Abstract
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 a reduction in 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 1087%. Collectively, our results indicate that sites with a high-water season should utilize a breakwater structure and mangroves with a woody stem.
Highlights
Historical efforts to stabilize shorelines have focused on the hard-armoring of extensive portions of coastlines with artificial structures such as seawalls, jetties, and breakwaters [1,2,3].As a result, 14% of shorelines in the United States are hard-armored, with 64% of that total occurring in estuaries and lagoons [2]
This study focuses on vegetation living shorelines, which allow for habitat migration over time, wildlife movement between terrestrial and marine habitats, and increased wave attenuation as the vegetation grows larger [8]
Mosquito Lagoon is located on the east coast of central Florida and comprises the northernmost portion of the Indian River Lagoon (IRL) system
Summary
Historical efforts to stabilize shorelines have focused on the hard-armoring of extensive portions of coastlines with artificial structures such as seawalls, jetties, and breakwaters [1,2,3].As a result, 14% of shorelines in the United States are hard-armored, with 64% of that total occurring in estuaries and lagoons [2]. Seawalls reduce the ability of plant communities to migrate landward as sea levels increase, resulting in further habitat loss over time [4,5,6]. Another option for shoreline stabilization is the “living shoreline” method, which uses natural materials (e.g., vegetation, oyster reef, sand, rock) to reduce erosion while providing habitat [7]. This study focuses on vegetation living shorelines, which allow for habitat migration over time, wildlife movement between terrestrial and marine habitats, and increased wave attenuation as the vegetation grows larger [8]. Depending on the location’s water level and wave energy, the living shoreline can experience flooding stress, physical damage, and root removal [9,10,11]
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