Managing erosion of mangrove-mud coasts with permeable dams – lessons learned

Winterwerp, Johan C.; Albers, Thorsten; Anthony, Edward J.; Friess, Daniel A.; Mancheño, Alejandra Gijón; Moseley, Kene; Muhari, Abdul; Naipal, S.; Noordermeer, Joost; Oost, A.P.; Saengsupavanich, Cherdvong; Tas, Silke A.J.; Tonneijck, Femke H.; Wilms, Tom; Bijsterveldt, Celine Van; Eijk, P. van; Lavieren, Els van; Wesenbeeck, Bregje K. van

doi:10.1016/j.ecoleng.2020.106078

Cited by 91 publications

(84 citation statements)

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“…Hybrid approaches, including engineering interventions, such as wave attenuation structures that either reduce tree damage or support seedling establishment, could be considered to ameliorate (changing) environmental conditions to below-threshold values, thereby enhancing mangrove functionality and persistence. Examples of such interventions could be permeable dams (Winterwerp et al, 2020), sediment nourishments (Baptist et al, 2019;de Vet et al, 2020), artificial reefs, rock fillets (Morris et al, 2020), or adjustable dams (Sadat-Noori et al, 2021) (Figure 7A).…”

Section: Long-term Mangrove Persistence: Adaptive Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nature-Based Engineering: A Review on Reducing Coastal Flood Risk With Mangroves

et al. 2021

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Integration of mangroves in projects to reduce coastal flood risk is increasingly being recognised as a sustainable and cost-effective alternative. In addition to the construction of conventional hard flood protection infrastructure, mangroves not only contribute to attenuating flood events (functionality), they also recover in, and adapt to, a changing climate (persistence). The implementation of mangroves in flood risk reduction, however, remains complex. This is because the innate functionality and persistence of mangroves depend on a range of environmental conditions. Importantly, mangroves may collapse when environmental impacts or climatic changes exceed key system thresholds, bringing uncertainty into a situation where failure could endanger lives and livelihoods. The uncertainties in mangrove functionality and persistence can be dealt with by (1) improving insights in how ecological and physical processes affect mangrove functionality and persistence across scales, (2) advancing tools to accurately assess and predict mangrove functionality and persistence, and (3) adopting an adaptive management approach combined with appropriate engineering interventions to enhance mangrove functionality and persistence. Here, we review existing evidence, monitoring techniques and modelling approaches from the viewpoint of mangrove functionality and persistence. Inspired by existing guidelines for Nature-based Solutions (NbS) to reduce flood risk, we provide an operationalization for this new approach. In addition, we identify where further research efforts are required for the practical application of mangroves in coastal flood risk management. Key aspects in the variability and uncertainty of the functionality and persistence of mangroves are their failure and recovery mechanisms, which are greatly site- and storm-specific. We propose five characteristic damage regimes that result in increasing reductions of mangrove functionality as well as post-storm recovery periods. Further research on the quantification of these regimes and their thresholds is required for the successful integration of mangroves in coastal flood risk management. Ultimately, the key challenge is the development of adaptive management strategies to optimise long-term mangrove functionality and persistence, or their resilience. Such adaptive strategies should be informed by continued mangrove functionality and persistence assessments, based on continued monitoring and modelling of key mangrove thresholds, and supported through well-established guidelines.

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Section: Long-term Mangrove Persistence: Adaptive Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nature-Based Engineering: A Review on Reducing Coastal Flood Risk With Mangroves

et al. 2021

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“…The rehabilitation or creation of coastal habitats through reuse or accretion of sediments is likely to continue apace, driven by mainstream recognition of the urgent need to recover the services provided by the coastal marine ecosystem. Although land reclamation has been practiced for millennia with socioeconomic aims (Winterwerp et al, 2020), over previous decades new strategies have been developed with an ecosystem focus. Ecological engineering approaches for protection of eroded coastlines or coastal infrastructure commonly seek to facilitate the virtuous cycle between sedimentation and vegetation in the intertidal zone.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Depending on the kinetic or turbulent energy of the flow, bottom sediment is continually being exchanged with the water column via suspension and deposition, sustained differences between these leading to net erosion or accretion of coastal sediments (Wolanski and Elliott, 2016). These differences may be orders of magnitude less than the rates of suspension and deposition, and as such relatively small changes in hydrodynamic conditions, or in the suspended sediment load, can flip conditions between eroding and accreting (Winterwerp et al, 2020). The suspension of settled particulate matter occurs when the upward component of the drag forces exerted upon the particle surface exceeds gravity.…”

