Aboveground Biomass and Production in Mangrove Communities of Biscayne National Park, Florida (USA), Following Hurricane Andrew
Ross MS, Ruiz PL, Telesnicki GJ, Meeder JF. 2001. Aboveground Biomass and Production in Mangrove Communities of Biscayne National Park, Florida (USA), Following Hurricane Andrew. Wetlands Ecology and Management. 7
The dramatic transition in forest structure that characterized the pre-hurricane mangrove zone in much of southern Biscayne Bay, Florida, USA, was entirely disrupted by Hurricane Andrew (August, 1992). Tall Fringe forests adjacent to the coast were leveled by intense winds which reduced the total aboveground biomass from 200 to about 1 Mg per hectare, while Dwarf forest communities a few hundred meters inland were relatively unaffected. Five years later, the initial structural gradient was becoming reestablished, with biomass in the Fringe forest reaching 56 Mg/ha and the Dwarf forest remaining below 20 Mg/ ha. In 1996-97, annual aboveground production in the Fringe forest was 3.5 times greater than in the Dwarf forest (29.8 and 8.6 Mg/ha/yr, respectively). This contrast in production between the two forest types was not evenly distributed among woody and photosynthetic tissues; Fringe production rates were approximately two, six, seven, and nine times higher for leaves, stems, branches, and proproots, respectively. Moreover, mean leaf longevity did not differ between forest types (p > 0.50). The above estimates for woody tissues were calculated using a standard dimensional analysis method. Because of the difficulty associated with litter collection in a regularly inundated tidal shrubland, a new demographically-based procedure, adapted from Dai and Weigert (1996), was introduced for the purpose of estimating leaf production. These methods may prove effective in estimating production in other terrestrial ecosystems, especially those in which shrubs are the dominant growth form. Our study calls attention to the dynamic nature of community structure in hurricane- prone mangrove ecosystems, especially the size and distribution of aboveground biomass components.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Ross, M.; Ruiz, P.; Telesnicki, G.; Meeder, J.
- Units
- BISC
- Keywords
- Biscayne National Park, Hurricane Andrew, Mangrove Communities, monitoring aboveground biomass, Water Management District