How mangrove forests adjust to rising sea level

Authors

Ken W. Krauss, US Geological SurveyFollow
Karen L. McKee, US Geological Survey
Catherine E. Lovelock, University of Queensland
Donald R. Cahoon, US Geological SurveyFollow
Neil Saintilan, NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet
Ruth Reef, University of Queensland
Luzhen Chen, Xiamen University

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2014

Citation

New Phytologist (2014) 202: 19–34 doi: 10.1111/nph.12605

Comments

U.S. government work.

Abstract

Mangroves are among the most well described and widely studied wetland communities in the world. The greatest threats to mangrove persistence are deforestation and other anthropogenic disturbances that can compromise habitat stability and resilience to sea-level rise. To persist, mangrove ecosystems must adjust to rising sea level by building vertically or become submerged. Mangroves may directly or indirectly influence soil accretion processes through the production and accumulation of organic matter, as well as the trapping and retention of mineral sediment. In this review, we provide a general overview of research on mangrove elevation dynamics, emphasizing the role of the vegetation in maintaining soil surface elevations (i.e. position of the soil surface in the vertical plane). We summarize the primary ways in which mangroves may influence sediment accretion and vertical land development, for example, through root contributions to soil volume and upward expansion of the soil surface. We also examine how hydrological, geomorphological and climatic processes may interact with plant processes to influence mangrove capacity to keep pace with rising sea level.Wedraw on a variety of studies to describe the important, and often under-appreciated, role that plants play in shaping the trajectory of an ecosystem undergoing change.