Short-term experimental flooding impacts soil biogeochemistry but not aboveground vegetation in a coastal forest

Rising sea levels and intensifying storms increase flooding pressure on coastal forests, triggering tree mortality, ecosystem transitions, and changes to the coastal carbon cycle. However, the mechanisms that drive coastal forest mortality remain elusive due to the complex interplay between belowgro...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 122; no. 41; p. e2511756122
Main Authors: Regier, Peter, Bond-Lamberty, Ben, Ward, Nicholas, Bailey, Vanessa, Peixoto, Roberta Bittencourt, Machado-Silva, Fausto, McDowell, Nate, Morris, Kendalynn A, Myers-Pigg, Allison, Pennington, Stephanie C, Rahman, Mizanur, Rich, Roy, Smith, Richard W, Wilson, Stephanie J, Woodard, Stella C, Stearns, Alice, Day, Donnie, Doro, Kennedy, Emmanuel, Efemena, Grossiord, Charlotte, Hopple, Anya, Ogunsola, Olawale, Patel, Kaizad, Phillips, Evan, Megonigal, J Patrick
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States 14.10.2025
Subjects:
Carbon Cycle
Climate Change
Ecosystem
Floods
Forests
Salinity
Soil - chemistry
Trees - physiology
flooding
coastal forests
tree physiology
ecosystem change
soil biogeochemistry
ISSN:1091-6490, 1091-6490
Online Access:Get more information
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Rising sea levels and intensifying storms increase flooding pressure on coastal forests, triggering tree mortality, ecosystem transitions, and changes to the coastal carbon cycle. However, the mechanisms that drive coastal forest mortality remain elusive due to the complex interplay between belowground and aboveground processes during flooding disturbances and limitations of observations typically reported in coastal forest mortality studies. We used an ecosystem-scale manipulation to simulate hurricane-level flooding of a coastal forest and explore the individual and interactive impacts of inundation and salinity. Monitoring real-time soil conditions and tree physiological responses, we observed consistent impacts on soil biogeochemistry aligned with belowground drivers of tree mortality, but no consistent responses in aboveground vegetation immediately following flooding. Our findings provide empirically based insight into the earliest stages of a hypothesized forest mortality spiral and offer critical benchmarks for predicting coastal forest resilience in the face of accelerating climate change.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ISSN:1091-6490
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.2511756122