Collaborative Research : The Influence of Mangrove Invasion and Rising Temperatures on Belowground Processes in Coastal Ecosystems

我们海岸线的沼泽和红树林保护人类免受大风暴的侵害，并为数百万人提供娱乐活动。这些沿海生态系统的存在取决于它们获得土壤以跟上海平面上升步伐的能力。湿地植物根部的生长将土壤表面相对于海洋向上推，但并非所有植物都以相同的方式这样做。随着过去几十年气温的升高，美国东南部沿海湿地的大片地区已经从草甸沼泽转变为木本红树林，这可能增强了这些生态系统抵御风暴和构建土壤的能力。 通过模拟未来生态系统的实验，科学家团队将研究佛罗里达州的湿地（包括沼泽和红树林）如何在气温和海水持续上升的情况下继续保护人类。他们将利用他们的结果对公众大量使用的佛罗里达州三个保护区不断变化的沿海生态系统进行经济评估。除了加深对沿海生态系统对不同气候的反应的了解外，他们的评估结果还将用于 1) 向联邦、州和地方土地管理者通报其土地不断变化的沿海保护价值，2) 向游客介绍这些特殊的沿海景观。红树林入侵可能会改变根系投入的性质，并可能改变土壤海拔。变暖还可能加速有机物的微生物分解，从而减少或逆转土壤积累，这可能使湿地面临海平面上升的风险。研究小组将解决这个问题：变暖和红树林入侵盐沼如何改变根系生产力和有机物分解以及控制沿海湿地活力的机制？研究人员利用佛罗里达州东海岸现有的六个研究地点、被动升温室和中生态实验，研究气温上升和植物入侵对土壤海拔增加的抵消影响。该团队将在佛罗里达州三个沿海湿地地点进行变暖实验，这将是热带和亚热带气候下的首批变暖实验之一，从而填补科学知识的重大空白。为了评估多变的气候和红树林入侵将如何改变佛罗里达州湿地生态系统的沿海保护能力，研究人员将使用自然资本项目开发的 InVEST 软件在这些地点进行自然​​资本评估。他们将利用生态系统服务评估来制作 3D 视频，向这些保护区的游客通报其公共土地的变化情况。

The marshes and mangroves that line our coasts protect human populations from large storms and provide recreational activities for millions of people. The very existence of these coastal ecosystems depends on their ability to gain soil to keep pace with rising seas. Wetland plant root growth pushes the soil surface upward relative to the ocean, but not all plants do this in the same way. Large areas of southeastern US coastal wetlands have converted from grassy marshes to woody mangrove forests as temperatures have increased over the past decades, possibly enhancing the capacity of these ecosystems to resist storms and build soil. Using experiments that simulate future ecosystems, the team of scientists will investigate how Florida wetlands, both marshes and mangroves, will continue to protect people as both temperatures and seas continue to rise. They will use their results to perform an economic assessment of these changing coastal ecosystems at three Florida reserves used heavily by the public. In addition to advancing understanding of coastal ecosystem responses to varying climate, results from their assessment will be used to 1) inform federal, state and local land managers about the changing coastal protection value of their lands and 2) educate visitors about these special coastal landscapes.Mangrove invasion could change the nature of root inputs and potentially alter soil elevation. Warming could also accelerate microbial decomposition of organic matter and thus decrease or reverse soil accumulation, which could put wetlands at risk in the face of rising seas. The research team will address the question: How do warming and mangrove invasion into salt marshes alter root productivity and organic matter decomposition, mechanisms that control coastal wetland viability? Using six existing research sites along the East Coast of FL, passive warming chambers and mesocosm experiments, the investigators propose to examine the countervailing influences of rising temperatures and plant invasion on soil elevation gain. The team will conduct warming experiments at each of three FL coastal wetland sites, which will be some of the first warming experiments in tropical and subtropical climates, thus filling a major gap in scientific knowledge. In order to assess how a variable climate and mangrove invasion will alter the coastal protection capacity of FL wetland ecosystems, the investigators will perform a natural capital assessment at these sites using the InVEST software developed by the Natural Capital Project. They will use this ecosystem service assessment to develop a 3D video informing visitors to these reserves of how their public lands are changing.