Tropical cyclones cumulatively control regional carbon fluxes in Everglades mangrove wetlands (Florida, USA)

Mangroves are the most blue-carbon rich coastal wetlands contributing to the reduction of atmospheric CO2 through photosynthesis (sequestration) and high soil organic carbon (C) storage. Globally, mangroves are increasingly impacted by human and natural disturbances under climate warming, including pervasive pulsing tropical cyclones. However, there is limited information assessing cyclone’s functional role in regulating wetlands carbon cycling from annual to decadal scales. Here we show how cyclones with a wide range of integrated kinetic energy (IKE) impact C fluxes in the Everglades, a neotropical region with high cyclone landing frequency. Using long-term mangrove Net Primary Productivity (Litterfall, NPPL) data (2001–2018), we estimated cyclone-induced litterfall particulate organic C (litter-POC) export from mangroves to estuarine waters. Our analysis revealed that this lateral litter-POC flux (71–205 g C m−2 year−1)—currently unaccounted in global C budgets—is similar to C burial rates (69–157 g C m−2 year−1) and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC, 61–229 g C m−2 year−1) export. We proposed a statistical model (PULITER) between IKE-based pulse index and NPPL to determine cyclone’s impact on mangrove role as C sink or source. Including the cyclone’s functional role in regulating mangrove C fluxes is critical to developing local and regional climate change mitigation plans

Diseños de bloques balanceados incompletos (bibd) a través de un enfoque matricial

Frecuentemente en la experimentación a través del diseño de bloques incompletos, encontramos que la información de la matriz es una matriz singular, razón por la cual esta matriz no es invertible. En este artículo proponemos un enfoque matricial para calcular el efecto del vector de los tratamientos mediante la determinación de la pseudoinversa de en el diseño de bloques incompletos balanceados (BIBD) y la construcción de la tabla del ANOVA en este enfoque para checar los términos significativos y la falta de ajuste del model

Diseños de bloques balanceados incompletos (bibd) a través de un enfoque matricial

RESUMENFrecuentemente en la experimentación a través del diseño de bloques incompletos, encontramos que la información de la matriz es una matriz singular, razón por la cual esta matriz no es invertible. En este artículo proponemos un enfoque matricial para calcular el efecto del vector de los tratamientos mediante la determinación de la pseudoinversa de en el diseño de bloques incompletos balanceados (BIBD) y la construcción de la tabla del ANOVA en este enfoque para checar los términos significativos y la falta de ajuste del modelo. C CPalabras Clave: Matriz Singular, Seudo-inversa, Descomposición del Valor Singular, Diseño de Bloques Balanceados Incompletos

Integrated Carbon Budget Models for the Everglades Terrestrial-Coastal-Oceanic Gradient: Current Status and Needs for Inter-Site Comparisons

Recent studies suggest that coastal ecosystems can bury significantly more C than tropical forests, indicating that continued coastal development and exposure to sea level rise and storms will have global biogeochemical consequences. The Florida Coastal Everglades Long Term Ecological Research (FCE LTER) site provides an excellent subtropical system for examining carbon (C) balance because of its exposure to historical changes in freshwater distribution and sea level rise and its history of significant long-term carbon-cycling studies. FCE LTER scientists used net ecosystem C balance and net ecosystem exchange data to estimate C budgets for riverine mangrove, freshwater marsh, and seagrass meadows, providing insights into the magnitude of C accumulation and lateral aquatic C transport. Rates of net C production in the riverine mangrove forest exceeded those reported for many tropical systems, including terrestrial forests, but there are considerable uncertainties around those estimates due to the high potential for gain and loss of C through aquatic fluxes. C production was approximately balanced between gain and loss in Everglades marshes; however, the contribution of periphyton increases uncertainty in these estimates. Moreover, while the approaches used for these initial estimates were informative, a resolved approach for addressing areas of uncertainty is critically needed for coastal wetland ecosystems. Once resolved, these C balance estimates, in conjunction with an understanding of drivers and key ecosystem feedbacks, can inform cross-system studies of ecosystem response to long-term changes in climate, hydrologic management, and other land use along coastlines

