Abstract
Temperatures are increasing globally and causing species-specific geographic range expansions. In the Gulf of Mexico, mangroves are encroaching regions historically dominated by temperate salt marshes, changing animal communities and nutrient cycling in the intertidal zone. Marine systems are highly connected; therefore, we expect that changes in the intertidal will alter functions of adjacent subtidal seagrass meadows. We surveyed seagrass meadows adjacent to mangroves, salt marshes, and a mixture of the two and asked, do changes in intertidal plant composition influence (1) environmental conditions (subtidal water and sediment characteristics); (2) biogeochemical cycling (net oxygen and nitrogen gas fluxes); (3) seagrass meadow cover, biomass, and productivity; and (4) invertebrate community assemblage? There are clear differences in sediment organic matter and net nitrogen gas (N2) fluxes between adjacent intertidal habitats, but the magnitude or direction of change differs seasonally. We hypothesize that this seasonal pattern is due to outwelling from the intertidal, as mangroves senesce in fall, and marshes senesce later in winter. Therefore, changes in adjacent intertidal habitat can impact the timing of organic matter delivery. This also has implications for seagrass biomass. Thalassia testudinum belowground biomass adjacent to mangroves substantially decreased over the winter, suggesting vulnerability to stressors as the intertidal plant community shifts from marsh to mangrove dominance. Epifauna density and diversity did not vary among seagrass meadows based on adjacent intertidal habitats, but subtle differences in community assemblages associated with shifts in intertidal plant community were detected. This work demonstrates that impacts of species range expansions are far-reaching due to connectivity in marine systems.
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Acknowledgments
This paper is dedicated to Dr. Susan Williams, who was a role model and mentor to all but especially to women in this field. We thank Whitney Scheffel, Theresa Gruninger, Jamila Roth, and Christina Moreau for help with data collection. Additionally, we thank James Colee for help with statistical analysis advice. We thank 3 anonymous reviewers for their comments.
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This work was funded by University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (FLA-SWS-005656).
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Sullivan, C.R., Smyth, A.R., Martin, C.W. et al. How Does Mangrove Expansion Affect Structure and Function of Adjacent Seagrass Meadows?. Estuaries and Coasts 44, 453–467 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-020-00879-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-020-00879-x