Does vegetation accelerate coastal dune erosion during extreme events?
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 37315126.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/sciadv.adg7135 and PMC identifier 10266738.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
A broadly accepted paradigm is that vegetation reduces coastal dune erosion. However, we show that during an extreme storm event, vegetation surprisingly accelerates erosion. In 104-m-long beach-dune profile experiments conducted within a flume, we discovered that while vegetation initially creates a physical barrier to wave energy, it also (i) decreases wave run-up, which creates discontinuities in erosion and accretion patterns across the dune slope, (ii) increases water penetration into the sediment bed, which induces its fluidization and destabilization, and (iii) reflects wave energy, accelerating scarp formation. Once a discontinuous scarp forms, the erosion accelerates further. These findings fundamentally alter the current understanding of how natural and vegetated features may provide protection during extreme events.