TY - JOUR
T1 - Mangrove planting on dredged material
T2 - Three decades of nature-based coastal defence along a causeway in the Arabian Gulf
AU - Erftemeijer, Paul L.A.
AU - Agastian, Titus
AU - Yamamoto, Hiroshi
AU - Cambridge, Marion L.
AU - Hoekstra, Roderik
AU - Toms, Geoff
AU - Ito, Satoshi
PY - 2020/8
Y1 - 2020/8
N2 - Nature-based coastal defence approaches are increasingly being explored to protect shorelines from erosion and climate change-related threats such as sea level rise, storms and coastal flooding. At Mubarraz, near Abu Dhabi in the Arabian Gulf, mass plantings of >500 000 nursery-reared seedlings of the mangrove Avicennia marina were conducted over 30 years in response to erosion of an artificially created, 17-km-long causeway of dredged material. Planting efforts resulted in successfully established mangrove vegetation along 6.7 km of shoreline, covering an area of 16.5 ha. Survival rates of planted mangrove seedlings to healthy saplings or trees were in the order of 26% averaged over all years, with best results obtained at planting sites established in artificial tidal channels excavated parallel to the causeway, ensuring appropriate tidal hydrological conditions. The mangroves and causeway have attracted a high diversity of birds (48 species), some of which breed on the island, and there are significant densities of crabs and gastropod snails in the mangroves. These results demonstrate that planting mangroves on dredged material is feasible (even under extreme climatic conditions) and may offer a cost-effective alternative for shoreline protection, with added benefits for biodiversity through the creation of new habitats.
AB - Nature-based coastal defence approaches are increasingly being explored to protect shorelines from erosion and climate change-related threats such as sea level rise, storms and coastal flooding. At Mubarraz, near Abu Dhabi in the Arabian Gulf, mass plantings of >500 000 nursery-reared seedlings of the mangrove Avicennia marina were conducted over 30 years in response to erosion of an artificially created, 17-km-long causeway of dredged material. Planting efforts resulted in successfully established mangrove vegetation along 6.7 km of shoreline, covering an area of 16.5 ha. Survival rates of planted mangrove seedlings to healthy saplings or trees were in the order of 26% averaged over all years, with best results obtained at planting sites established in artificial tidal channels excavated parallel to the causeway, ensuring appropriate tidal hydrological conditions. The mangroves and causeway have attracted a high diversity of birds (48 species), some of which breed on the island, and there are significant densities of crabs and gastropod snails in the mangroves. These results demonstrate that planting mangroves on dredged material is feasible (even under extreme climatic conditions) and may offer a cost-effective alternative for shoreline protection, with added benefits for biodiversity through the creation of new habitats.
KW - Avicennia marina
KW - dredged spoil
KW - habitat creation
KW - soil improvements
KW - tidal hydrology
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85078050143&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1071/MF19289
DO - 10.1071/MF19289
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85078050143
SN - 1323-1650
VL - 71
SP - 1062
EP - 1072
JO - Marine and Freshwater Research
JF - Marine and Freshwater Research
IS - 9
ER -