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重要的生态系统服务，包括过滤水、保留养分、缓冲海岸线免受风暴影响、支持独特的生物多样性，以及作为商业和娱乐重要渔业的育苗圃。然而，这两种栖息地在结构上有很大的不同，并且可能在这些生态系统服务的速率和大小上有很大的不同。该奖项提供的资金将支持一种多学科方法，以了解气候变化、营养丰富和土地开发对区域到大陆范围内盐沼迅速和持续地转变为红树林的影响。航空和卫星遥感将用于记录过去半个世纪热带/温带边界地带红树林蔓延的速度和范围。跨生物地理区域复制的大规模野外实验将测试这些沿海湿地组成变化的替代机制，并确定对养分循环、碳封存和食物网动态的影响。统计和模拟模型将用于预测沿海湿地群落的未来变化。通过确定环境和生物因素在本地和全球组织尺度上的相对重要性，本研究中开发的数据和模型将有助于资源管理者、渔业机构和保护主义者管理湿地。这项研究的结果将通过高度可见的展览和在线网站，通过史密森学会、美国国家海洋和大气管理局和海洋保护协会之间的合作，为教育工作者提供海洋门户网站。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，从而将来自大学、政府和联邦机构的研究人员聚集在一起。

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.