Retrospective optimisation of multifunctionality on coastal urban infrastructure Project Dataset (Plymouth, UK, January 2023 - August 2025)

Plymouth Hoe foreshore, Devon, England

Macroalgae and seagrass taxonomy-related counts; Sea level; Zooplankton and zoobenthos morphological parameters; Other wave statistics; Land surface temperature; Macroalgae generic abundance in water bodies; Wave height and period statistics; Zoobenthos taxonomic abundance; Zoobenthos generic abundance; Raw light meter output; Atmospheric humidity

Wave recorders; cameras; rulers; meteorological packages

This dataset contains topographic complexity (rugosity, fractal dimension, surface normals, surface area), marine biological (taxa richness, sessile taxa cover, mobile taxa counts), biotic measurements (cover thickness, cover area), wave overtopping measurements (volumes, event numbers, wave characteristics) and temperature, light and humidity (mean, min, max, standard deviation, range) data across natural and artificial intertidal structures, including the living sea walls, along the Plymouth Hoe foreshore, Devon, UK. Data were obtained by Franz Bauer (University of Plymouth) between January 2023 - August 2025 through in-situ 3D scanning, thermal imaging and biological surveys within the Plymouth Hoe intertidal zone (2-4 m above chart datum), and from flume laboratory experiments of living seawall panel topographies at the COAST lab, University of Plymouth. These data were collected to understand the topographic properties that underpin the abundance and spatial distribution of ecosystem-engineering species, impacts to ecological succession and community formation, and processes that drive scale-dependent thermal and abiotic microclimate patterns on different panel designs of an intertidal eco-engineering installation. There are no known issues with the quality of these data. These data were generated as part of the PhD project titled "Retrospective optimisation of multifunctionality on coastal urban infrastructure", funded by the Natural Environment Research Council and the ARIES Doctoral Training Partnership (grant number NE/S007334/1), University of Plymouth and Arup. For further information, please see the associated research papers: doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.173519, doi:10.1016/j.ecoleng.2025.107596, doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2025.119104 and doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2026.129091.

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