Section: Key Concepts For Restoration Of Soft Intertidal Habitats Sediment Control Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As discussed earlier, interaction of waves and currents with solid rock constructions may result in near-field erosion (Fredsøe and Sumer, 2002). Permeable dams have proven to be a highly successful strategy to encourage natural sedimentation of eroded coastlines (Winterwerp et al, 2020). While in low energy environments they can be implemented relatively quickly and cheaply from lightweight materials, more energetic conditions may mandate rock construction, at significantly greater cost.…”

Section: Key Concepts For Restoration Of Soft Intertidal Habitats Sediment Control Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As these species are highly immersion sensitive, significant terraforming may be required to ensure that the substrate lies at a suitable elevation. In the case of sediment substrate, this may be achieved by modifying the hydrodynamic conditions to encourage natural sedimentation (e.g., Winterwerp et al, 2020), or by the deliberate placing of sediments from another source (Yozzo et al, 2004;Baptist et al, 2019). In particular, the potential exists for dredged material that is presently destined to land reclamation to be usefully repurposed for conservation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Working With Nature Approaches for the Creation of Soft Intertidal Habitats

Aiken

Mulloy

Dwane³

et al. 2021

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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As the artificial defenses often required for urban and industrial development, such as seawalls, breakwaters, and bund walls, directly replace natural habitats, they may produce population fragmentation and a disruption of ecological connectivity, compromising the delivery of ecosystem services. Such problems have increasingly been addressed through “Working with Nature” (WwN) techniques, wherein natural features such as species and habitats are included as additional functional components within the design of built infrastructure. There now exists a convincing body of empirical evidence that WwN techniques can enhance the structural integrity of coastal works, and at the same time promote biodiversity and ecosystem services. While these benefits have often been achieved through modification of the hard surfaces of the coastal defense structures themselves, the desired ecological and engineering goals may often demand the creation of new soft substrates from sediment. Here we discuss the design considerations for creating new sediment habitats in the intertidal zone within new coastal infrastructure works. We focus on the sediment control structures required to satisfy the physiological and ecological requirements of seagrass and mangroves – two keystone intertidal species that are common candidates for restoration – and illustrate the concepts by discussing the case study of soft habitat creation within a major multi-commodity port.

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Avicennia germinans leaf traits in degraded, restored, and natural mangrove ecosystems of Guyana

Dookie,

Jaikishun,

Ansari

2023

Plant Enviro Interactions

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Mangrove leaves have unique features that enable them to cope with shifting environmental conditions while preserving their general functionality and efficiency. We examined the morphological characteristics and chlorophyll content (spectroscopically) of 600 mature Avicennia germinans leaves selected from 30 trees located in one degraded, one restored, and one natural mangrove ecosystem along Guyana's coastline. Systematic sampling was carried out using the closest individual sampling method in the wet and dry seasons. We hypothesized that both habitat type and seasonality influence the leaf traits and chlorophyll content of A. germinans. Our findings showed that A. germinans leaves are mesophyllous, and traits such as leaf perimeter, area, length, width, dry mass, wet mass, turgid mass, leaf‐specific area, and relative water content showed fluctuations in ecosystems (one‐way ANOVA, p < .05) as well as seasonally (paired t‐test, p < .05). Substantial, positive correlations (p < .05, R > .75) were also established for over 10 leaf parameters in both seasons while PCA and multiple regression analyses further confirmed the strong relationships between leaf morphological features and their respective locations. Changes in chlorophyll concentration were most noticeable in the degraded ecosystem while variations in leaf traits were more pronounced in the restored mangrove area. This may be due to the various disturbances found in each ecosystem coupled with fluctuations in the seasons. Our results demonstrate that mangroves, to some extent, alter their plant structures to cope with environmental stressors present in the various ecosystems they thrive in to maintain their survival.

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Managing erosion of mangrove-mud coasts with permeable dams – lessons learned

Cited by 91 publications

References 46 publications

Nature-Based Engineering: A Review on Reducing Coastal Flood Risk With Mangroves

Nature-Based Engineering: A Review on Reducing Coastal Flood Risk With Mangroves

Working With Nature Approaches for the Creation of Soft Intertidal Habitats

Avicennia germinans leaf traits in degraded, restored, and natural mangrove ecosystems of Guyana

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