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Abstract Marine protected areas (MPAs) globally serve conservation and fisheries management goals, generating positive effects in some marine ecosystems. Surf zones and sandy beaches, critical ecotones bridging land and sea, play a pivotal role in the life cycles of numerous fish species and serve as prime areas for subsistence and recreational fishing. Despite their significance, these areas remain understudied when evaluating the effects of MPAs. We compared surf zone fish assemblages inside and outside MPAs across 3 bioregions in California (USA). Using seines and baited remote underwater videos (BRUVs), we found differences in surf zone fish inside and outside MPAs in one region. Inside south region MPAs, we observed higher abundance (Tukey's honest significant difference [HSD] = 0.83,p = 0.0001) and richness (HSD = 0.22,p = 0.0001) in BRUVs and greater biomass (HSD = 0.32,p = 0.0002) in seine surveys compared with reference sites. Selected live‐bearing, fished taxa were positively affected by MPAs. Elasmobranchs displayed greater abundance in BRUV surveys and higher biomass in seine surveys inside south region MPAs (HSD = 0.35,p = 0.0003 and HSD = 0.23,p = 0.008, respectively). Although we observed no overall MPA signal for Embiotocidae, abundances of juvenile and large adult barred surfperch (Amphistichus argenteus), the most abundant fished species, were higher inside MPAs (K–S testD = 0.19,p < 0.0001). Influence of habitat characteristics on MPA performance indicated surf zone width was positively associated with fish abundance and biomass but negatively associated with richness. The south region had the largest positive effect size on all MPA performance metrics. Our findings underscored the variability in species richness and composition across regions and survey methods that significantly affected differences observed inside and outside MPAs. A comprehensive assessment of MPA performance should consider specific taxa, their distribution, and the effects of habitat factors and geography. 

Abstract Synthesis research in ecology and environmental science improves understanding, advances theory, identifies research priorities, and supports management strategies by linking data, ideas, and tools. Accelerating environmental challenges increases the need to focus synthesis science on the most pressing questions. To leverage input from the broader research community, we convened a virtual workshop with participants from many countries and disciplines to examine how and where synthesis can address key questions and themes in ecology and environmental science in the coming decade. Seven priority research topics emerged: (1) diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ), (2) human and natural systems, (3) actionable and use‐inspired science, (4) scale, (5) generality, (6) complexity and resilience, and (7) predictability. Additionally, two issues regarding the general practice of synthesis emerged: the need for increased participant diversity and inclusive research practices; and increased and improved data flow, access, and skill‐building. These topics and practices provide a strategic vision for future synthesis in ecology and environmental science. 

Coastal dunes are globally recognized as natural features that can enhance coastal resilience and protection from wave events, storm surges, coastal flooding, and longer- term sea level rise. As a result, dune restoration is being increasingly used along urban and natural coasts as an adaptation option for climate change. However, information on the performance of restored dunes in response to extreme events is limited. On urban beaches where management includes grooming, dunes are often degraded or absent, leaving coastal communities more vulnerable to flooding and erosion during storms and wave events. Following an extreme wave surge event in December 2023, we compared the performance of a small (1.2 hectare) pilot dune restoration on an intensively groomed urban beach in southern California to an adjacent mechanically groomed control site. We used total water level (wave setup, tide, wave runup) as a proxy for flooding potential. The average wave runup incursion distance was extended 13.6 m farther inland on the groomed control site compared to the dune restoration site. This result demonstrates the potential for restored dunes to enhance flood protection and the potential for increasing coastal resilience using nature-based solutions on urban beaches. 

Cross-ecosystem subsidies are critical to ecosystem structure and function, especially in recipient ecosystems where they are the primary source of organic matter to the food web. Subsidies are indicative of processes connecting ecosystems and can couple ecological dynamics across system boundaries. However, the degree to which such flows can induce cross-ecosystem cascades of spatial synchrony, the tendency for system fluctuations to be correlated across locations, is not well understood. Synchrony has destabilizing effects on ecosystems, adding to the importance of understanding spatiotemporal patterns of synchrony transmission. In order to understand whether and how spatial synchrony cascades across the marine-terrestrial boundary via resource subsidies, we studied the relationship between giant kelp forests on rocky nearshore reefs and sandy beach ecosystems that receive resource subsidies in the form of kelp wrack (detritus). We found that synchrony cascades from rocky reefs to sandy beaches, with spatiotemporal patterns mediated by fluctuations in live kelp biomass, wave action, and beach width. Moreover, wrack deposition synchronized local abundances of shorebirds that move among beaches seeking to forage on wrack-associated invertebrates, demonstrating that synchrony due to subsidies propagates across trophic levels in the recipient ecosystem. Synchronizing resource subsidies likely play an underappreciated role in the spatiotemporal structure, functioning, and stability of ecosystems. 

Coastal dunes are globally recognized as natural features that can be important adaptation approaches for climate change along urban and natural shores. We evaluated the recovery of coastal dunes on an intensively groomed urban beach in southern California over a six-year period after grooming was discontinued. Restoration actions were minimal and included installation of three sides of perimeter sand fencing, cessation of mechanical grooming and driving, and the addition of seeds of native dune plants. To track recovery, we conducted physical and biological surveys of the restoration site and an adjacent control site (groomed beach) using metrics including sand accretion, elevation, foredune and hummock formation, vegetation recovery, and wildlife use. Sediment accretion, elevation, and geomorphic complexity increased over time in the restoration site, largely in association with sand fencing and dune vegetation. A foredune ridge (maximum elevation increase of 0.9 m) and vegetated hummocks developed, along with a general increase in elevation across the restoration site (0.3 m). After six years, an estimated total volume of approximately 1,730 m³of sand had accreted in the restoration site and 540 m³of sand had accreted in the foredune ridge. Over the same period, more than a meter of sediment (vertical elevation change) accumulated along the perimeter sand fencing. Groomed control areas remained flat and uniform. The total cover of vegetation in the restoration site increased over time to a maximum of approximately 7% cover by the sixth year. No vegetation was observed on the groomed control site. Native plant species formed distinct zones across the restoration site beginning by the second year and increasing over time, with dune forming species aggregating closest to the ocean in association with the incipient foredune ridge. Ecological functions observed in the restoration area included presence of dune invertebrates, shorebird roosting, and use by a breeding federally threatened shorebird, the western snowy plover (Charadrius nivosus nivosus). Our findings on geomorphic and ecological responses of a pilot dune restoration on a heavily groomed urban beach provide new insights on the opportunities and expectations for restoring dunes as nature-based solutions for climate adaptation on urban shorelines.