OOS 36
Coastal Plant Range Shifts: Causes and Consequences

Wednesday, August 12, 2015: 8:00 AM-11:30 AM
310, Baltimore Convention Center
Organizer:
Samantha K. Chapman
Co-organizers:
Ilka C. Feller and Kyle C Cavanaugh
Moderator:
J. Adam Langley
Coastal ecosystems are perched at the intersection of land and sea and are thus subject to a confluence of global change factors including sea level rise, elevated nitrogen inputs, increasing temperatures, and changes in precipitation. Due to the combined and individual impacts of each of these stressors, mangroves are encroaching into salt marshes around the world. As previously shown in tundra and arid grasslands, the movement of woody species into herbaceous landscapes represents a biome shift that can have far-reaching implications for ecosystems. The highest “velocity” of climate driven change is occurring in the coastal zone, and so these ongoing coastal biome shifts may serve as a harbinger of the fate of other terrestrial ecosystems. In this session, we will explore both drivers and outcomes of coastal plant range shifts. Presentations will highlight a variety of approaches for investigating the mechanisms driving range shifts, including genetic and molecular sampling, field surveys, remote sensing, and modeling. We will also explore the ecological interactions and ecosystem consequences that occur when mangroves encroach into marshes. Salt marshes and mangroves both provide critical ecosystem services such as carbon storage, food provisioning, water purification, and buffering of ecosystems against storm surges and sea level rise, but the provisioning of these ecosystem services may differ in magnitude and timing across habitat types. Understanding the shifting fates of these important coastal wetlands is an important challenge facing coastal managers.
8:00 AM
The role of precocious reproduction in the mangrove range expansion
Emily Dangremond, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center; Ilka C. Feller, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
8:20 AM
Bottom-up effects of mangrove expansion on transient and resident salt marsh fauna
Anna Armitage, Texas A&M University at Galveston; Carolyn Weaver, Texas A&M University; Ashley Whitt, Texas A&M University at Galveston; Sean P. Charles, Florida International University; Sayantani Dastidar, University of Houston; Hongyu Guo, University of Houston; Zoe Hughes, University of Houston; John Kominoski, Florida International University; Steven Pennings, University of Houston
8:40 AM
Macroclimate controls on tidal wetland ecosystems: Variation in plant community structure across climatic gradients in northern Gulf of Mexico estuaries
Christopher A. Gabler, University of Houston; Michael J. Osland, U.S. Geological Survey; James B. Grace, U.S. Geological Survey Wetland and Aquatic Research Center; Camille L. Stagg, U.S. Geological Survey; Richard H. Day, U.S. Geological Survey, National Wetlands Research Center; Stephen B. Hartley, U.S. Geological Survey, National Wetlands Research Center; Nicholas Enwright, U.S. Geological Survey; Andrew S. From, U.S. Geological Survey; Meagan L. McLemore, U.S. Geological Survey, National Wetlands Research Center; Jennie L. McLeod, U.S. Geological Survey, National Wetlands Research Center
9:00 AM
Black mangrove forest resistance and resilience to winter climate extremes: Implications for range expansion under climate change
Michael J. Osland, U.S. Geological Survey; Richard H. Day, U.S. Geological Survey, National Wetlands Research Center; Courtney T. Lee, Lee Consulting at U.S. Geological Survey, National Wetlands Research Center; Marisa D. Brumfield, University of Oklahoma; Jason L. Dugas, U.S. Geological Survey, National Wetlands Research Center; William R. Jones, U.S. Geological Survey, National Wetlands Research Center
9:20 AM
Carbon storage and coastal protection: Uncovering the potential impacts of mangrove range expansion
Cheryl Doughty, Villanova University; J. Adam Langley, Villanova University; Wayne Walker, Woods Hole Research Center; Ilka C. Feller, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center; Ronald Schaub, NASA Earth Systems Modeling and Data Management Laboratory; Samantha K. Chapman, Villanova University
9:40 AM
9:50 AM
Warming influences growth of salt marsh but not mangrove species near the northern range limit of mangroves
Glenn Coldren, Villanova University; Samantha K. Chapman, Villanova University; Ilka C. Feller, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center; J. Adam Langley, Villanova University
10:10 AM
Mangrove community response to sea-level rise in the Florida Keys, USA: Potential limitations on upslope migration
Mark W. Hester, University of Louisiana; Jonathan M. Willis, University of Louisiana
10:30 AM
Integrating physiological threshold experiments with distribution modeling to understand the controls on mangrove range limits
Kyle C Cavanaugh, University of California, Los Angeles; Susan Cook-Patton, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center; Ilka C. Feller, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center; John Parker, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center; A. Park Williams, University of California Los Angeles; James R. Kellner, Brown University
10:50 AM
Mangrove encroachment and climate warming influence belowground dynamics important for maintaining wetland resilience to inundation
Samantha K. Chapman, Villanova University; Glenn Coldren, Villanova University; Heather Tran, Villanova University; Cheryl Doughty, Villanova University; Chelsea Barreto, Villanova University; Ilka C. Feller, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center; J. Adam Langley, Villanova University
11:10 AM
Mangrove range shifts impact ecological interactions
Ilka C. Feller, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center