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Carbon and Water Cycles in Coastal Forests under Climate Change and Variability

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A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Hydrology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 December 2021) | Viewed by 31579

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Prof. Dr. John King

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Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
Interests: carbon and water cycling; tree physiology; genetics; drought stress and sea-level rise; productivity and sustainability of short-rotation woody cropping systems for bioenergy

Dr. Ge Sun

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Guest Editor

Eastern Forest Environmental Threat Assessment Center, Southern Research Station, US Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA
Interests: effects of climate change and land management on water quantity and quality, and water supply and demand at a regional scale; Application of computer simulation models, GIS, and remote sensing in regional hydrology; Evapotranspiration and ecosystem productivity modeling at regional to continental scales
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Maricar Aguilos

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Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
Interests: carbon and water cycling; biometeorology; ecohydrology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Ning Liu

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Guest Editor

Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education; Eastern Forest Environmental Threat Assessment Center, USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station, Research Triangle, NC, USA
Interests: ecohydrology; modeling; water and carbon cycling; ecosystem service

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

As coastal regions face extensive development, the role of coastal forests in providing ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration, provisioning of clean water, mitigating flooding and erosion, and providing wildlife habitats and recreation, is becoming increasingly important. Climate change and the variability associated with hurricanes, sea-level rise, drought, fire, and urbanization all threaten coastal forest function. Understanding how water and carbon cycles in coastal forests respond to interacting chronic and episodic stressors is essential to the sustainable management of these crucial forest resources.

This Special Issue focuses on ecosystem carbon and water cycles in the coastal forests in the southeastern United States and globally. We solicit studies on the following topics:

carbon, water, and energy interactions in coastal forests;
effects of episodic climate disturbances (e.g., hurricanes, droughts, wildfire) on water and carbon cycles and forest functions and services at multiple scales; and
effects of chronic climate stressors (sea-level rise, increasing temperature, changes in hydrology, salinization, etc.) on water and carbon cycles at the ocean–land interface and beyond.

Prof. Dr. John King
Dr. Ge Sun
Dr. Maricar Aguilos
Dr. Ning Liu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Forests is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

climate change
climate variability
drought
hurricanes
forests
carbon
hydrology
sea-level rise

Published Papers (9 papers)

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Research

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22 pages, 1856 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Impact of Thinning and Clear Cut on the Ecosystem Carbon Storage of Scots Pine Stands under Maritime Influence in Flanders, Belgium

by Freke Van Damme, Hana Mertens, Thilo Heinecke, Lodewijk Lefevre, Tim De Meulder, Miguel Portillo-Estrada, Marilyn Roland, Bert Gielen, Ivan A. Janssens, Kris Verheyen and Matteo Campioli

Forests 2022, 13(10), 1679; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13101679 - 12 Oct 2022

Viewed by 1435

Abstract

A shift in management to improve the ecological function of mature plantations of exotic species can have important effects on the ecosystem climate mitigation potential. This study investigated the effect of two common forest management strategies for Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) stands on the C storage after 15 years of management. Two pairs of forest stands on poor sandy soil and under the maritime influence in Brasschaat, Belgium, were observed as case studies. The observed forest management strategies were (i) thinning and group planting of oak saplings (Quercus robur L.) and (ii) clear cut, followed by replanting of young oak. For each stand, all forest C pools (aboveground biomass, belowground biomass, litter, and mineral soil) were determined. Results showed, surprisingly, no significant difference in the whole ecosystem C stock for both forest management strategies after 15 years of management. However, after the clear cut and the new plantation, the C in the top 30 cm layer of the mineral soil increased, while it decreased on the forest floor. For thinning with group planting, the C stocks reduced within the 10–30 cm soil layer without impact on the total soil C. Therefore, the shift in management did result in a different allocation of the belowground C, particularly after a clear cut. The results are not only relevant for the study region but also for managed Scots pine forests in neighboring regions of the Atlantic zone of Western Europe. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Carbon and Water Cycles in Coastal Forests under Climate Change and Variability)

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18 pages, 5516 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Unabated Atmospheric Carbon Losses in a Drowning Wetland Forest of North Carolina: A Point of No Return?

