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Ecosystem development after mangrove creation: plant-soil change across a twenty-year chronosequence in Tampa Bay, FL
Citation:
OSLAND, M. J., A. C. SPIVAK, J. NESTLERODE, A. ALMARIO, F. ALVAREZ, M. J. RUSSELL, K. W. KRAUSS, D. D. DANTIN, AND J. E. HARVEY. Ecosystem development after mangrove creation: plant-soil change across a twenty-year chronosequence in Tampa Bay, FL. Presented at Ecological Society of America 96th Annual Meeting, Austin, TX, August 07 - 12, 2011.
Impact/Purpose:
Abstract for presentation at Ecological Society of America annual meeting
Description:
On a global scale, the loss of mangroves has been high (~1-2% loss per year in recent decades). Recognizing the important ecosystem services supported by mangroves, restoration and creation efforts are increasingly proposed as mechanisms to replace those services lost after mangrove removal. In this study, we used a 20-year chronosequence of created mangrove wetlands in Tampa Bay, FL to investigate vegetation and soil development following mangrove creation. Our research addresses the following three questions: (1) how similar are created and natural mangroves; (2) how quickly do mangrove plant and soil properties develop after creation; and (3) how does the rate of development in created mangroves compare to other tidal and non-tidal created and restored wetlands? Our study design included 18 sites: nine created wetlands of different ages (0-20 years) and nine natural reference wetlands in close proximity. We quantified differences in plant composition and structure, and measured soil properties at two depths (0-10 cm and 10-30 cm).