A biogeographical approach to characterizing the climatic, physical and geomorphic niche of the most widely distributed mangrove species,Avicennia marina

Abstract

Aim: Mangroves are coastal ecosystems exposed to terrestrial, marine, geomorphic and climatic forcings operating in concert, making the mangrove niche hard to define, as evidenced by extremely poor restoration outcomes. We have developed a set of high-resolution species distribution models and interpreted the variables that have the largest impact on the niche of Avicennia marina, the most globally widespread mangrove species, to comprehensively detail the forcings driving habitat suitability.Location: Australia.

Rapid diversification of grey mangroves (Avicennia marina) driven by geographic isolation and extreme environmental conditions in the Arabian Peninsula

“…This dataset included two marine variables from the MARSPEC database (Sbrocco & Barber, 2013) approximating maximum of sea surface salinity and minimum of sea surface temperature averaged over months (MS_biogeo10_sss_max_5m, MS_biogeo14_sst_min_5m), two parameters of particular importance for mangrove physiology (Hogarth, 2015). It also included four terrestrial parameters from WorldClim2 (Fick & Hijmans, 2017; Hijmans et al., 2005) consisting of isothermality (WC_bio3), quantifying how the range of day‐to‐night temperature differs from the range of summer‐to‐winter, a variable generally useful for tropical and maritime environments (Nix, 1986); maximum air temperature of warmest month (WC_bio5) and minimum air temperature of coldest month (WC_bio6), both relevant ecological extremes in the Arabian habitats (Martínez‐Díaz & Reef, 2022); and annual precipitation (WC_bio12) as a proxy of aridity (Table S5). Minimum sea surface and air temperatures showed high correlation, and the latter was removed when applying a correlation cutoff of .75.…”

Integrating Species Distribution Models to Estimate the Population Size of Forest Musk Deer (Moschus berezovskii) in the Central Qinling Mountains of Shaanxi

“…The closer the value of the result was to 1, the more suitable the area was for forest musk deer survival [43]. A binary habitat suitability map was created using the maximum training sensitivity plus specificity Cloglog threshold [44,45]. The variable contributions were assessed using the jackknife test.…”

Future climate change will increase risk to mangrove health in Northern Australia

“…Additionally, T max at the nearby Centre Island weather station is often close to or above 35 °C (Supplementary Fig 1a), suggesting that the mangrove communities in the GoC are able to withstand temperatures slightly higher than 35 °C, but live in a highly stressful environment, particularly away from water courses. A recent study 22 found that most populations of Avicennia marina, the predominant species in the GoC, occur between T max of 22-37 °C, and no instances of this species anywhere when T max exceeds 37 °C. Throughout the dry May-September season, temperatures are usually cooler, with monthly averages of ~26 °C but the trees are more stressed from lower sea levels and low rainfall (Fig.…”

“…1c, d). The physiological limits of mangroves prevent them from effectively photosynthesizing when inland T max and sea-surface temperatures exceed a certain threshold, typically ~35 °C and 32 °C, respectively 8,[20][21][22][23][24] . Over the ocean in the GoC, T max peaks at ~34 °C climatologically (Fig.…”

“…1d). Unusually high temperatures can compound that stress 21 , and any one month where T max exceeds these thresholds can contribute to reduced greenness 4,22 .…”