by Maricar Aguilos, Ian Warr, Madison Irving, Olivia Gregg, Stanton Grady, Toby Peele, Asko Noormets, Ge Sun, Ning Liu, Steve McNulty, Forrest Pettay, Shamik Bhattacharya, Skylar Penney, Maccoy Kerrigan, Linqing Yang, Bhaskar Mitra, Prajaya Prajapati, Kevan Minick and John King

Forests 2022, 13(8), 1264; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13081264 - 10 Aug 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2346

Abstract

Coastal wetlands provide the unique biogeochemical functions of storing a large fraction of the terrestrial carbon (C) pool and being among the most productive ecosystems in the world. However, coastal wetlands face numerous natural and anthropogenic disturbances that threaten their ecological integrity and C storage potential. To monitor the C balance of a coastal forested wetland, we established an eddy covariance flux tower in a natural undrained bottomland hardwood forest in eastern North Carolina, USA. We examined the long-term trends (2009–2019) in gross primary productivity (GPP), ecosystem respiration (RE), and the net ecosystem C exchange (NEE) seasonally and inter-annually. We analyzed the response of C fluxes and balance to climatic and hydrologic forcings and examined the possible effects of rising sea levels on the inland groundwater dynamics. Our results show that in 2009, a higher annual GPP (1922 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹) was observed than annual RE (1554 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹), resulting in a net C sink (NEE = −368 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹). However, the annual C balance switched to a net C source in 2010 and onwards, varying from 87 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹ to 759 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹. The multiple effects of air temperature (Tair), net radiation (Rn), groundwater table (GWT) depth, and precipitation (p) explained 66%, 71%, and 29% of the variation in GPP, RE, and NEE, respectively (p < 0.0001). The lowering of GWT (−0.01 cm to −14.26 cm) enhanced GPP and RE by 35% and 28%, respectively. We also observed a significant positive correlation between mean sea level and GWT (R² = 0.11), but not between GWT and p (R² = 0.02). Cumulative fluxes from 2009 to 2019 showed continuing C losses owing to a higher rate of increase of RE than GPP. This study contributes to carbon balance accounting to improve ecosystem models, relating C dynamics to temporal trends in under-represented coastal forested wetlands. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Carbon and Water Cycles in Coastal Forests under Climate Change and Variability)

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16 pages, 6545 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Impacts of Hurricane Michael on Watershed Hydrology: A Case Study in the Southeastern United States

by Elijah Worley, Ning Liu, Ge Sun, Steven P. Norman, William M. Christie, Michael Gavazzi, Johnny Boggs and Steven G. McNulty

Forests 2022, 13(6), 904; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13060904 - 09 Jun 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2244

Abstract

Hurricanes are one of the most significant threats to coastal plain forest ecosystems and urban communities of the southeastern U.S., but their implications for watershed hydrology are unclear. Hurricanes have the potential to alter water balances, causing extensive flooding, biogeochemical cycle disruption, and water quality degradation, saltwater intrusion, and increased nutrient sedimentation export in coastal watersheds. This case study focused on Hurricane Michael, a recent catastrophic event that impacted the Gulf coast, the Florida panhandle, southwestern Georgia, and southeastern Alabama. Through empirical (Double Mass Curve) and process-based ecohydrological modeling (WaSSI model) on long-term streamflow data, we explored whether vegetation damage caused by this hurricane resulted in an increase in streamflow two years after the extreme event. We found that monthly streamflow from the Chipola River watershed with an area of 2023 km² did not change (<6%) appreciably during the first two years following the storm, arguably because only a fraction of the gauged watershed lost substantial tree cover. However, spatially explicit hydrological modeling suggested that several sub-watersheds with the highest decreases in the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) significantly increased their monthly streamflow in 2019 by up to 22%. These modeled streamflow anomalies subsided by the second growing season when vegetation recovered. Overall, this study suggests that changes in vegetation cover after Hurricane Michael did not have lasting impacts on the hydrology of this watershed, and the hydrology of coastal watersheds may be more resilient to hurricane disturbances than previously thought. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Carbon and Water Cycles in Coastal Forests under Climate Change and Variability)

