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Decadal-Scale Vegetation Change Driven by Salinity at Leading Edge of Rising Sea LevelAs sea levels rise, low-lying coastal forests increasingly are subject to stressors such as inundation and saltwater exposure. At long timescales (for example, centuries), the extent of inundation and saltwater exposure will increase; however, on a decadal timescale, the role of these drivers may differ in both magnitude and direction. To investigate the drivers of decadal-scale vegetation change, we measured the changes in five metrics of vegetation composition and structure between 2003/2004 and 2016/ 2017 at 98 plots distributed across a vegetation gradient from coastal forest to brackish marshes (< 0.5–18 ppt). We used elevation as a proxy of inundation vulnerability and soil sodium concentration as a proxy of saltwater exposure, and we investigated relationships between these two variables and the change in vegetation conditions between the two sampling periods. Soil sodium concentration was a significant predictor of vegetation change for all five vegetation metrics, whereas the effect of elevation was not significant for any of the metrics. The one site that was affected by wildfire twice during the duration of the study shifted almost completely from forest to marsh with limited regeneration ofwoody vegetation observed in 2016/ 2017. Our results show that salinization in our system is a more important driver of vegetation change than inundation potential. Furthermore, the effects of drought-induced salinization could be amplified by the elevated risk of wildfire during droughts. Forecasting the response of coastal wetlands to rising sea levels will require a better understanding of the individual and combined effects of salinity, droughts, and wildfires on vegetation.
Document ID
20190029604
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
doi:10.1007/s10021-019-00382-w
Authors
Taillie, Paul J. (North Carolina State University (NC SU) Raleigh, NC, United States)
Moorman, Christopher E. (North Carolina State University (NC SU) Raleigh, NC, United States)
Poulter, Benjamin J. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Ardon, Marcelo (North Carolina State University (NC SU) Raleigh, NC, United States)
Emanuel, Ryan E. (North Carolina State University (NC SU) Raleigh, NC, United States)
Date Acquired
August 26, 2019
Publication Date
April 22, 2019
Publication Information
Publication: Ecosystems
Publisher: Springer Verlag
ISSN: 1432-9840
e-ISSN: 1435-0629
Subject Category
Earth Resources And Remote Sensing
Report/Patent Number
GSFC-E-DAA-TN71732
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Use by or on behalf of the US Gov. Permitted.

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