OOS 33 - Ecosystems in Motion: Thresholds of Resilience to the Press Disturbance of Sea Level Change among North American Coastal Landscapes

Thursday, August 11, 2016: 1:30 PM-5:00 PM
Grand Floridian Blrm E, Ft Lauderdale Convention Center
Organizer:
Michael S. Ross, Florida International University
Co-organizers:
Loretta L. Battaglia, Southern Illinois University; and Skip Van Bloem, Clemson University
Moderator:
Michael S. Ross, Florida International University
Ecological resilience is typically defined as the capacity of an ecosystem to return to its original state and location following a perturbation. However, where ecosystems arranged along an environmental gradient are subjected to a strong, directional stressor, resilience at a broader scale, i.e., landscape resilience, may be achieved through a shift en masse away from the source of stress. Examples of resilience-in-place, landscape resilience, and non-resilience may be found among coastal ecosystems that occupy the marine-terrestrial interface and are subject to sea level change, a directional press disturbance. Though eustatic sea level is rising everywhere, relative sea level varies globally and among North American coast settings. Where relative sea level is declining, the components of coastal landscapes undergo a “seaward” shift, a situation that occurred on coastlines after the last ice age, and that still exists on high latitude coastlines. In other coastal settings, resilience may be realized even in the face of sea level rise when this rate is matched by the accretion of organic material and trapping of inorganic sediments, allowing ecosystems to persist in situ. Elsewhere, in cases where rates of sea level rise exceed accretion capacity, upslope migration of the entire gradient of coastal ecosystems is necessary for landscape resilience. These shifts are fundamentally driven by a sequential, retreat-advance dynamic, but can be disrupted where the rate of physical change outpaces the ecological capacity for lateral migration, or where ecosystems respond at different rates. Human infrastructure, geological or biological barriers, or changes in disturbance regime may also impede movement, leading to reduced resilience and coastal squeeze.
1:50 PM Cancelled
 Coastal squeeze through wetland succession on the rebounding coastline of James Bay
I. Florin Pendea, Lakehead University; Gail L. Chmura, McGill University
1:30 PM
 Coastal forested wetlands in the face of sea-level rise: Here today and gone tomorrow?
William H. Conner, Clemson University; Camille L. Stagg, U.S. Geological Survey; Nicole Cormier, U.S. Geological Survey; Ken W. Krauss, U.S. Geological Survey; Thomas M. Williams, Clemson University
2:10 PM
 The threshold rate of sea level rise determining resilience vs. non-resilience in southeast Florida coastal wetlands
John F. Meeder, Florida International University; Randall W. Parkinson, Remediation Environmental & Recovery, Inc.; Peter W. Harlem, Florida International University; Michael S. Ross, Florida International University
2:30 PM
 A press-pulse disturbance model for coastal forest retreat in the lower Florida Keys
Danielle E Ogurcak, Florida International University; Michael S. Ross, Florida International University; Keqi Zhang, Florida International University; Leonel Sternberg, University of Miami
2:50 PM
 Surface elevation dynamics in Gulf Coast tidal marshes: Biological responses to sedimentation events
Julia A. Cherry, University of Alabama; Nigel A. Temple, University of Alabama; Joshua A. Jones, U.S. Geological Survey; James B. Grace, U.S. Geological Survey, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center; Karen L. McKee, U.S. Geological Survey (retired)
3:10 PM
3:20 PM
 Sensitivity and resilience of the Clapper Rail to climate change within northern Gulf of Mexico marsh systems
Mark S. Woodrey, Mississippi State University; Scott A. Rush, Mississippi State University; Robert J. Cooper, University of Georgia; Evan M. Adams, Biodiversity Research Institute; Jared Feura, Mississippi State University
3:40 PM
 Barriers and opportunities for adaptation to sea-level rise: Landward migration of tidal saline wetlands along the U.S. Gulf of Mexico coast
Michael J. Osland, U.S. Geological Survey; Nicholas M. Enwright, U.S. Geological Survey; Kereen T. Griffith, Griffith Consulting at U.S. Geological Survey
4:00 PM
 Rapid relative sea level rise drives steady reduction of floodplain forest resilience in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain
Loretta L. Battaglia, Southern Illinois University; Julie Denslow, Tulane University