Wave attenuation by intertidal vegetation is mediated by trade-offs between shoot- and canopy-scale plant traits

Ken Schoutens*, Alexandra Silinski, Jean Philippe Belliard, Tjeerd J. Bouma, Stijn Temmerman, Jonas Schoelynck

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Nature-based solutions, through conservation or (re)creation of vegetated shorelines, are recognized to mitigate the impact of waves and erosion risks on shorelines. Wave attenuation is known to be dependent on plant traits, resulting in increasing wave attenuation rates with increasing shoot density, shoot thickness, height, and stiffness. However, following the allometric scaling theory, we hypothesize that increasing shoot density (a canopy-scale trait) may be associated with decreasing shoot thickness and stiffness (a shoot-scale trait), with potential opposing effects on overall wave attenuation. This study investigates (1) the presence of such allometric relations across intertidal shore plant species via existing literature and (2) the trade-off effects on the overall wave attenuation capacity of shore vegetation through a flume experiment. Our results reveal for the first time the presence of allometric relationships between shoot-scale and canopy-scale plant properties in perennial intertidal plant species. Across different species, increasing shoot densities are indeed associated with decreasing shoot thickness and shoot stiffness. Next, we performed a wave flume experiment with plant mimics, showing that wave attenuation rate follows a logarithmic increase with increasing shoot density, even though the increasing shoot density was associated with thinner and more flexible individual shoots. Synthesis and applications. We conclude that wave attenuation is predominantly governed by canopy-scale properties, but a trade-off with shoot-scale properties mediates the overall wave attenuation capacity of the vegetated shore. Our findings imply that nature-based projects (re-)creating vegetated shorelines should account for potential trade-off effects of species-specific plant traits at the canopy scale and individual shoot scale.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2628-2637
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of Applied Ecology
Volume61
Issue number11
Early online date30 Aug 2024
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Author(s). Journal of Applied Ecology © 2024 British Ecological Society.

Funding

This research was funded by the Research Foundation Flanders, Belgium (FWO, junior postdoc fellowship Ken Schoutens, 12A1923N). Jonas Schoelynck is grateful to the Antwerp University Research Fund (BOF, Project no. 43171) and Jean\u2010Philippe Belliard is supported by FED\u2010tWIN ABioGrad. We would like to thank Lennart Van IJzerloo for providing technical assistance with the flume facility.

FundersFunder number
Research Foundation Flanders, Belgium
Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek12A1923N
Universiteit Antwerpen43171

    Keywords

    • allometric relationships
    • flume experiment
    • nature-based adaptation
    • plant properties
    • tidal marshes
    • trade-offs
    • wave attenuation

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