Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 23, 2025

Watershed Planning within a Quantitative Scenario Analysis Framework
Published on: July 24, 2016
Quantifying uncertainty in wave attenuation by mangroves to inform coastal green belt policies
Bregje K van Wesenbeeck1,2, Vincent T M van Zelst1,2, Jose A A Antolinez1
1Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
The capacity of mangroves to reduce coastal flood risk resulted in legislation for mandatory widths of mangrove greenbelts in several countries with mangrove presence. Prescribed forest widths vary between 50 and 200 m. Here, we performed 216,000 numerical model runs informed by realistic conditions to quantify confidence in wave reduction capacity of mangroves for wind and swell waves. This analysis highlights that tidal flat areas fronting mangrove forests already account for 70% of reduction in wave heights. Within mangrove forests that are below 500 m wide, wave dissipation is strongly dependent on local water levels, wave characteristics and forest density. For forest widths of over 500 m, which constitute 46% of global coastal mangroves, around 75% or more of the incoming wave energy is dissipated. Hence, for relying on mangroves to dampen shorter waves, a new standard should be adopted that strives for mangrove widths of 500 m or more.
Related Concept Videos
Design Example: Analyzing Capacity Contours for Flood Risk Assessment
Adaptations that Reduce Water Loss
Responses to Drought and Flooding
Propagation of Uncertainty from Random Error
Habitat Fragmentation
Estimating Population Mean with Known Standard Deviation
The confidence interval estimate will have the form as follows:
(point estimate - error bound, point estimate +...

