The Role of U.S. Coral Reefs in Coastal Protection

Rigorously valuing flood reduction benefits to inform coastal zone management decisions

• Coral reefs are a first line of coastal defense
• We can account for the physical defense that reefs provide
• We can provide value-based information to guide restoration efforts at management-relevant scales (10s of meters)
• We can direct ecosystems restoration efforts to reduce risk and increase the resiliency of coastal communities