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Rapid Peat Development Beneath Maturing Mangrove Forests: A Mechanism To Adapt To A Rapidly Changing World
Citation:
Osland, M., L. Feher, A. Spivak, J. Nestlerode, A. Almario, N. Cormier, A. From, K. Krauss, M. Russell, F. Alvarez, D. Dantin, J. Harvey, AND C. Stagg. Rapid Peat Development Beneath Maturing Mangrove Forests: A Mechanism To Adapt To A Rapidly Changing World. Greater Everglades Ecosystem Restoration, NA, Virtual, April 19 - 29, 2021. https://doi.org/10.23645/epacomptox.14832243
Impact/Purpose:
This abstract discusses the findings of a recently published paper. Due to climate change and accelerated sea-level rise, coastal managers are concerned with the longevity and functional equivalency of coastal wetland conservation and restoration efforts.
Description:
In the face of climate change and accelerated sea-level rise, coastal managers are increasingly concerned with the longevity and functional equivalency of coastal wetland conservation and restoration efforts. Peat development, primarily in the form of sub-surface root production and accumulation, enables some coastal wetlands to modify their abiotic environment, sequester carbon from the atmosphere, change their soil elevation relative to sea level, and adjust to dynamic abiotic conditions at the land-ocean interface. However, there is a need to better quantify the rate of peat development beneath coastal wetlands. To better quantify the rate of soil organic matter development beneath maturing mangrove forests, we measured ecosystem changes across a 25-year chronosequence. We compared ecosystem properties in created, maturing mangrove forests to adjacent natural mangrove forests. We also quantified site-specific changes that occurred between 2010 and 2016. Soil organic matter accumulated rapidly beneath maturing mangrove forests as sandy soils transitioned to organic-rich soils (peat). Within 25 years, a 20-cm deep peat layer developed. The time required for created mangrove forests to reach equivalency with natural mangrove forests was estimated as: (1) < 15 years for herbaceous and juvenile vegetation; (2) ~55 years for adult trees; (3) ~25 years for the upper soil layer (0-10 cm); and (4) ~45-80 years for the lower soil layer (10-30 cm). For soil elevation change, the created mangrove forests were equivalent to or surpassed natural mangrove forests within the first five years. A comparison to chronosequence studies from other ecosystems indicates that the rate of peat development beneath created, maturing mangrove forests may be among the highest documented for any ecosystem globally. In most peatland ecosystems, soil organic matter formation occurs slowly (centuries, millennia); however, these results show that mangrove peat formation can occur within decades. Collectively, our results advance understanding of the pace of ecosystem development in maturing mangrove forests, which can improve predictions of mangrove forest responses to global change and ecosystem restoration. Although mangrove forests are highly vulnerable to global change, rapid peat development beneath maturing mangrove forests is a mechanism that will enable some mangrove forests to adapt to a rapidly changing world.
URLs/Downloads:
DOI: Rapid Peat Development Beneath Maturing Mangrove Forests: A Mechanism To Adapt To A Rapidly Changing World
OSLAND_GEER_4_12_2021_FINALPOSTREVIEW.PDF (PDF, NA pp, 3059.451 KB, about PDF)