Abstract
Halophytic communities such as mangrove forests and buttonwood hammocks tend to border freshwater plant communities as sharp ecotones. Most studies attribute this purely to underlying physical templates, such as groundwater salinity gradients caused by tidal flux and topography. However, a few recent studies hypothesize that self-reinforcing feedback between vegetation and vadose zone salinity are also involved and create a bistable situation in which either halophytic dominated habitat or freshwater plant communities may dominate as alternative stable states. Here, we revisit the bistability hypothesis and demonstrate the mechanisms that result in bistability. We demonstrate with remote sensing imagery the sharp boundaries between freshwater hardwood hammock communities in southern Florida and halophytic communities such as buttonwood hammocks and mangroves. We further document from the literature how transpiration of mangroves and freshwater plants respond differently to vadose zone salinity, thus altering the salinity through feedback. Using mathematical models, we show how the self-reinforcing feedback, together with physical template, controls the ecotones between halophytic and freshwater communities. Regions of bistability along environmental gradients of salinity have the potential for large-scale vegetation shifts following pulse disturbances such as hurricane tidal surges in Florida, or tsunamis in other regions. The size of the region of bistability can be large for low-lying coastal habitat due to the saline water table, which extends inland due to salinity intrusion. We suggest coupling ecological and hydrologic processes as a framework for future studies.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 283-290 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Agricultural and Forest Meteorology |
| Volume | 213 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Nov 1 2015 |
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Keywords
- Alternative stable states
- Regime shift
- Sea level rise
- Sharp ecotone
- Storm surge
- Transpiration
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Agronomy and Crop Science
- Forestry
- Atmospheric Science
- Global and Planetary Change
Cite this
Bistability of mangrove forests and competition with freshwater plants. / Jiang, Jiang; Fuller, Douglas; Teh, Su Yean; Zhai, Lu; Koh, Hock Lye; DeAngelis, Donald L.; Sternberg, Leonel.
In: Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, Vol. 213, 01.11.2015, p. 283-290.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Bistability of mangrove forests and competition with freshwater plants
AU - Jiang, Jiang
AU - Fuller, Douglas
AU - Teh, Su Yean
AU - Zhai, Lu
AU - Koh, Hock Lye
AU - DeAngelis, Donald L.
AU - Sternberg, Leonel
PY - 2015/11/1
Y1 - 2015/11/1
N2 - Halophytic communities such as mangrove forests and buttonwood hammocks tend to border freshwater plant communities as sharp ecotones. Most studies attribute this purely to underlying physical templates, such as groundwater salinity gradients caused by tidal flux and topography. However, a few recent studies hypothesize that self-reinforcing feedback between vegetation and vadose zone salinity are also involved and create a bistable situation in which either halophytic dominated habitat or freshwater plant communities may dominate as alternative stable states. Here, we revisit the bistability hypothesis and demonstrate the mechanisms that result in bistability. We demonstrate with remote sensing imagery the sharp boundaries between freshwater hardwood hammock communities in southern Florida and halophytic communities such as buttonwood hammocks and mangroves. We further document from the literature how transpiration of mangroves and freshwater plants respond differently to vadose zone salinity, thus altering the salinity through feedback. Using mathematical models, we show how the self-reinforcing feedback, together with physical template, controls the ecotones between halophytic and freshwater communities. Regions of bistability along environmental gradients of salinity have the potential for large-scale vegetation shifts following pulse disturbances such as hurricane tidal surges in Florida, or tsunamis in other regions. The size of the region of bistability can be large for low-lying coastal habitat due to the saline water table, which extends inland due to salinity intrusion. We suggest coupling ecological and hydrologic processes as a framework for future studies.
AB - Halophytic communities such as mangrove forests and buttonwood hammocks tend to border freshwater plant communities as sharp ecotones. Most studies attribute this purely to underlying physical templates, such as groundwater salinity gradients caused by tidal flux and topography. However, a few recent studies hypothesize that self-reinforcing feedback between vegetation and vadose zone salinity are also involved and create a bistable situation in which either halophytic dominated habitat or freshwater plant communities may dominate as alternative stable states. Here, we revisit the bistability hypothesis and demonstrate the mechanisms that result in bistability. We demonstrate with remote sensing imagery the sharp boundaries between freshwater hardwood hammock communities in southern Florida and halophytic communities such as buttonwood hammocks and mangroves. We further document from the literature how transpiration of mangroves and freshwater plants respond differently to vadose zone salinity, thus altering the salinity through feedback. Using mathematical models, we show how the self-reinforcing feedback, together with physical template, controls the ecotones between halophytic and freshwater communities. Regions of bistability along environmental gradients of salinity have the potential for large-scale vegetation shifts following pulse disturbances such as hurricane tidal surges in Florida, or tsunamis in other regions. The size of the region of bistability can be large for low-lying coastal habitat due to the saline water table, which extends inland due to salinity intrusion. We suggest coupling ecological and hydrologic processes as a framework for future studies.
KW - Alternative stable states
KW - Regime shift
KW - Sea level rise
KW - Sharp ecotone
KW - Storm surge
KW - Transpiration
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84940026520&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.agrformet.2014.10.004
DO - 10.1016/j.agrformet.2014.10.004
M3 - Article
VL - 213
SP - 283
EP - 290
JO - Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
JF - Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
SN - 0168-1923
ER -