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Sea-Level Rise and the Persistence of Tree Islands in Coastal Landscapes

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Abstract

Naturally formed forest patches known as tree islands are found within lower-statured wetland matrices throughout the world, where they contrast sharply with the surrounding vegetation. In some coastal wetlands they are embedded in former freshwater marshes that are currently exposed to saltwater intrusion and mangrove encroachment associated with accelerating sea-level rise. In this study we resurveyed tree composition and determined environmental conditions in tree islands of the coastal Florida Everglades that had been examined two decades earlier. We asked whether tree islands in this coastal transition zone were differentiated geomorphologically as well as compositionally, and whether favorable geomorphology enabled coastal forest type(s) to maintain their compositional integrity against rising seas. Patterns of variation in geomorphology and soils among forest types were evident, but were dwarfed by differences between forest and adjacent wetlands. Tree island surfaces were elevated by 12–44 cm, and 210Pb analyses indicated that their current rates of vertical accretion were more rapid than those of surrounding ecosystems. Tree island soils were deeper and more phosphorus-rich than in the adjoining matrix. Salinity decreased interiorward in both tree island and marsh, but porewater was fresher in forest than marsh in Mixed Swamp Forest, midway along the coastal gradient where tropical hardwoods were most abundant. Little decrease in the abundance of tropical hardwood species nor increase in halophytes was observed during the study period. Our data suggest that geomorphological differences between organic tree island and marl marsh, perhaps driven by groundwater upwelling through more transmissive tree island soils, contributed to the forests’ compositional stability, though this stasis may be short-lived despite management efforts.

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Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge funding from Everglades National Park, coordinated by David Rudnick and with hydrologic modeling by Kiren Bahm. This paper is part of a series of results associated with project number P16AC01727, titled, Ecosystems Dynamics in the White Zone: History, Drivers, and Restoration Implications. Jay Sah and Himadri Biswas aided on numerous technical issues, and Sean Charles, Carlos Pulido and other members of the South Florida Terrestrial Ecosystems lab provided assistance in the field. HMC Helicopters was instrumental in gaining access to remote sites. The material herein was developed in collaboration with the Florida Coastal Everglades Long-Term Ecological Research program under National Science Foundation Grant No. DEB-2025954. This is Publication Number 1021 of the Southeast Environmental Research Center in the Institute of Environment at Florida International University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Environment, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, USA

    Michael S. Ross, Susana L. Stoffella, John F. Meeder & Leonard J. Scinto

  2. Department of Earth and Environment, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, USA

    Michael S. Ross, Rosario Vidales & Leonard J. Scinto

  3. Applied Research Center, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, USA

    David C. Kadko

  4. Department of Biology, Arkansas Tech University, McEver Hall 34-E, Russellville, Arkansas, 72801, USA

    Suresh C. Subedi

  5. South Florida Natural Resource Center, Everglades National Park, Homestead, Florida, USA

    Jed R. Redwine

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  1. Michael S. Ross
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Correspondence to Suresh C. Subedi.

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Author Contributions

MSR, JFM, and LJS conceived and designed the study; MSR, SLS, and RV collected field data; LJS, DCK, SLS, SCS, RV, and MSR analyzed the data; all authors contributed in writing the paper.

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Ross, M.S., Stoffella, S.L., Vidales, R. et al. Sea-Level Rise and the Persistence of Tree Islands in Coastal Landscapes. Ecosystems 25, 586–602 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-021-00673-1

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