How mangrove forests adjust to rising sea level

• Published in: The New phytologist 2014-04, Vol.202 (1), p.19-34
• Main Authors: Krauss, Ken W, McKee, Karen L, Lovelock, Catherine E, Cahoon, Donald R, Saintilan, Neil, Reef, Ruth, Chen, Luzhen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Accretion; Adaptation, Physiological; anthropogenic activities; Anthropogenic factors; Deforestation; Deposition; disturbance; Ecosystem; Ecosystem disturbance; ecosystems; environmental drivers; Forest soils; Geomorphology; habitats; Human influences; Hydrology; Land development; litter and debris fall; Mangrove forests; Mangrove soils; Mangrove swamps; Mangroves; Oceans and Seas; Organic matter; Plant roots; Reviews; Rhizophoraceae - physiology; roots; Sea level; Sea level changes; Sea level rise; Sediment; Sedimentary soils; Sediments; Soil; Soil dynamics; Soil surfaces; Soils; Stability; surface elevation change; Tansley reviews; Topographical elevation; Trees - physiology; Wetland ecology; Wetland soils
• ISSN: 0028-646X; 1469-8137
• DOI: 10.1111/nph.12605

19 I. 19 II. 20 III. 20 IV. 21 V. 26 VI. 29 VII. 30 31 References 31 SUMMARY: 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. We draw 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.