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Abstract (from Springer): Climate change is altering species’ range limits and transforming ecosystems. For example, warming temperatures are leading to the range expansion of tropical, cold-sensitive species at the expense of their cold-tolerant counterparts. In some temperate and subtropical coastal wetlands, warming winters are enabling mangrove forest encroachment into salt marsh, which is a major regime shift that has significant ecological and societal ramifications. Here, we synthesized existing data and expert knowledge to assess the distribution of mangroves near rapidly changing range limits in the southeastern USA. We used expert elicitation to identify data limitations and highlight knowledge gaps for...
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A barrier island seagrass habitat suitability index (HSI) model was developed for the Alabama barrier island restoration assessment at Dauphin Island. Shoal grass (Halodule wrightii) was selected as the representative species for seagrass community near Dauphin Island waters since H. wrightii is the dominant species (>62%) of seagrass communities in this area due to its rapid growth and tolerance to a wide range of salinity. Five water quality and morphological variables were selected and their relationships with habitat suitability were developed and incorporated into the seagrass HSI model for Dauphin Island restoration assessment: 1) mean salinity during the summer growing season, 2) mean temperature during the...
Tags: Aquatic Biology,
Dauphin Island,
Mobile,
Remote Sensing,
USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), All tags...
barrier island,
environment,
farming,
habitat suitability index,
imageryBaseMapsEarthCover,
seagrass, Fewer tags
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Abstract (from Ecosystems): Increases in temperature are expected to facilitate encroachment of tropical mangrove forests into temperate salt marshes, yet the effects on ecosystem services are understudied. Our work was conducted along a mangrove expansion front in Louisiana (USA), an area where coastal wetlands are in rapid decline due to compounding factors, including reduced sediment supply, rising sea level, and subsidence. Marsh and mangrove ecosystems are each known for their ability to adjust to sea-level rise and support numerous ecosystem services, but there are some differences in the societal benefits they provide. Here, we compare carbon and nitrogen stocks and relate these findings to the expected effects...
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Abstract (from Global Change Biology): Climate change is transforming ecosystems and affecting ecosystem goods and services. Along the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic coasts of the southeastern United States, the frequency and intensity of extreme freeze events greatly influence whether coastal wetlands are dominated by freeze-sensitive woody plants (mangrove forests) or freeze-tolerant grass-like plants (salt marshes). In response to warming winters, mangroves have been expanding and displacing salt marshes at varying degrees of severity in parts of north Florida, Louisiana, and Texas. As winter warming accelerates, mangrove range expansion is expected to increasingly modify wetland ecosystem structure and function....
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Extreme winter temperatures govern the northern range limit of black mangroves (Avicennia germinans) in southeastern North America. There is a pressing need for studies that advance our understanding of how extreme cold temperature events affect mangroves near their range limits. However, such events are infrequent and challenging to study at regional scales. Here, we compared the damage to mangroves from extreme freeze events in 2018 and 2021, using local data from sites in USA (Florida, Louisiana, and Texas) and northeastern Mexico (Tamaulipas). In 2018, mangrove damage was concentrated in Louisiana and the upper Texas coast, where minimum temperatures ranged from -4 °C to -7 °C. In 2021, damage from a more severe...
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