Abstract
<jats:p>Coastal communities face increasing threats from shoreline loss, making these communities more vulnerable to environmental changes. Living shorelines, a nature-based alternative to traditional "hard-armoring," are emerging as a resilient solution that stabilizes coastlines while restoring habitat. However, the evidence for their benefits is scattered across diverse scientific and technical literature, making it difficult for researchers and managers to assess. Developed under the Ecosystem Management and Restoration Research Program (EMRRP), this database addresses the living shoreline benefits gap by providing a systematic compilation of 128 records from academic and grey literature. A key inclusion criterion is that the record must explicitly self-identify the project or study as a "living shoreline." The collection ranges from 2007 to 2026 and captures the geographic distribution of these projects within the U.S., with most research conducted along the Atlantic coast (71), followed by the Gulf (32), Pacific (10), and Inland (lakes and riverine areas) (4) regions. The database catalogs the shoreline structure type and the range of documented benefits. The most frequently cited benefits are shoreline stabilization (62) and wave attenuation (39), followed by ecological enhancements (41). This database serves as a critical resource for informing coastal research, management, and policy, while also highlighting data gaps to direct future studies. Note: Users are strongly recommended to review the "Legend" tab first, as it provides explanations of the extracted data fields, variables, and acronyms for accurate interpretation.</jats:p>