Monitoring mangrove soil surface elevation tables in South Florida/Caribbean Network parks: Protocol implementation plan narrative—version 1.1
Whelan KR, Patterson JM, Prats MC. 2021. Monitoring mangrove soil surface elevation tables in South Florida/Caribbean Network parks: Protocol implementation plan narrative—version 1.1. Natural Resource Report. NPS/SFCN/NRR—2021/2269. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado. https://doi.org/10.36967/nrr-2286656
The mangrove forest ecosystem is a critical coastal resource in South Florida and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Mangrove wetlands provide flood control, storm protection, shore stabilization, water filtration (capturing soil runoff), carbon sequestration, and habitat for fish and wildlife communities. There is a feedback loop between soil elevation, hydrology, and mangrove forest health. The soil elevation level in mangrove forests affects tidal inundation period, tidal inundation frequency, and overall hydroperiod, all of which affect mangrove seedling species recruitment, composition, and survival. Due to the importance of soil elevation to mangroves, it is critical to understand the rate of change in soil elevation to better predict the long-term ability of mangrove forests to regenerate. Therefore, the National Park Service (NPS) South Florida/Caribbean (SFCN) Inventory and Monitoring (I&M) Network has established a long-term soil surface elevation monitoring program in Biscayne, Salt River Bay, and Virgin Islands national parks as part of the Coastal Geomorphology Vital Sign. The program aims to monitor rates of soil accretion and erosion and determine if soil processes are keeping pace with relative sea level. If the rate of change of relative sea level is greater than the rate at which mangrove soil elevation increases then the current mangrove forest will transgress upslope and the current areas occupied by mangrove forest will eventually convert to shallow open-water marine habitats as the trees die off and there is no recruitment to replace them. For resource managers, it will be important to understand how this process is affecting mangrove forest in their park units. Local long-term monitoring is necessary to develop this understanding.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Whelan, Kevin; Patterson, Judd; Prats, Michelle
- Date of Issue
- 2021-06
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- DOI
- 10.36967/nrr-2286656
- Units
- BISC , NRSS , SARI , SFCN , VIIS
- Keywords
- Accretion, Climate change, Geomorphology, Hurricane, Mangrove, mangrove soil surface elevation table protocol, Sea Level Rise, SET, Soil Elevation Table