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21 pages, 3478 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of Spatial Variability and Drainage on Extracellular Enzyme Activity in Coastal Freshwater Forested Wetlands of Eastern North Carolina, USA

by Kevan J. Minick, Maricar Aguilos, Xuefeng Li, Bhaskar Mitra, Prajaya Prajapati and John S. King

Forests 2022, 13(6), 861; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13060861 - 31 May 2022

Viewed by 1823

Abstract

Drainage of freshwater wetlands is common in coastal regions, although the effects on microbial extracellular enzyme activity (a key mediator of soil organic matter decomposition) in relation to spatial variability (microtopography and soil depth) are poorly understood. Soils were collected from organic (Oi, Oe, Oa) and mineral (A, AB, B) horizons from a natural and drained coastal forested wetland in North Carolina, USA. Activity of seven enzymes were measured: α-glucosidase (AG), β-glucosidase (BG), cellobiohydrolase (CBH), xylosidase (XYL), phenol oxidase (POX), peroxidase (PER) and N-acetyl glucosamide (NAG). Enzyme activity rates were normalized by soil weight, soil organic C (SOC), and microbial biomass C (MBC). Specific enzyme activity (per SOC or MBC) was more sensitive to drainage and soil depth compared to normalization by soil weight. In Oi and Oa horizons, specific enzyme activity (per MBC) (AG, BG, XYL, POX, PER) was higher in the natural compared to drained wetland but lower (AG, CBH, XYL, POX, PER, NAG) in the AB or B mineral soils. Results from this study indicate that organic soil horizons of natural freshwater wetlands contain a highly active microbial community driven by inputs of plant-derived C, while deeper soils of the drained wetland exhibit higher microbial metabolic activity, which likely plays a role in SOC storage of these systems. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Carbon and Water Cycles in Coastal Forests under Climate Change and Variability)

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19 pages, 10799 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Abandoned Fishpond Reversal to Mangrove Forest: Will the Carbon Storage Potential Match the Natural Stand 30 Years after Reforestation?

by Habagat Mariano, Maricar Aguilos, Frandel Louis Dagoc, Bryan Sumalinab and Ruben Amparado, Jr.

Forests 2022, 13(6), 847; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13060847 - 29 May 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 4357

Abstract

Mangroves are essential carbon reserves, and their role in carbon sequestration is remarkable. However, anthropogenic pressures such as aquaculture development threatened this highly susceptible ecosystem. Thus, the need to rehabilitate abandoned aquaculture ponds is a must to offset the ecological losses over the economic gains derived from these mangrove land-use changes. Thus, we chose a reforestation site of a once heavily utilized fishpond devastated by a tsunami in the late 1970s in Zamboanga del Sur, Philippines. We then established a similar study plot in a nearby natural mangrove forest as a point of reference. We determined the heterogeneity in vegetation and estimated the aboveground and soil carbon storage capacities. We also examined the distinct changes in species composition and zonation from the seaward towards the landward zones. About 30 years after the abandoned fishpond rehabilitation, we found the tree density of the Rhizopora mucronata Lamk. and Avicenia marina (Forsk.) Vierh-dominated reforestation site was higher (271 trees ha⁻¹) compared to that of the Rhizophora apiculata Blume-dominated natural stand (211 trees ha⁻¹) (p < 0.05). The total aboveground biomass at the natural mangrove forest was 202.02 Mg ha⁻¹, which was close to that of the reforestation site (195.19 Mg ha⁻¹) (p > 0.05). The total aboveground C in the natural mangrove forest was 90.52 Mg C ha⁻¹, while that of the reforestation site was 87.84 Mg C ha⁻¹ (p > 0.05). Surprisingly, the overall soil C content at the natural forest of 249.85 Mg C ha⁻¹ was not significantly different from that of the reforestation site with 299.75 Mg C ha⁻¹ (p > 0.05). There was an increasing soil C content trend as the soil got deeper from 0–100 cm (p < 0.05). The zonation patterns established across the landward to seaward zones did not affect the aboveground and soil carbon estimates (p > 0.05). Our study highlights the effectiveness of abandoned fishpond rehabilitation and calls for continuous restoration of the remaining abandoned aquaculture ponds in the country because of their ability to sequester and store carbon. Lastly, their potential to store huge amounts of carbon that will counterbalance anthropogenic CO₂ emissions is likewise highlighted. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Carbon and Water Cycles in Coastal Forests under Climate Change and Variability)

