Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Houston, Houston, Texas, 77204, USA.
Department of Marine Biology, Texas A&M University at Galveston, Galveston, Texas, 77553, USA.
Ecology. 2021 Apr;102(4):e03309. doi: 10.1002/ecy.3309. Epub 2021 Mar 13.
We tested the hypothesis that mangroves provide better coastal protection than salt marsh vegetation using 10 1,008-m plots in which we manipulated mangrove cover from 0 to 100%. 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% 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 m 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 nonlinear, with low mangrove cover providing most of the benefits.
我们检验了红树林比盐沼植被能提供更好的海岸保护的假设，在 10 个 1008 平方米的样地中，我们操纵红树林覆盖率从 0 到 100%。2017 年，飓风“哈维”（Harvey）袭击了这些样地。侵蚀桩的数据表明，在红树林覆盖率为 0%的样地中，70 个月内垂直侵蚀高达 26 厘米，水平侵蚀高达 970 厘米，但其他样地的侵蚀相对较少。飓风并没有增加侵蚀，而且在飓风过后侵蚀减少了。无人机图像的数据表明，在红树林覆盖率为 0%的样地中发生了 196 米的侵蚀，其他样地的侵蚀相对较少，而且在飓风过后侵蚀也很少发生。样地中的横断面表明，堤坝（靠近样地的前缘）和堤岸（样地的前缘）随着红树林覆盖率的降低连续后退了 9 米。与沼泽植物或无植被地区相比，红树林覆盖的区域土壤强度更大，而且随着样地级别的红树林覆盖率的增加而增加。红树林比沼泽植物更能防止侵蚀，但这种服务是非线性的，低覆盖率的红树林提供了大部分的好处。
