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Unraveling the Interplay of Wetland Root Strength and Ecogeomorphology


EMSL Project ID
60195

Abstract

Critical gaps persist in understanding how coastal wetlands perform against storm surge and wave forcings, how these systems evolve over space and time (particularly in the face of sea level rise and restoration activities), and how this evolution impacts their flood protection services. The overarching research goal is to unravel the interplay between ecogeomorphology and root engineering properties that directly affects the performance of coastal wetlands. This will be accomplished through a targeted and innovative in-situ cone penetrometer tests and x-ray computed tomography scans of cores from the Mississippi River Delta Plain (MRDP) to examine engineering properties in different geomorphological settings, spanning across different temporal and spatial scales. The scientific contribution consists of (1) quantifying the root-soil engineering properties of coastal wetlands in the MRDP, where active, inactive, and restored deltas will serve as a testbed for long-term future work; (2) Understanding the interdependencies of ecogeomorphology and root-soil engineering properties; and (3) Development of 3-D visualization tools to visualize the spatial and temporal variation in root properties. This knowledge will be used to formulate performance models that predict the resilience of coastal wetlands to uprooting during hurricane storm surge and waves. This will demonstrate to what extent ignoring the interplay of ecogeomorphology and root-engineering properties will lead to overestimating the performance of coastal wetlands serving as natural infrastructure.

Project Details

Project type
Exploratory Research
Start Date
2021-12-01
End Date
2022-09-30
Status
Closed

Team

Principal Investigator

Navid Jafari
Institution
Louisiana State University

Co-Investigator(s)

Robert Twilley
Institution
Louisiana State University

Leslie Butler
Institution
Louisiana State University