Improving Community-Based Shoreline Erosion Stabilization Projects: Impacts of Potential Nurse Plants on Red Mangrove Biomass Production and Survival

Mangrove communities provide habitat for many terrestrial and aquatic species and act as nurseries and breeding grounds for fish, crustaceans, and birds. They also protect coastal areas from erosion and storm events. However, globally 35% of mangrove habitat has been degraded or destroyed, making mangroves one of the most endangered ecosystems on earth. Thus, there is a demand for methods to restore mangrove habitats successfully. The red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) is often associated with other marsh plants. We investigated whether two marsh plants (Batis maritima, Sarcocornia perennis ) act as nurse plants and increase R. mangle success by altering seedling biomass production (aboveground and belowground) under greenhouse conditions and by improving shoreline stabilization, thus increasing survival and retention of R. mangle in the field. To test these goals, we ran a replicated experiment at the University of Central Florida greenhouse to determine whether the marsh plants had negative, positive, or neutral impacts on R. mangle and examined if marsh plants increased survival and retention of R. mangle at Castle Windy shell midden in Mosquito Lagoon, Florida. Based on our experiments, S. perennis and B. maritima do not act as nurse plants for R. mangle, since the marsh plants had no statistically significant impact on R. mangle total dry weight, change in height, final height, leaf count, field survival, or retention. However, our marsh plants had less biomass than naturally occurring meadows found in the field. Additional field research is needed to determine if meadows of S. perennis and B. maritima will facilitate R. mangle success

Is The Exotic Brazilian Pepper, Schinus Terebinthifolius, A Threat To Mangrove Ecosystems In Florida?

Mangrove ecosystems are critical to Florida, providing economic resources to humans, and untold ecological resources to estuarine organisms. In Florida\u27s estuaries, mangrove ecosystems have suffered significant losses due to natural and human disturbances; these disturbances potentially leave mangrove communities vulnerable to invasion by the opportunistic exotic, Schinus terebinthifolius (Brazilian pepper). Prior experiments have suggested that Schinus terebinthifolius is unable to survive under marine conditions and poses no long term threat to mangrove systems. However, this contradicts field observations where Schinus terebinthifolius was found growing in the intertidal zone of Mosquito Lagoon alongside three native species of mangroves, Rhizophora mangle, Avicennia germinans and Laguncularia racemosa. The purpose of my study was to evaluate competition between the invasive S. terebinthifolius and these three native species of mangroves in the coastal estuarine system along the east coast of Central Florida in Canaveral National Seashore. The effects of competition were evaluated by testing the ability of S. terebinthifolius to: 1) chemically inhibit growth of mangrove propagules, 2) invade new coastal habitats by dispersing seeds in the water, 3) alter species richness and abundance of the flora when present in a mangrove system, and 4) recruit and survive in mangrove habitat. By better understanding the invasibility and impact of Schinus terebinthifolius on mangroves, coastal resource managers will be able to develop the most effective management strategies to prevent this exotic from altering the structure and productivity of the mangrove ecosystem

Rebecca Fillyaw MS Thesis Data for Publication in the Journal Sustainability

By combatting erosion and increasing habitat, mangrove living shorelines are an effective alternative to hard-armoring in tropical and subtropical areas. An experimental red mangrove living shoreline was deployed within Mosquito Lagoon, Florida, using a factorial design to test the impact of mangrove age, breakwater presence, and mangrove placement on mangrove survival within the first year of deployment. Mixed mangrove age treatments were included to identify if seedling (11-month-old) survival could be enhanced by the presence of transitional (23-month-old) and adult (35 to 47-month-old) mangroves. Environmental factors were monitored to detect possible causes of mangrove mortalities. Approximately half (50.6%) of mangroves died, and of those, 90.7% occurred within the annual high-water season, and 88.9% showed signs of flooding stress. Planting seedlings haphazardly among older mangroves did not attenuate enough wave energy to significantly increase seedling survival. Breakwaters alleviated stress through the reduction of water velocity and wave height, increasing the odds of survival by 197% and 437% when mangroves were planted in the landward and seaward rows, respectively. Compared to seedlings, deployment of adult mangroves increased survival odds by 1,087%. Collectively, our results indicate that sites with a high-water season should utilize a breakwater structure and mangroves with a woody stem

