01084nas a2200145   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653002300055100002000078245004600098856006000144300001400204490000700218520071300225       2007                            d  c2007/09/10akey=bhalla_do_20071 aRavinder Bhalla00aDo bio-shields affect tsunami inundation?  uhttps://www.currentscience.ac.in/Volumes/93/06/0831.pdf  a831-833, 0 v933 aConversion of coastal sand dunes to plantations has intensified dramatically after the tsunami of December 2004, driven largely by the belief that bio-shields mitigated tsunami inundation. This assumption was tested using field-based mapping and remote sensing. A regression between the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index and inundation distance was non-significant, questioning the premise for large-scale bio-shield plantations, mostly Casuarina equisetifolia, an exotic timber with unquantified ecological impacts. These plantations may obliterate the natural sand dune ecosystems along the Coromandel coast, which are an important natural defence and provide a range of ecological goods and services.