Short communication: Engineering properties of wetland plants with application to wave attenuation

This technical note presents empirically-derived values for biophysical attributes of several commonly occurring wetland plant species, including plant stem diameter and tapering, plant clump and stem spacing statistics, biomass, Young's modulus of elasticity, and bending strength. These parameters can be used to more realistically configure plant canopies in numerical and laboratory studies to further our understanding of wave attenuation by wetlands. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.