Developing a Shoreline Restoration Suitability Model for North Indian River and Mosquito Lagoon, Phase II

This project successfully created a living shoreline restoration prioritization model and a mangrove hydrodynamic habitat suitability model for 180 miles of estuarine shorelines in Mosquito Lagoon and northern Indian River. Shoreline model data are available for direct download as a spatial dataset (https://stars.library.ucf.edu/shorelines/), or for online viewing in a GIS storymap: (https://ucfonline.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=45caa29e80e6441c8bf6f75c542860af). New empirical wave data were created through hydrodynamic modeling. Frequency analysis was applied to characterize wave climate in study area shorelines. Wind-wave measurements observed in the field validated that actual wave heights above 2 cm were well represented by the model. Modelled hydrodynamic data were combined with shoreline data (collected in the field during the project Phase I) to develop fundamental knowledge regarding hydrodynamic habitat suitability of IRL shoreline species. Through this analysis, strong relationships between mangrove presence and wind wave hydrodynamics were illuminated, such that the probability of mangrove persistence was predicted at the project site scale based on wave climate. Additionally, the influential role of site intertidal slope and its interaction with site hydrodynamics was confirmed. This is a transformative source of information from the perspective of Planning, Design and Engineering (PD&E) of shoreline stabilization projects and regional-scale restoration planning. Mangroves were found on shorelines with overall lower incoming wave height distributions as compared to shorelines without mangrove vegetation. Mangrove presence became less likely as wave height increased, suggesting that there is a critical wave magnitude-frequency combination above which it is increasingly unlikely that mangrove vegetation will persist. Where wave heights exceeded 5 cm 20% of time, there was over an 80% chance of mangrove persistence. Where wave heights were 8 cm 20% of time, chance of mangrove persistence dropped to 50%. Where wave heights were over 15 cm 20% of time, there was less than 10% chance of mangrove persistence. While wave climate was found to explain the greatest variance within a generalized linear model of mangrove distribution, the influence of shoreline slope was also found to be significant. Low shoreline intertidal slopes were found to increase the threshold wave climate mangroves can survive. For example, the 80th percentile wave height associated with 50% probability of mangrove survival was 8 cm when slope was 0.2, increased to 9 cm when slope was lower than 0.2, and decreased to 4 cm when slope was greater. The presence of oysters or seagrasses at the shoreline were also correlated with wave height; however, conditions within the project area were insufficient to create robust hydrodynamic habitat thresholds for these important coastal ecosystem engineers. There are therefore future research opportunities to apply frameworks developed herein to broader study areas, which will potentially lead to discovery of flow-ecology relationships for a more diverse suite of coastal ecosystem engineers. All study shorelines were classified within a prioritization model according to need and urgency of stabilization. Shoreline sites classified in Urgent need (18% of study shoreline) should be triaged for immediate stabilization. Shoreline sites classified as Priority (10% of study shoreline) will eventually move to the Urgent category without intervention. Shorelines classified as Vulnerable (6% of study shorelines) are sites for pre-emptive restoration. Sites within the Wetland category (38% of study shorelines) do not need to be restored at this time and can serve as reference sites for living shoreline stabilization. Shorelines with hard armoring (28% of study shorelines) may represent opportunities to increase long-term shoreline resilience or restore shoreline ecotone functionality. Analysis of Hardened shorelines in context of local wave climate and slope indicate that many hardened shorelines in the project study area may not actually require armoring. Living shoreline containing mangrove forest could be expected to stabilize many currently hardened shorelines. All study shorelines were classified according to likelihood of mangrove persistence based on hydrodynamic habitat suitability. Within the study area, 68% of the shoreline was characterized by 50% or greater probability of mangrove persistence. At the site scale, likelihood of mangrove persistence can also be increased by design of an equilibrium shoreline slope, adding elasticity to stabilization site designs in areas that are on the borderline of mangrove hydrodynamic habitat suitability. Severe erosion was three times more likely to be observed on shorelines without mangrove vegetation, where over 60% of sites had escarpment heights greater than 30 cm. Similarly, shorelines with mangrove were more than two times as likely to be characterized by no to low levels of erosion. Managers and practitioners within and outside of the direct project area can benefit from this work. First, the actual hydrodynamic habitat thresholds for mangrove discovered in this study can be transferred to other locations within and outside of the Indian River Lagoon system. Locations throughout Florida that fit within the mangrove temperature, salinity and hydrology habitat zones may apply the hydrodynamic habitat knowledge developed herein to site-scale project planning. Second, the synergy between regional-scale project prioritization data and site-scale habitat suitability design tools demonstrated in this project can be a framework for future restoration planning efforts. Provision of information both at a broad geographic scale for use in regional planning, and making the information sufficiently detailed such that it can be applied at the site scale can help managers and practitioners understand when and where restoration is needed, and also the appropriateness of nature-based or green-grey hybrid designs on a site-by-site basis. Widespread investment in this type of information, and dedicated strategies to adopt such information in project PD&E may increase restoration success and impact on a regional scale