New perspectives on an iconic landscape from comparative international long-term ecological research

Iconic ecosystems like the Florida Coastal Everglades can serve as sentinels of environmental change from local to global scales. This characteristic can help inform general theory about how and why ecosystems transform, particularly if distinctive ecosystem properties are studied over long time scales and compared to those of similar ecosystems elsewhere. Here we review the ways in which long-term, comparative, international research has provided perspectives on iconic features of the Everglades that have, in turn, informed general ecosystem paradigms. Studies in other comparable wetlands from the Caribbean to Australia have shed light on distinctive and puzzling aspects such as the upside-down estuary and productivity paradox for which the Everglades is known. These studies suggest that coastal wetlands on carbonate (karstic) platforms have: (1) hydrological and biogeochemical properties that reflect hidden groundwater sources of water and nutrients, (2) very productive, mat-forming algal communities that present a low-quality food to aquatic consumers that encourages (3) highly diversified feeding strategies within and among populations, and (4) extensive and productive seagrass meadows and mangrove forests that promote strong cultural dependencies associated with the ecosystem services they provide. The contribution of international research to each of these general ecological topics is discussed with a particular goal of encouraging informed decision-making in threatened wetlands across the globe. Copyright

New perspectives on an iconic landscape from comparative international long-term ecological research

Iconic ecosystems like the Florida Coastal Everglades can serve as sentinels of environmental change from local to global scales. This characteristic can help inform general theory about how and why ecosystems transform, particularly if distinctive ecosystem properties are studied over long time scales and compared to those of similar ecosystems elsewhere. Here we review the ways in which long-term, comparative, international research has provided perspectives on iconic features of the Everglades that have, in turn, informed general ecosystem paradigms. Studies in other comparable wetlands from the Caribbean to Australia have shed light on distinctive and puzzling aspects such as the upside-down estuary and productivity paradox for which the Everglades is known. These studies suggest that coastal wetlands on carbonate (karstic) platforms have: (1) hydrological and biogeochemical properties that reflect hidden groundwater sources of water and nutrients, (2) very productive, mat-forming algal communities that present a low-quality food to aquatic consumers that encourages (3) highly diversified feeding strategies within and among populations, and (4) extensive and productive seagrass meadows and mangrove forests that promote strong cultural dependencies associated with the ecosystem services they provide. The contribution of international research to each of these general ecological topics is discussed with a particular goal of encouraging informed decision-making in threatened wetlands across the globe. Copyright

Integrated Carbon Budget Models for the Everglades Terrestrial-Coastal-Oceanic Gradient: Current Status and Needs for Inter-Site Comparisons

Recent studies suggest that coastal ecosystems can bury significantly more C than tropical forests, indicating that continued coastal development and exposure to sea level rise and storms will have global biogeochemical consequences. The Florida Coastal Everglades Long Term Ecological Research (FCE LTER) site provides an excellent subtropical system for examining carbon (C) balance because of its exposure to historical changes in freshwater distribution and sea level rise and its history of significant long-term carbon-cycling studies. FCE LTER scientists used net ecosystem C balance and net ecosystem exchange data to estimate C budgets for riverine mangrove, freshwater marsh, and seagrass meadows, providing insights into the magnitude of C accumulation and lateral aquatic C transport. Rates of net C production in the riverine mangrove forest exceeded those reported for many tropical systems, including terrestrial forests, but there are considerable uncertainties around those estimates due to the high potential for gain and loss of C through aquatic fluxes. C production was approximately balanced between gain and loss in Everglades marshes; however, the contribution of periphyton increases uncertainty in these estimates. Moreover, while the approaches used for these initial estimates were informative, a resolved approach for addressing areas of uncertainty is critically needed for coastal wetland ecosystems. Once resolved, these C balance estimates, in conjunction with an understanding of drivers and key ecosystem feedbacks, can inform cross-system studies of ecosystem response to long-term changes in climate, hydrologic management, and other land use along coastlines