Paul Julian

Paul Julian

Jan 12, 2016

Group 6 Copy 45
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Introduction

Coastal wetlands, including mangrove swamps, salt marshes, mud flats and other tidal saline wetlands, provide a wide variety of important ecosystem services such as a diverse array of wildlife habitat that fosters high biodiversity, carbon sequestration, coastal stabilization and protection (Lovelock and Ellison 2007; Feller et al 2010). These ecosystems also provide a critical biogeochemical link between marine and terrestrial ecosystems by serving as both a sink of sediment and elements from each biome, but also a critical source of carbon and nutrients to the marine ecosystem to support productivity and biodiversity (Rudnick et al 1999; Bouillon et al 2008). Unfortunately, degraded water quality, eutrophication of coastal wetlands and altered freshwater flow has impacted coastal wetland functions (Adame et al 2012). Due to changes in flow through the Everglades ecosystem over the last century, the coastal wetlands of the southern Everglades have been significantly altered resulting in changes in resource gradients, resource regulators and hydroperiod (Twilley and Rivera-Monroy 2005; Rivera-Monroy et al 2011). As restoration activities progress, it is likely that resource gradients will change, however it is uncertain how the Everglades ecosystem will respond to restoration.

Osborne TZ (2015) Forecast Effects of Sea-Level Rise on Coastal Wetland Structure and Function. GEER 2015.

References

Adame MF, Reef R, Herrera-Silveira JA, Lovelock CE (2012) Sensitivity of dissolved organic carbon exchange and sediment bacteria to water quality in mangrove forests. Hydrobiologia 691:239–253. doi: 10.1007/s10750-012-1071-7

Bouillon S, Borges AV, Castañeda-Moya E, et al (2008) Mangrove production and carbon sinks: A revision of global budget estimates. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 22:GB2013. doi: 10.1029/2007GB003052

Feller IC, Lovelock CE, Berger U, et al (2010) Biocomplexity in Mangrove Ecosystems. Annual Review of Marine Science 2:395–417. doi: 10.1146/annurev.marine.010908.163809

Lovelock CE, Ellison JC (2007) Vulnerability of mangroves and tidal wetlands of the Great Barrier Reef to climate change.

Rivera-Monroy VH, Twilley RR, Davis SE, et al (2011) The Role of the Everglades Mangrove Ecotone Region (EMER) in Regulating Nutrient Cycling and Wetland Productivity in South Florida. Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology 41:633–669. doi: 10.1080/10643389.2010.530907

Rudnick DT, Chen Z, Childers DL, Fontaine TD (1999) Phosphorus and nitrogen inputs to Florida Bay: The importance of the everglades watershed. Estuaries 22:398–416. doi: 10.2307/1353207

Twilley RR, Rivera-Monroy VH (2005) Developing Performance Measures of Mangrove Wetlands Using Simulation Models of Hydrology, Nutrient Biogeochemistry, and Community Dynamics. Journal of Coastal Research 79–93.

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About This Project

Due to sea-level rise, prolonged intrusion of seawater into freshwater ecosystems which can alter the soil carbon balance and soil structure of organic rich peat soils. Often this results in the collapse of peat converting wetlands to open water ecosystems. In this study, we will collect porewater and surface water samples from Everglades National Park and analyze these samples for physical and nutrient parameters to determine benthic metabolic shifts as a result of seawater intrusion.

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