Effectiveness of Mangrove Forests in Surface Wave Attenuation: A Review

For once, mangrove forests were surprisingly resistant to the forceful impacts of the Indian Ocean Tsunami of December 2004 which swept away entire villages and caused the deaths of approximately 200,000 people. It was reported that human death and loss of property were significantly reduced in areas of dense mangrove forests in southeastern India. As the importance of mangrove is gaining attention lately, numerous countries have started to replant mangroves for coastal protection. This study discusses the extensive researches that have been conducted to study the role of mangrove forests in wave energy dissipation. These include field measurements, numerical studies and laboratory experiments. The findings illustrate that mangrove species, density, forest width, forest structure, age, water depth and incident wave height are among the factors affecting the performance of mangroves in attenuating waves. Dense forest, larger forest width, bigger trunk diameter and higher wave height resulted in relatively more wave energy dissipation by mangroves.