title: How mangrove forests adjust to rising sea level.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: US Geological Survey, National Wetlands Research Center, Lafayette, LA, 70506, USA.
authors.forename: Ken W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Krauss
authors.affiliation: US Geological Survey, National Wetlands Research Center, Lafayette, LA, 70506, USA.
authors.forename: Karen L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: McKee
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Qld, 4072, Australia.
authors.forename: Catherine E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Lovelock
authors.affiliation: US Geological Survey, Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Beltsville, MD, 20705, USA.
authors.forename: Donald R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Cahoon
authors.affiliation: Office of Environment and Heritage, NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet, Sydney, NSW, 1232, Australia.
authors.forename: Neil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Saintilan
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Qld, 4072, Australia.
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Reef
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education for Coastal and Wetland Ecosystems, College of the Environment and Ecology, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, Fujian, China.
authors.forename: Luzhen
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D017753:Ecosystem; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D043982:Rhizophoraceae / Q000502:physiology*; D012987:Soil; D014197:Trees / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D012987:Soil
keywords: accretion; disturbance; environmental drivers; litter and debris fall; roots; sea-level rise; soil; surface elevation change