Wetlands as Storm Buffers: Case Studies from Louisiana

This research investigates the relationship between three important factors that influence economic damages from coastal storms: economic risk, storm intensity and wetland protection. To address recent challenges to the notion that wetlands provide valuable protection against stronger storms, we analyze how the degree of protection provided by wetlands is associated with storm intensity. This analysis allows for the identification of any threshold effects that result from a supposed mitigating capacity, beyond which wetlands are not as effective as protection. Exploring these three factors simultaneously provides a useful framework for thinking of wetlands as resources for storm damage reduction.