In March 2023 the EU-funded CHERISH project published its free user-guide and methodology for investigating heritage and climate change in the coastal and maritime environment (Barker and Corns 2023). This paper provides an overview of the publication, specifically the CHERISH toolkit – the 15 approaches employed by the multi-disciplinary project to investigate at-risk heritage sites in Wales and Ireland. Using the eroding coastal hillfort of Dinas Dinlle in Wales as a case study, the toolkit which combines air, land and sea-based investigation techniques is highlighted. This article will assist users going forward in identifying relevant approaches to the study of their own at-risk sites. It is relevant to a wide-ranging audience anywhere in the world, taking into consideration a variety of requirements such as the environment, budget, and outputs.

Major technological advances have made measurements of coastal subsidence more sophisticated, but these advances have not always been matched by a thorough examination of what is actually being measured. Here we draw attention to the widespread confusion about key concepts in the coastal subsidence literature, much of which revolves around the interplay between sediment accretion, vertical land motion and surface-elevation change. We attempt to reconcile this by drawing on well-established concepts from the tectonics community. A consensus on these issues by means of a common language can help bridge the gap between disparate disciplines (ranging from geophysics to ecology) that are critical in the quest for meaningful projections of future relative sea-level rise.

Women face disproportionate challenges while undertaking coastal fieldwork. We draw on 18 responses that specifically raise fieldwork issues from an international survey about perceptions and experiences of gender inequality for those working in coastal sciences to discuss two common themes. These themes are barriers to fieldwork participation and challenges for women working in coastal field settings such as boats or working on beaches, including discrimination and sexual harassment. We suggest five priority behavioural and policy changes to improve the fieldwork experience for women in coastal sciences: (i) publicise field role models and trail blazers, (ii) improve opportunities and capacity for women to undertake fieldwork, (iii) establish field codes of conduct, (iv) acknowledge the challenges women face in the field and provide support where possible, and (v) foster an enjoyable and supportive fieldwork culture.

Sedimentological, geochemical, and paleontological investigations of the coastline of northeastern Oman have provided the authors with an in-depth insight into Holocene sea levels and climate conditions. The spatial distribution and species assemblage of mangrove ecosystems are analyzed. These ecosystems are sensitive to changes in sea level and precipitation and thus reflect ecological conditions. The close proximity to archaeological sites allows us to draw conclusions regarding human interaction with the mangrove ecosystems. Our interdisciplinary inquiry reveals that the mangrove ecosystems along the east coast of Oman collapsed ~6000 cal yr BP on a decadal scale. There is no sedimentological evidence for a mid-Holocene sea-level highstand. The ecosystem collapse was not caused by sea-level variation or anthropogenic interferences; rather, it was the consequence of reduced precipitation values related to a southward shift of the Intertropical Convergence Zone. This resulted in a decrease of freshwater input and an increase in soil salinity. Further, the aridification of the area caused increased deflation and silting up of the lagoons.

Although the relations between climate and settlement are not straightforward, there is a general agreement that arid conditions are less favorable for human settlement in the semiarid Near East than humid conditions. Here we show that humid conditions resulted in the abandonment of settlements along the Israeli coastal plain. We first present archaeological evidence for a drastic decline in settlement along the Israeli coast during most of the third millennium BC (Early Bronze Age II–III). Then, based on archaeological and climatic evidence, we link this decline to an environmental change occurring at that time. We propose that increased precipitation intensified the already existing drainage problems and resulted in flooding, which led to the transformation of arable land into marshes and to the spread of diseases, gradually causing settlement decline and abandonment.

During a monitoring programme of stranded marine mammals conducted along the north-east coast of the Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil, we collected marine tucuxi dolphins (Sotalia guianensis) stranded along the beach. We examined the carcasses to identify characteristic evidences of fishery by-catch. From July 2001 to August 2007 43 S. guianensis were found in the study area, with an annual mean of 6.1 stranding events. Dolphins stranded with evidence of fishery interaction (‘by-catch’) occurred in almost every year (annual mean = 2). The majority of the by-catch events occurred during winter and spring. Most of the stranded dolphins were sexually mature. From 43 S. guianensis stranded from 2001 to 2007, 32.5% (N = 14) of these presented evidence of by-catch. Twenty-nine other dolphins did not show clear evidence of by-catch or it could not be evaluated. Most of the by-caught dolphins occurred in the northern zones of the study area where gill-net use is intense.

The Critically Endangered Chinese crested tern Sterna bernsteini is a poorly known species. From June 2003 to August 2007 we therefore surveyed the Zhejiang and Shandong coasts of eastern China for breeding colonies and to document any threats. Our results indicated that (1) the colonies at Matzu and Jiushan are the only two in the species' potential breeding range, (2) the total population is no more than 50, (3) numbers in the two extant breeding colonies fluctuate annually, and (4) threats to the breeding populations include habitat degradation, egg poaching, disturbance, overfishing and typhoons. Egg poaching is the greatest threat to the Chinese crested tern population and other breeding seabird populations along the coast of China. We make recommendations for the conservation of this species.

Following the accident of the oil tanker ‘Prestige’, we surveyed the large scale fuel deposition patterns on the Cantabrian shore (northern Spain) covering three regions (from west to east): (i) Asturias, west of Cape Peñas (24 segments surveyed); (ii) Asturias, east of Cape Peñas (33 segments surveyed); and (iii) Cantabria (also east of Cape Peñas, 256 segments surveyed). Fuel arrived to the Cantabrian Coast as a single oil wave which was more intense to the east than to the west of Cape Peñas. The mean percentage of coast length affected was 25, 41 and 15% in western Asturias, eastern Asturias and Cantabria, respectively. However, less than 10% of the substrate was covered by fuel in oiled patches, thus the impact was moderate. We conclude that these patterns are consistent with fuel transport by the Iberian Poleward Current, a hydrographic feature typical of this region during winter.

Two new corticolous species, Hafellia alisioae and H. gomerana (lichenized Ascomycetes, Physciaceae), collected from twigs of coastal shrubs on the Canary Islands are described. The new species are discussed in relation to other Hafellia species with similar characters. An overview and a key for 23 corticolous species of Hafellia with 2-celled ascospores is provided.