Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers

Read the passage and select ALL correct options. Wrong selections lose points.

Mangrove forests once lined vast stretches of tropical coastline, buffering communities from storm surge and providing nurseries for juvenile fish. Decades of clearing for shrimp farming and coastal development left many of these forests fragmented or destroyed. Replanting efforts, however, have proven far trickier than simply pushing seedlings into mud. Early projects frequently failed because organizers chose convenient open mudflats rather than the specific tidal zones each mangrove species requires, causing seedlings to drown or dry out. More recent projects work closely with local communities to map historical shorelines and select appropriate species for each elevation band. Where this careful matching has been done, survival rates have risen sharply, and some restored areas have begun to show measurable increases in nearby fish catches within just a few years.