Description: Shoreline hardening is an assessment of the Great Lakes Shoreline classified as either natural or harden based on the following definitions below:Natural Shoreline: No engineered or artificial structures in the nearshore, at the waters edge, toe of bluff, backshore or back of the beach; rising and falling water levels result in natural changes in the shoreline position; wildlife usage and vegetation migration upslope and downslope can occur unimpeded; natural vegetation communities, consistent with local conditions, are generally present along the shore.Hardened Shoreline: The nearshore, waters edge, toe of bluff, backshore or back of beach has been altered with engineered structures or artificial material (e.g. offshore breakwaters, lakefill, groynes, seawalls, revetments, dumped concrete rubble, artificial channels, dikes, etc.); natural shoreline processes are altered, and native vegetation communities are generally absent.Shoreline exposure is also attributed:Lake: shoreline directly exposed to lake wave energySheltered: shorelines with embayments, tributaries or the inside of jettied structures where there is protection from wave energy and currentsConnecting Channel: shorelines in the Great Lakes connecting channelsThis feature class was created internally by Environment and Climate Change Canada on April 19th, 2021, for the purpose of the 2021 Lake Ontario Canadian Baseline Coastal Habitat Survey.
Service Item Id: 5ee99f44beb441008791a3a63bc83b55
Copyright Text: Environment and Climate Change Canada,