisation, eutrophication, habitat fragmentation, and pollution. These pressures threaten shoreline stability, marine and transitional ecosystems, critical infrastructure, and the delivery of key ecosystem services. In shallow bays, lagoons, estuaries, deltas, wetlands, and semi-enclosed seas, restricted water exchange and intense human use can further amplify cumulative stress, increasing the vulnerability of both ecosystems and coastal communities.

Nature-based Solutions (NbS) and ecosystem-based adaptation approaches are increasingly recognised as important components of coastal climate adaptation. Measures such as seagrass and saltmarsh restoration, dune rehabilitation, wetland recovery, sediment management, hydrological connectivity restoration, and hybrid nature-based coastal protection can contribute to erosion control, flood risk reduction, habitat recovery, biodiversity enhancement, water quality improvement, and blue carbon storage. However, the effectiveness of these interventions is strongly context-dependent and influenced by hydrodynamic exposure, sediment regimes, water quality, ecological thresholds, anthropogenic pressures, implementation constraints, and long-term maintenance requirements.

We are pleased to invite you to contribute to this Special Issue on “Nature-Based Coastal Adaptation and Ecosystem Restoration Under Climate Change”.

This Special Issue aims to present and disseminate recent advances in the design, assessment, modelling, monitoring, and implementation of Nature-based Solutions for coastal adaptation and ecosystem restoration. It focuses on how marine and transitional ecosystems—including seagrass meadows, saltmarshes, dunes, wetlands, lagoons, estuaries, and shallow coastal systems—can contribute to coastal protection, flood and erosion risk reduction, biodiversity recovery, ecosystem services delivery, and climate resilience under changing environmental conditions.

The subject is closely aligned with the scope of the Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, as it brings together marine science, coastal engineering, ecological restoration, hydrodynamic and morphodynamic modelling, ecosystem services assessment, and engineering-informed decision-support approaches for coastal management. Particular emphasis is placed on interdisciplinary studies that connect physical coastal processes with ecological functioning, restoration performance, and climate risk reduction.

The Special Issue welcomes contributions addressing both theoretical and applied aspects of nature-based coastal adaptation. We encourage submissions presenting field-based restoration studies, numerical modelling, remote sensing and monitoring approaches, ecosystem services assessments, adaptive pathway frameworks, multi-criteria decision analysis, and integrated evaluations of NbS effectiveness, feasibility, scalability, and long-term sustainability. Original research articles, reviews, methodological papers, case studies, and perspective articles are welcome.

Research areas may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Nature-based Solutions for coastal adaptation, ecosystem restoration, and rehabilitation;
• Restoration and rehabilitation of coastal ecosystems, including seagrass, saltmarsh, dune, wetland, lagoon, and estuarine systems;
• Anthropogenic pressures, cumulative impacts, and land–sea interactions affecting coastal ecosystems and restoration outcomes;
• Spatial extent and area of influence of anthropogenic impacts and coastal restoration measures;
• Ecological thresholds, tipping points, and limits to the effectiveness of coastal Nature-based Solutions;
• Hydrodynamic, morphodynamic, and sediment-transport modelling of Nature-based Solutions;
• Coastal flood risk reduction, erosion mitigation, and shoreline stabilisation through Nature-based Solutions;
• Design and assessment of innovative Nature-based Solutions for coastal compound-flood risk reduction;
• Habitat connectivity, water exchange, turbidity, eutrophication, and sediment dynamics in restored and managed coastal systems;
• Ecosystem-services assessment and multi-benefit evaluation of coastal Nature-based Solutions;
• Adaptive pathways and scenario-informed restoration planning under climate change;
• Multi-criteria decision analysis, trade-offs, synergies, and safeguards in Nature-based Solutions implementation;
• Monitoring, remote sensing, MRV, and restoration-success assessment;
• Development of engineering-based tools for improving coastal site management and supporting the implementation of Nature-based Solutions;
• Scaling up and outscaling coastal restoration across different regional contexts;
• Maladaptation, limitations, and unintended negative outcomes of coastal Nature-based Solutions.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Nikolay Valchev
Dr. Massimiliano Marino
Dr. Piotr Szmytkiewicz
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.