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Decadal-Scale Vegetation Change Driven by Salinity at Leading Edge of Rising Sea Level

Publication ,  Journal Article
Taillie, PJ; Moorman, CE; Poulter, B; Ardón, M; Emanuel, RE
Published in: Ecosystems.
December 2019

As sea levels rise, low-lying coastal forests increasingly are subject to stressors such as inundation and saltwater exposure. At long timescales (for example, centuries), the extent of inundation and saltwater exposure will increase; however, on a decadal timescale, the role of these drivers may differ in both magnitude and direction. To investigate the drivers of decadal-scale vegetation change, we measured the changes in five metrics of vegetation composition and structure between 2003/2004 and 2016/2017 at 98 plots distributed across a vegetation gradient from coastal forest to brackish marshes (< 0.5–18 ppt). We used elevation as a proxy of inundation vulnerability and soil sodium concentration as a proxy of saltwater exposure, and we investigated relationships between these two variables and the change in vegetation conditions between the two sampling periods. Soil sodium concentration was a significant predictor of vegetation change for all five vegetation metrics, whereas the effect of elevation was not significant for any of the metrics. The one site that was affected by wildfire twice during the duration of the study shifted almost completely from forest to marsh with limited regeneration of woody vegetation observed in 2016/2017. Our results show that salinization in our system is a more important driver of vegetation change than inundation potential. Furthermore, the effects of drought-induced salinization could be amplified by the elevated risk of wildfire during droughts. Forecasting the response of coastal wetlands to rising sea levels will require a better understanding of the individual and combined effects of salinity, droughts, and wildfires on vegetation.

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Published In

Ecosystems.

DOI

ISSN

1432-9840

Publication Date

December 2019

Volume

22

Issue

8

Start / End Page

1918 / 1930

Related Subject Headings

  • Ecology
  • 3109 Zoology
  • 06 Biological Sciences
  • 05 Environmental Sciences
 

Citation

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Taillie, P. J., Moorman, C. E., Poulter, B., Ardón, M., & Emanuel, R. E. (2019). Decadal-Scale Vegetation Change Driven by Salinity at Leading Edge of Rising Sea Level. Ecosystems., 22(8), 1918–1930. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-019-00382-w
Taillie, Paul J., Christopher E. Moorman, Benjamin Poulter, Marcelo Ardón, and Ryan E. Emanuel. “Decadal-Scale Vegetation Change Driven by Salinity at Leading Edge of Rising Sea Level.” Ecosystems. 22, no. 8 (December 2019): 1918–30. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-019-00382-w.
Taillie PJ, Moorman CE, Poulter B, Ardón M, Emanuel RE. Decadal-Scale Vegetation Change Driven by Salinity at Leading Edge of Rising Sea Level. Ecosystems. 2019 Dec;22(8):1918–30.
Taillie, Paul J., et al. “Decadal-Scale Vegetation Change Driven by Salinity at Leading Edge of Rising Sea Level.” Ecosystems., vol. 22, no. 8, Dec. 2019, pp. 1918–30. Epmc, doi:10.1007/s10021-019-00382-w.
Taillie PJ, Moorman CE, Poulter B, Ardón M, Emanuel RE. Decadal-Scale Vegetation Change Driven by Salinity at Leading Edge of Rising Sea Level. Ecosystems. 2019 Dec;22(8):1918–1930.
Journal cover image

Published In

Ecosystems.

DOI

ISSN

1432-9840

Publication Date

December 2019

Volume

22

Issue

8

Start / End Page

1918 / 1930

Related Subject Headings

  • Ecology
  • 3109 Zoology
  • 06 Biological Sciences
  • 05 Environmental Sciences