Valuing Water - A Globally Sustainable Approach for the Pharmaceutical Industry

Water resources around the globe are at risk from expanding demand and decreased availability. All sectors of society rely on water for operation – agriculture, industry, power generation, and domestic users all require a constant, clean supply. As a result of population growth and environmental stress, more than one billion people do not have access to clean water, putting a strain on both people and societies, and leading to high costs to ensure supply is not diminished in any sector. As both water availability and quality are projected to decrease in the future, every sector is at risk and might want to reconsider their current relationship with this important resource. Th is analysis focuses on the water-related risks to the industrial sector, specifi cally the pharmaceutical industry. Drug discovery and processing are water-intensive processes that require large amounts of high purity water, presenting a risk to the continuation of business operations. In a changing and uncertain future, the pharmaceutical industry’s relationship with water must also necessarily change in order to continue manufacturing high-quality drugs at a low cost. Six diff erent categories for water-related business risk are outlined and include: changing business demands, stakeholder issues, supply chain, source water quality, regulatory environment, and water availability and climate change. Th is document helps companies concerned about these water-related business risks address the following questions: • Why should pharmaceutical companies consider water in the business structure? • Who are the global and local players in the movement toward enhanced water management? • What types of quantitative and qualitative steps can be taken by the pharmaceutical industry to be proactive in water management? • Where are the locations that may be additionally stressed due to our changing environment? • When can pharmaceutical companies act and at what time-scale? • How can pharmaceutical companies manage water risk and adequately value water? By taking a hands-on approach to managing water-related business risk, pharmaceutical companies can avoid costs and instead create value. Th e pharmaceutical industry has a unique opportunity to enhance its mission of sustaining human health by leading other industries in proactive and innovative water management. Pharmaceutical companies have a number of options when it comes to adapting their relationship with water to a changing future. However, navigating these options can be costly and time-consuming. In addition, the cost of water for these companies, compared to other resources, is minimal, shielding its importance from business decisions that relate to it. Th is document presents a decision-making framework designed to help companies save time and resources required to inform options analysis. It is in the form of a comprehensive and easy-to-use Water Valuation Tool consisting of six key steps: Sponsorship, Learn, Plan, Act, Share, and Re-Evaluate. Each step is designed to help a company learn new and innovative ways to value water beyond the traditional cost. Global companies are currently benefi ting from considering water use not only in everyday facility operations, but future business planning as well. Included in this document are case studies, along with an example of how this Water Valuation Tool is applied. Th is decision-making framework will assist corporate users to to design strategies most fi tting to individual situations and internal business structure.Master of ScienceNatural Resources and EnvironmentUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/58622/1/merk masters project.pd

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy

Comparative effectiveness of initial computed tomography and invasive coronary angiography in women and men with stable chest pain and suspected coronary artery disease: multicentre randomised trial

To assess the comparative effectiveness of computed tomography and invasive coronary angiography in women and men with stable chest pain suspected to be caused by coronary artery disease