Sea level rise and South Florida coastal forests

Abstract

Coastal ecosystems lie at the forefront of sea level rise. We posit that before the onset of actual inundation, sea level rise will influence the species composition of coastal hardwood hammocks and buttonwood (Conocarpus erectus L.) forests of the Everglades National Park based on tolerance to drought and salinity. Precipitation is the major water source in coastal hammocks and is stored in the soil vadose zone, but vadose water will diminish with the rising water table as a consequence of sea level rise, thereby subjecting plants to salt water stress. A model is used to demonstrate that the constraining effect of salinity on transpiration limits the distribution of freshwater-dependent communities. Field data collected in hardwood hammocks and coastal buttonwood forests over 11 years show that halophytes have replaced glycophytes. We establish that sea level rise threatens 21 rare coastal species in Everglades National Park and estimate the relative risk to each Climatic Change (2011) 107:81-108 species using basic life history and population traits. We review salinity conditions in the estuarine region over 1999-2009 and associate wide variability in the extent of the annual seawater intrusion to variation in freshwater inflows and precipitation. We also examine species composition in coastal and inland hammocks in connection with distance from the coast, depth to water table, and groundwater salinity. Though this study focuses on coastal forests and rare species of South Florida, it has implications for coastal forests threatened by saltwater intrusion across the globe.

Shipwreck rates reveal Caribbean tropical cyclone response to past radiative forcing

“…2A). Large storms within this radius are documented to cause major storm surges on BPK (47). For instance, Hurricane Wilma passed at 145 km from BPK and caused growth suppression in 75% of the TC supp samples in 2005 (Table S3).…”

Coastal Forests and Groundwater: Using Case Studies to Understand the Effects of Drivers and Stressors for Resource Management

“…A slower-moving threat in the coastal zone is the rise and inundation of the sea level, in areas not previously affected by higher-salinity waters and/or longer-duration hydroperiods. Information exists on the value of coastal ecosystems that provide resiliency to communities (ecological and human) [90] and sea level stressors on the coastal forest community structure [91], for example. However, further research is needed to understand how a rising elevation of receiving waters, such as the sea level, and its indirect connections to coastal streams and rivers, may affect the hydraulics of coastal runoff and groundwater dynamics due to a reduced hydraulic gradient.…”

Wetland Ecosystem Response to Hydrologic Restoration and Management: The Everglades and its Urban-Agricultural Boundary (FL, USA)

“…Where the combined effect of sea level rise and decreased freshwater flow has resulted in the encroachment of the saltwater intrusion boundary into the Everglades (Saha et al 2011), a positive feedback loop may be initiated. Evidence suggests that it is the reduction in water flows to the central Taylor Slough drainage that has increased the rate of mangrove transgression into the ecotone.…”