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Volume 25, Issue 2 - December 2025

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Revista de Gestão Costeira Integrada
Volume 25, Issue 2 December 2025, Pages 115-133

DOI: 10.5894/rgci-n708
* Submission: 14 AGO 2025; Peer review: -; Revised: 18 MAY 2026; Accepted: -; Available on-line: 3 SEP 2026

Integrating geomorphological and ecological indicators to assess coastal dune vulnerability in southern Brazil

Naila Ferreira de Barros1 @, Guilherme Tavares Nunes1, Gabriela Camboim Rockett1

@ Corresponding author: [email protected]

1 CCentro de Estudos Costeiros, Limnológicos e Marinhos, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Avenida Tramandaí, 976, Imbé, RS, Brazil, CEP 95625-000

ABSTRACT
Coastal dunes play a vital role in protecting human communities and ecosystems by acting as natural barriers against erosion of urban infrastructure, storm surges, and sea-level rise. However, these systems are increasingly degraded by urban expansion and climate change. In this study, we reassessed coastal vulnerability to erosion in the municipality of Imbé, southern Brazil – one of the fastest-growing coastal areas in the state of Rio Grande do Sul – 12 years after the implementation of a local Dune Management Plan. A geomorphological checklist method across 44 coastal segments (each 250 m long) was applied, scoring 25 variables grouped into four parameters: dune morphology, beach condition, adjacent land use, and anthropogenic pressure. Relative Vulnerability Index (RVI) values ranged from 28.0 to 69.6%, with 36% of the segments experiencing an increase in vulnerability classification compared to the 2012 baseline. Cluster analyses revealed distinct spatial patterns between seasons, with winter clusters better reflecting structural vulnerability and summer clusters influenced by tourism-related pressures. Concurrently, 30 active nests from three bird species (i.e. Athene cunicularia, n = 15; Vanellus chilensis, n = 13; and Haematopus palliatus, n = 2) were recorded and georeferenced along 11 km of coastline. Nest abundance negatively correlated with dune area and width (Pearson’s r = -0.40 and -0.35, respectively), indicating that more degraded dune units supported fewer nesting birds. A. cunicularia emerged as a promising bioindicator due to its fidelity to nesting sites and preference for less fragmented dunes. These findings highlight the value of integrating physical and biological indicators to assess coastal vulnerability and suggest a cost-effective and ecologically informed framework for monitoring and managing sandy coasts under increasing environmental pressures.

Keywords: Avian reproduction; Bioindicators; Coastal erosion; Sandy beaches; Urbanization.

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