Pneumatophore CO effluxes decrease with increased salinity in mangrove forests of Yucatan, Mexico.

Although mangrove forests are great carbon sinks, they also release carbon dioxide (CO) from soil, plants, and water through respiration. Many studies have focused on CO effluxes only from soils, but the role of biogenic structures such as pneumatophore roots has been poorly studied. Hence, CO effluxes from pneumatophores were quantified at sediment-air (non-flooded sediment) and water-air (flooded sediment) interfaces along a salinity gradient in three mangrove types (fringe, scrub, and basin) dominated by Avicennia germinans during the dry and rainy seasons in Yucatan, Mexico.

Impacts of leaks and gas accumulation on closed chamber methods for measuring methane and carbon dioxide fluxes from tree stems.

Accurate measurements of methane (CH) and carbon dioxide (CO) fluxes from tree stems are important for understanding greenhouse gas emissions. Closed chamber methods are commonly employed for this purpose; however, leaks between the chamber and the atmosphere as well as gas accumulation, known as the concentration buildup effect, can impact flux measurements significantly. In this study, we investigated the impacts of concentration buildup and leaks on semi-rigid closed chamber methods.

Short-distance barriers affect genetic variability of L. in the Yucatan Peninsula.

The environmental variability at local scale results in different physiognomic types of mangrove forest. However, this variability has never been considered in studies of mangrove genetic variability. This study analyzed the genetic and morphological variability and structure of at regional and local scales in the Yucatan Peninsula.

Environmental regulation of carbon isotope composition and crassulacean acid metabolism in three plant communities along a water availability gradient.

Expression of crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) is characterized by extreme variability within and between taxa and its sensitivity to environmental variation. In this study, we determined seasonal fluctuations in CAM photosynthesis with measurements of nocturnal tissue acidification and carbon isotopic composition (δ(13)C) of bulk tissue and extracted sugars in three plant communities along a precipitation gradient (500, 700, and 1,000 mm year(-1)) on the Yucatan Peninsula. We also related the degree of CAM to light habitat and relative abundance of species in the three sites.