Predicting nature- based coastal protection by mangroves under extreme waves

Zhan Hu; Stijn Temmerman; Qin Zhu; Xinran Wang; Jinwei Wu; Tianping Xu; Ken Schoutens; Tomohiro Suzuki; Zhifeng Yang; Tjeerd J. Bouma

doi:10.1073/pnas.2410883122

Predicting nature- based coastal protection by mangroves under extreme waves

Zhan Hu^*, Stijn Temmerman, Qin Zhu, Xinran Wang, Jinwei Wu, Tianping Xu, Ken Schoutens, Tomohiro Suzuki, Zhifeng Yang, Tjeerd J. Bouma

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Forested wetlands such as mangroves are considered highly valuable for nature- based mitigation of coastal flooding. However, their wave attenuation capacity during extreme storms, when risks are highest, is rarely measured and remains challenging to predict. Here, we compile a unique dataset on the largest incident wave heights (0.39 to 1.44 m) ever recorded in forested wetlands, including our own measurements and literature data. Our analysis reveals that forested wetlands can significantly attenuate storm waves (35% over 3 wavelengths) except in rare near- submerged cases. Notably, 19 of the 20 existing formulations for vegetation drag coefficient, a key parameter for wave attenuation modeling, are inapplicable in storm conditions. Hence, we introduce an new approach to reliably predict wave attenuation during storms, without the need for drag coefficient determination nor modeling expertise. This approach offers coastal practitioners a new user- friendly tool to assess the effectiveness of nature- based solutions for storm hazard mitigation.

Original language	English
Article number	e2410883122
Number of pages	7
Journal	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume	122
Issue number	12
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2410883122
Publication status	Published - 25 Mar 2025

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

Funding

We would like to thank the members of M5 Lab (Mudflat, Marsh, Mangrove, Measurement & Modeling) at Sun Yat-sen University and Hailing Island Mangrove National Wetland Park for their support in the field work. This work is supported by Guangdong Provincial Department of Science and Technology (2024B1515020066), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52388101, 42176202, 52239005, and 52471287), Guangdong Provincial Department of Science and Technology (2019ZT08G090 and 2019ZT08L213), Innovation Group Project of Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai) (311021004), 111 Project (B21018).

Funders	Funder number
Hailing Island Mangrove National Wetland Park
Sun Yat-Sen University
Guangdong Provincial Department of Science and Technology	2024B1515020066
National Natural Science Foundation of China	52388101, 42176202, 2019ZT08L213, 52239005, 2019ZT08G090, 52471287
Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai)	311021004
Higher Education Discipline Innovation Project	B21018

Keywords

coastal protection
extreme waves
mangroves
nature-based solutions
wave modeling

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10.1073/pnas.2410883122Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

hu-et-al-predicting-nature-based-coastal-protection-by-mangroves-under-extreme-wavesFinal published version, 2.02 MBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

Cite this

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abstract = "Forested wetlands such as mangroves are considered highly valuable for nature- based mitigation of coastal flooding. However, their wave attenuation capacity during extreme storms, when risks are highest, is rarely measured and remains challenging to predict. Here, we compile a unique dataset on the largest incident wave heights (0.39 to 1.44 m) ever recorded in forested wetlands, including our own measurements and literature data. Our analysis reveals that forested wetlands can significantly attenuate storm waves (35\% over 3 wavelengths) except in rare near- submerged cases. Notably, 19 of the 20 existing formulations for vegetation drag coefficient, a key parameter for wave attenuation modeling, are inapplicable in storm conditions. Hence, we introduce an new approach to reliably predict wave attenuation during storms, without the need for drag coefficient determination nor modeling expertise. This approach offers coastal practitioners a new user- friendly tool to assess the effectiveness of nature- based solutions for storm hazard mitigation.",

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AU - Xu, Tianping

AU - Schoutens, Ken

AU - Suzuki, Tomohiro

AU - Yang, Zhifeng

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Predicting nature- based coastal protection by mangroves under extreme waves

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Bibliographical note

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Keywords

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