Asymmetric root distributions reveal press-pulse responses in retreating coastal forests.

The impacts of climate change on ecosystems are manifested in how organisms respond to episodic and continuous stressors. The conversion of coastal forests to salt marshes represents a prominent example of ecosystem state change, driven by the continuous stress of sea-level rise (press), and episodic storms (pulse). Here, we measured the rooting dimension and fall direction of 143 windthrown eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) trees in a rapidly retreating coastal forest in Chesapeake Bay (USA).

A casualty of climate change? Loss of freshwater forest islands on Florida's Gulf Coast.

Sea level rise elicits short- and long-term changes in coastal plant communities by altering the physical conditions that affect ecosystem processes and species distributions. While the effects of sea level rise on salt marshes and mangroves are well studied, we focus on its effects on coastal islands of freshwater forest in Florida's Big Bend region, extending a dataset initiated in 1992. In 2014-2015, we evaluated tree survival, regeneration, and understory composition in 13 previously established plots located along a tidal creek; 10 plots are on forest islands surrounded by salt marsh, and three are in continuous forest.