Dataset Information

Created mangrove wetlands store belowground carbon and surface elevation change enables them to adjust to sea-level rise.

ABSTRACT: Mangrove wetlands provide ecosystem services for millions of people, most prominently by providing storm protection, food and fodder. Mangrove wetlands are also valuable ecosystems for promoting carbon (C) sequestration and storage. However, loss of mangrove wetlands and these ecosystem services are a global concern, prompting the restoration and creation of mangrove wetlands as a potential solution. Here, we investigate soil surface elevation change, and its components, in created mangrove wetlands over a 25 year developmental gradient. All created mangrove wetlands were exceeding current relative sea-level rise rates (2.6?mm yr^-1), with surface elevation change of 4.2-11.0?mm yr^-1 compared with 1.5-7.2?mm yr^-1 for nearby reference mangroves. While mangrove wetlands store C persistently in roots/soils, storage capacity is most valuable if maintained with future sea-level rise. Through empirical modeling, we discovered that properly designed creation projects may not only yield enhanced C storage, but also can facilitate wetland persistence perennially under current rates of sea-level rise and, for most sites, for over a century with projected medium accelerations in sea-level rise (IPCC RCP 6.0). Only the fastest projected accelerations in sea-level rise (IPCC RCP 8.5) led to widespread submergence and potential loss of stored C for created mangrove wetlands before 2100.

SUBMITTER: Krauss KW

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5430729 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Created mangrove wetlands store belowground carbon and surface elevation change enables them to adjust to sea-level rise.

Krauss Ken W KW Cormier Nicole N Osland Michael J MJ Kirwan Matthew L ML Stagg Camille L CL Nestlerode Janet A JA Russell Marc J MJ From Andrew S AS Spivak Amanda C AC Dantin Darrin D DD Harvey James E JE Almario Alejandro E AE

Scientific reports 20170421 1

Mangrove wetlands provide ecosystem services for millions of people, most prominently by providing storm protection, food and fodder. Mangrove wetlands are also valuable ecosystems for promoting carbon (C) sequestration and storage. However, loss of mangrove wetlands and these ecosystem services are a global concern, prompting the restoration and creation of mangrove wetlands as a potential solution. Here, we investigate soil surface elevation change, and its components, in created mangrove wetl ...[more]

PMID: 28432292

Similar Datasets

Project description:Climate change impacts, such as accelerated sea-level rise, will affect stress gradients, yet impacts on competition/stress tolerance trade-offs and shifts in distributions are unclear. Ecosystems with strong stress gradients, such as estuaries, allow for space-for-time substitutions of stress factors and can give insight into future climate-related shifts in both resource and nonresource stresses. We tested the stress gradient hypothesis and examined the effect of increased inundation stress and biotic interactions on growth and survival of two congeneric wetland sedges, Schoenoplectus acutus and Schoenoplectus americanus. We simulated sea-level rise across existing marsh elevations and those not currently found to reflect potential future sea-level rise conditions in two tidal wetlands differing in salinity. Plants were grown individually and together at five tidal elevations, the lowest simulating an 80-cm increase in sea level, and harvested to assess differences in biomass after one growing season. Inundation time, salinity, sulfides, and redox potential were measured concurrently. As predicted, increasing inundation reduced biomass of the species commonly found at higher marsh elevations, with little effect on the species found along channel margins. The presence of neighbors reduced total biomass of both species, particularly at the highest elevation; facilitation did not occur at any elevation. Contrary to predictions, we documented the competitive superiority of the stress tolerator under increased inundation, which was not predicted by the stress gradient hypothesis. Multifactor manipulation experiments addressing plant response to accelerated climate change are integral to creating a more realistic, valuable, and needed assessment of potential ecosystem response. Our results point to the important and unpredicted synergies between physical stressors, which are predicted to increase in intensity with climate change, and competitive forces on biomass as stresses increase.

Project description:Mollusks are an important component of the mangrove ecosystem, and the vertical distributions of molluscan species in this ecosystem are primarily dictated by tidal inundation. Thus, sea level rise (SLR) may have profound effects on mangrove mollusk communities. Here, we used dynamic empirical models, based on measurements of surface elevation change, sediment accretion, and molluscan zonation patterns, to predict changes in molluscan spatial distributions in response to different sea level rise rates in the mangrove forests of Zhenzhu Bay (Guangxi, China). The change in surface elevation was 4.76-9.61 mm year-1 during the study period (2016-2020), and the magnitude of surface-elevation change decreased exponentially as original surface elevation increased. Based on our model results, we predicted that mangrove mollusks might successfully adapt to a low rate of SLR (2.00-4.57 mm year-1) by 2100, with mollusks moving seaward and those in the lower intertidal zones expanding into newly available zones. However, as SLR rate increased (4.57-8.14 mm year-1), our models predicted that surface elevations would decrease beginning in the high intertidal zones and gradually spread to the low intertidal zones. Finally, at high rates of SLR (8.14-16.00 mm year-1), surface elevations were predicted to decrease across the elevation gradient, with mollusks moving landward and species in higher intertidal zones blocked by landward barriers. Tidal inundation and the consequent increases in interspecific competition and predation pressure were predicted to threaten the survival of many molluscan groups in higher intertidal zones, especially arboreal and infaunal mollusks at the landward edge of the mangroves, resulting in a substantial reduction in the abundance of original species on the landward edge. Thus, future efforts to conserve mangrove floral and faunal diversity should prioritize species restricted to landward mangrove areas and protect potential species habitats.

Dataset Information

Created mangrove wetlands store belowground carbon and surface elevation change enables them to adjust to sea-level rise.

Publications

Created mangrove wetlands store belowground carbon and surface elevation change enables them to adjust to sea-level rise.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets