Predicting future mangrove forest migration in the Everglades under rising sea level

Abstract

Mangroves are highly productive ecosystems that provide valued habitat for fish and shorebirds. Mangrove forests are universally composed of relatively few tree species and a single overstory strata. Three species of true mangroves are common to intertidal zones of the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico Coast, namely, black mangrove (Avicennia germinans), white mangrove (Laguncularia racemosa), and red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle). Mangrove forests occupy intertidal settings of the coastal margin of the Everglades along the southwest tip of the Florida peninsula (fig. 1).