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Jena A Moon

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We characterized coastal wetland responses to flooding stress by measuring vegetation cover, wetland elevation and water elevation in healthy and degrading wetlands dominated by Spartina patens. Wetland elevation was measured using real-time kinematic survey methods. Vegetation cover was determined by visual estimation methods, and water elevation was measured using in situ continuous recorders. In addition to these local-scale responses, we also measured landscape-scale patterns of land and water aggregation or fragmentation using remotely sensed data (Jones et al., 2018). Associated products: Jones, W.R., Hartley, S.B., Stagg, C.L., and Osland, M.J. 2018. Land-water classification for selected sites in McFaddin...
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Global climate change is leading to large-scale shifts in species’ range limits. For example, rising winter temperatures are shifting the abundance and distributions of tropical, cold sensitive plant species towards higher latitudes. Coastal wetlands provide a prime example of such shifts, with tropical mangrove forests expanding into temperate salt marshes as winter warming alleviates past geographic limits set by cold intolerance. These rapid changes are dynamic and challenging to monitor, and uncertainty remains regarding the extent of mangrove expansion near poleward range limits. Here, we synthesized existing datasets and expert knowledge to assess the current (i.e., 2021) distribution of mangroves near dynamic...
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Climatic extremes are becoming more frequent with climate change and have the potential to cause major ecological shifts and ecosystem collapse. Along the northern Gulf of Mexico, a coastal wetland in the San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge in Texas suffered significant and acute vegetation dieback following Hurricane Harvey in 2017. We identified plant zonal boundaries along an elevation gradient with drought-tolerant plant species, including succulents and graminoids, at higher elevations and flood-tolerant species, including Spartina alterniflora, at lower elevations. We measured mean canopy height for each species. Soil surface elevation was measured using Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) methods.
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