Effects of mangrove cover on coastal erosion during a hurricane in Texas, USA
Files
Accepted manuscript
Date
2021-02-22
DOI
Authors
Pennings, Steven C.
Glazner, Rachael M.
Hughes, Zoe J.
Kominoski, John S.
Armitage, Anna R.
Version
Accepted manuscript
OA Version
Citation
Steven C Pennings, Rachael M Glazner, Zoe J Hughes, John S Kominoski, Anna R Armitage. 2021. "Effects of mangrove cover on coastal erosion during a hurricane in Texas, USA." Ecology, https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.3309
Abstract
We tested the hypothesis that mangroves provide better coastal protection than salt marsh
vegetation using ten 1,008 m2 plots in which we manipulated mangrove cover from 0 to 100 percent.
Hurricane Harvey passed over the plots in 2017. Data from erosion stakes indicated up to 26 cm of
vertical and 970 cm of horizontal erosion over 70 months in the plot with 0 percent mangrove cover,
but relatively little erosion in other plots. The hurricane did not increase erosion, and erosion
decreased after the hurricane passed. Data from drone images indicated 196 m2 of erosion in the 0 %
mangrove plot, relatively little erosion in other plots, and little ongoing erosion after the hurricane.
Transects through the plots indicated that the levee (near the front of the plot) and the bank (the front
edge of the plot) retreated up to 9 m as a continuous function of decreasing mangrove cover. Soil
strength was greater in areas vegetated with mangroves than in areas vegetated by marsh plants, or
nonvegetated areas, and increased as a function of plot-level mangrove cover. Mangroves prevented
erosion better than marsh plants did, but this service was non-linear, with low mangrove cover
providing most of the benefits.
Description
License
© 2021 by the Ecological Society of America.