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Eutrophication Saturates Surface Elevation Change Potential in Tidal Mangrove Forests

  • Special Issue: Wetland Elevation Dynamics
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Abstract

Coastal mangrove forests are at risk of being submerged due to sea-level rise (SLR). However, mangroves have persisted with changing sea levels due to a variety of biotic and physical feedback mechanisms that allow them to gain and maintain relative soil surface elevation. Therefore, mangrove’s resilience to SLR is dependent upon their ability to build soil elevation at a rate that tracks with SLR, or well-enough to migrate inland. Anthropogenic disturbances, such as altered hydrology and eutrophication, can degrade mangrove forest health and compromise this land building process, placing mangroves at greater risk. Much of Florida’s mangroves are adjacent to highly urbanized areas that produce nutrient-loaded runoff. This study assesses how experimental nutrient inputs in the eutrophic Caloosahatchee Estuary influence the soil surface elevation change (SEC) in two distinct mangrove zones. Annual rates of SEC were reduced by phosphorus additions and differed by mangrove zone, ranging from 0.67 ± 0.59 to 2.13 ± 0.61 and 4.21 ± 0.58 to 6.39 ± 0.59 mm year−1 in the fringe and basin zone, respectively. This suggests that eutrophication can reduce the maximum potential SEC response to SLR and that a mangrove forest’s vulnerability to SLR is not uniform throughout forest but can differ by mangrove zone.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Eric Milbrandt, Ed Proffitt, Avery Renshaw, Haley Miller, Becky Woodward, Michelle Martin, Andy From, Jamie Duberstein, and Thomas Plank for their technical support throughout this project. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the US Government.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Inventory and Monitoring Branch, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1 Wildlife Drive, Sanibel Island, FL, 33957, USA

    Jeremy R. Conrad

  2. Wetland and Aquatic Research Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Lafayette, LA, 70506, USA

    Ken W. Krauss, Nicole Cormier & Darren J. Johnson

  3. Department of Biological Sciences, Florida Atlantic University, Davie, FL, 33214, USA

    Brian W. Benscoter

  4. Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research Program, U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, DC, 20585, USA

    Brian W. Benscoter

  5. Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Smithsonian Institution, Edgewater, MD, 21037, USA

    Ilka C. Feller

  6. School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie, Sydney, NSW, 2109, Australia

    Nicole Cormier

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  1. Jeremy R. Conrad
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Correspondence to Jeremy R. Conrad.

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Conrad, J.R., Krauss, K.W., Benscoter, B.W. et al. Eutrophication Saturates Surface Elevation Change Potential in Tidal Mangrove Forests. Estuaries and Coasts (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-024-01353-8

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