Vulnerability assessment of coastal plant communities from flooding caused by unusual storms: A case study of Kabakum beach, Varna (Northeastern Bulgaria) for 2018 year
1 Department of Ecology and Environmental Protection, Technical University of Varna, Varna, Bulgaria.
2 Institute of Oceanology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Varna, Bulgaria.
Research Article
GSC Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2019, 09(03), 109-115.
Article DOI: 10.30574/gscbps.2019.9.3.0239
Publication history:
Received on 13 December 2019; revised on 19 December 2019; accepted on 22 December 2019
Abstract:
The present paper proposed a rapid method for vulnerability assessment of coastal plant communities from flooding caused by unusual storms over the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. The model was tested and applied on Kabakum beach, Varna (Northeastern Bulgaria) for 2018 year. In order to create a dynamic GIS model, data from experimental results and detailed GIS mapping on the Kabakum beach (Varna) were incorporated. As a result of a simulated flooding experiment, Critical Decomposition Time (CDT) was obtained. Linking flood duration with CDT and altitudinal spreading of plants determines that Аrtemisia vulgaris L., Eryngium maritimum L. and Crambe maritima L. are vulnerable to storms. The plant communities in Kabakum beach are not threatened by complete destruction even during a storm with a return period of 100 years. Habitat recovery is likely within a season and does not require human intervention.
Keywords:
Vulnerability assessment; Plant communities; GIS; Floods; The Black Sea coast
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Copyright © 2019 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Liscense 4.0
