Correct Answer - Option 4 : The mangrove trees protect vulnerable coastlines as they hold soil together
The 2004 Tsunami made people realize that mangroves can serve as a reliable safety hedge against coastal calamities.
- The mangroves provide both food and medicines that people need after any natural disaster.
- The mangrove trees do not get uprooted by storms and tides because of their extensive roots.
- Mangroves are varied in size from shrubs to tall trees.
- Mangrove forests stabilize the coastline, reducing erosion from storm surges, currents, waves, and tides.
- They contain a complex salt filtration system and complex root system to cope with saltwater immersion and wave action.
- Mangrove plants grow in waterlogged soils and capable of tolerating salinity ranging from 2% to 90%.
- Mangroves may contribute to reducing the loss of life and damage to property from storms and cyclones as they reduce the impacts of waves, storm surges, and high winds.
- Mangroves are salt-tolerant trees, also called halophytes, and are adapted to live in harsh coastal conditions.
- They are adapted to the low oxygen conditions of waterlogged mud.
- Mangrove wetlands are characterized by such qualities as a humid climate, saline environment, waterlogged soil, or muddy soil.
- The root system of mangroves also makes these forests attractive to fish and other organisms seeking food and shelter from predators.
A stable coastline:
- Mangrove roots collect the silt and sediment that tides carry in and rivers carry out towards the sea. By holding the soil in place, the trees stabilize shorelines against erosion.
- Seedlings that take root on sandbars help stabilize the sandbars over time and may eventually create small islands.
- The exponential reduction of wave height in mangroves can be explained by the dense network of trunks, branches, and above-ground roots of the mangrove trees, increasing bed roughness, causing more friction, and creating more wave energy.
Hence, we may conclude that statements that represent mangrove characteristics as a safety hedge are as follows
