Environmental Science · Ecology
A study of Vietnam’s Mekong Delta coast found that mangroves can return naturally in exposed, muddy coastal areas. These regrowing patches withstood strong seasonal waves, yet some were treated as wasteland and removed for other coastal protection measures.
Plastic pollution altered how intertidal sediments responded to a storm, changing oxygen consumption and nitrogen fluxes. The findings suggest that plastic pollution can affect coastal carbon and nitrogen exchanges during short-term environmental change.
Ghana’s Keta Lagoon remains ecologically functional, but researchers found signs of nutrient enrichment, organic matter loading and habitat alteration. Water, sediment and bottom-dwelling animal communities varied across the lagoon, with more tolerant species dominant where nutrient and turbidity levels were higher.
