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Predation restricts black mangrove (Avicennia germinans) colonization at its northern range limit along Florida’s Gulf Coast

  • MANGROVES IN CHANGING ENVIRONMENTS
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Abstract

Climate change-driven range expansion of black mangroves (Avicennia germinans) is predicted along the northern Gulf of Mexico, where sea level rise is also driving conversion of freshwater forest islands to salt marsh. While climate-driven A. germinans range expansion has garnered considerable scientific attention, the role of top-down controls on colonization is largely overlooked. We investigated the effects of abiotic (flooding frequency, soil depth, soil salinity) and biotic (predation, herbivory) controls on A. germinans establishment at its northern range limit along Florida’s Gulf Coast by comparing fates of caged and non-caged propagules across four landscape positions (from creek edge to forest island interior) and at three sites along a tidal flooding frequency gradient. Within 12 days, grapsid crab, Sesarma reticulatum, consumed 99% of non-caged propagules. Among caged propagules, establishment increased with increasing flooding frequency; however, cages did not entirely prevent predation, which remained a primary cause of mortality, except in the rarely flooded island. Propagules that survived to seedlings experienced mild to fatal herbivory across landscape positions and sites. This study revealed that while relict forest islands and surrounding marshes can support A. germinans, predation and herbivory strongly suppress colonization, suggesting that mangrove expansion models should incorporate biotic controls.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Waccasassa Bay Preserve State Park for permission to conduct research at Turtle Creek. We also thank University of Florida Seahorse Key Marine Lab for providing transportation support, especially Captain Kenny and Rose McCain. We acknowledge Shawn Taylor and Nathan Reaver for much appreciated field assistance. AL acknowledges funding from the University of Florida Graduate School Fellowship and H. T. Odum Graduate Fellowship. CA acknowledges funding from National Science Foundation Department of Environmental Biology (Award 1546638).

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  1. Engineering School of Sustainable Infrastructure and Environment, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA

    Amy K. Langston, David A. Kaplan & Christine Angelini

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  1. Amy K. Langston
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  2. David A. Kaplan
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  3. Christine Angelini
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Correspondence to David A. Kaplan.

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Guest editors: K. W. Krauss, I. C. Feller, D. A. Friess, R. R. Lewis III / Causes and Consequences of Mangrove Ecosystem Responses to an Ever-Changing Climate

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Langston, A.K., Kaplan, D.A. & Angelini, C. Predation restricts black mangrove (Avicennia germinans) colonization at its northern range limit along Florida’s Gulf Coast. Hydrobiologia 803, 317–331 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-017-3197-0

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