Review of the eco-geomorphological impacts of vessel-generated wakes

Vessel-generated wakes are an increasingly important source of physical and ecological disturbance in marine and freshwater environments, yet their impacts remain unevenly characterized and even contested across systems. This review synthesizes field, laboratory, and modeling studies to assess how wakes influence sediment resuspension, shoreline erosion, turbidity, nutrient and contaminant fluxes, aquatic habitats, and risks to infrastructure and navigation safety. The framework of this review is designed to help reconcile contrasting conclusions across rivers, lakes, estuaries, and coastal systems, and highlights eco-geomorphological feedbacks, particularly where wake-induced vegetation loss reduces wave attenuation, increases sediment mobility, and promotes irreversible shoreline retreat. Despite extensive documentation of local wake effects, critical gaps remain in determining cumulative impacts, dose-response relationships, and thresholds beyond which wake activity drives persistent geomorphic and ecological change rather than transient disturbance. Addressing these gaps will require coordinated, standardized studies that integrate physical forcing with ecological response across a range of environmental settings. Collectively, this review provides a unifying framework for interpreting wake impacts and outlines priorities for developing evidence-based management strategies in both marine and freshwater environments. Key contributions of this synthesis include that wake impacts are highly context dependent due to differences in local topo bathymetry, vessel speed and operating style, and further distinguishes between different situations where: wake energy is an additive source to sheltered or confined systems, or contributes to cumulative energy in open, high-fetch environments. In addition to synthesizing existing research, this review identifies priority knowledge gaps and outlines a coordinated future research direction to guide researchers, practitioners, and managers toward more consistent and actionable assessment of vessel wake impacts.