Collaborative Research: Multi-Scale Drivers and Effects of Biotic Change in the Global Mangrove-Saltmarsh Ecotone

主导全球热带沿海湿地的红树林正在扩大其纬度范围，并入侵历史上由温带盐沼主导的地区。红树林和盐沼都提供关键的生态系统服务，包括过滤水、保留营养物质、缓解风暴对海岸线的影响、支持独特的生物多样性，以及作为具有商业和娱乐重要性的渔业的苗圃。然而，这两个栖息地在结构上有很大的不同，而且很可能在这些生态系统服务的速度和程度上有很大的不同。该奖项提供的资金将支持一种多学科的方法，以了解气候变化、养分丰富和土地开发对盐沼迅速和持续地转变为红树林的影响，从区域到大陆的规模。航空和卫星遥感将被用来记录过去半个世纪红树林在热带/温带边界地区蔓延的速度和范围。在生物地理区域复制的大规模野外实验将测试沿海湿地组成变化的替代机制，并确定对营养循环、碳固存和食物网动态的影响。将使用统计和模拟建模来预测滨海湿地群落的未来变化。通过确定环境和生物因素在地方和全球组织规模上的相对重要性，本研究开发的数据和模型将有助于资源管理者、渔业机构和自然资源保护者进行湿地管理。这项研究的结果将通过Smithsonian、NOAA和海洋保护协会的合作努力，通过高度可见的展品和教育工作者的在线网站，通过海洋门户网站提供。博士后研究人员、研究生和本科生将接受各种跨学科技术的培训，从而使来自大学、政府和联邦机构的研究人员共同努力。

Mangrove forests that dominate tropical coastal wetlands globally are expanding their latitudinal ranges and invading areas historically dominated by temperate zone salt marshes. Both mangroves and salt marshes provide critical ecosystem services that include filtering water, retaining nutrients, buffering shorelines from storms, supporting unique biodiversity, and serving as nurseries for commercially and recreationally important fisheries. However, the two habitats differ dramatically in structure and are likely to differ substantially in the rates and magnitudes of these ecosystem services. Funds provided by this award will support a multidisciplinary approach to understand the consequences of climate variation, nutrient enrichment, and land development on the rapid and ongoing conversion of salt marshes into mangrove forests at regional to continental scales. Aerial and satellite remote sensing will be used to document the rate and extent of mangrove spread within tropical/temperate boundary zones over the last half century. Large scale field experiments replicated across biogeographic regions will test alternative mechanisms for these shifts in coastal wetland composition and determine the effects on nutrient cycling, carbon sequestration, and food web dynamics. Statistical and simulation modeling will be used to predict future changes in coastal wetland communities. By identifying the relative importance of environmental and biotic factors across local to global scales of organization, data and models developed in this study will help wetlands management by resource managers, fisheries agencies, and conservationists. Findings from this study will be made available through highly visible exhibits and online sites for educators through the Ocean Portal, a collaborative effort among the Smithsonian, NOAA, and the Ocean Conservancy. Postdoctoral researchers, graduate students, and undergraduate students will be trained in a variety of interdisciplinary techniques, resulting in a collaborative effort that brings together researchers from universities, government, and federal agencies.