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24 pages, 4570 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Detecting Coastal Wetland Degradation by Combining Remote Sensing and Hydrologic Modeling

by Keqi He, Yu Zhang, Wenhong Li, Ge Sun and Steve McNulty

Forests 2022, 13(3), 411; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13030411 - 03 Mar 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 4036

Abstract

Sea-level rise and climate change stresses pose increasing threats to coastal wetlands that are vital to wildlife habitats, carbon sequestration, water supply, and other ecosystem services with global significance. However, existing studies are limited in individual sites, and large-scale mapping of coastal wetland degradation patterns over a long period is rare. Our study developed a new framework to detect spatial and temporal patterns of coastal wetland degradation by analyzing fine-scale, long-term remotely sensed Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data. Then, this framework was tested to track the degradation of coastal wetlands at the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge (ARNWR) in North Carolina, United States, during the period from 1995 to 2019. We identified six types of coastal wetland degradation in the study area. Most of the detected degradation was located within 2 km from the shoreline and occurred in the past five years. Further, we used a state-of-the-art coastal hydrologic model, PIHM-Wetland, to investigate key hydrologic processes/variables that control the coastal wetland degradation. The temporal and spatial distributions of simulated coastal flooding and saltwater intrusion confirmed the location and timing of wetland degradation detected by remote sensing. The combined method also quantified the possible critical thresholds of water tables for wetland degradation. The remote sensing–hydrologic model integrated scheme proposed in this study provides a new tool for detecting and understanding coastal wetland degradation mechanisms. Our study approach can also be extended to other coastal wetland regions to understand how climate change and sea-level rise impact wetland transformations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Carbon and Water Cycles in Coastal Forests under Climate Change and Variability)

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15 pages, 2496 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Above-and-Belowground Carbon Stocks in Two Contrasting Peatlands in the Philippines

by Joel Orella, Diana Riza Africa, Catherine Hope Bustillo, Noel Pascua, Conrado Marquez, Henry Adornado and Maricar Aguilos

Forests 2022, 13(2), 303; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13020303 - 13 Feb 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3038

Abstract

Although tropical peatlands are huge carbon reservoirs, they are threatened by climate change and anthropogenic disturbances. Here, we assessed two contrasting peatland sites in the Philippines in terms of aboveground biomass and carbon content, soil carbon stock, and CO₂ fluxes in the soils. The Caimpugan peatland in Agusan del Sur was considered the ‘undisturbed’ site, while the Bambanin peatland in Mindoro Oriental was the ‘disturbed’ site. The aboveground biomass at the undisturbed site was 35.8 ± 30.0 Mg ha⁻¹) while at the disturbed site, it was 2.0 Mg ha⁻¹ ± 1.9 Mg ha⁻¹. The aboveground C content at the undisturbed site varied from 1.29 Mg C ha⁻¹ to 37.2 Mg C ha^−1, while the disturbed site only ranged from 0.1 Mg C ha⁻¹ to 2.1 Mg C ha⁻¹. A trend of increasing soil carbon content as the soil gets deeper was observed in both sites. At the undisturbed site, the average soil carbon content was 750 ± 710 Mg ha⁻¹ and 595 ± 406 Mg ha⁻¹ at the disturbed site. In terms of soil carbon emission, the undisturbed site had 3.6 ± 3.0 g C m⁻²d⁻¹ and was only one-third the emission rate at the disturbed site (11.2 ± 6.4 g C m⁻²d⁻¹). Our study highlights the dire condition of a disturbed peatland in terms of vegetation/soil carbon dynamics. We underscored the need to address the pressing issues on peatland drainage, agricultural activities, and human settlement within the peatland sites geared towards effectively managing this important carbon reservoir in the Philippines. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Carbon and Water Cycles in Coastal Forests under Climate Change and Variability)

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19 pages, 4926 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Ecosystem Productivity and Evapotranspiration Are Tightly Coupled in Loblolly Pine (Pinus taeda L.) Plantations along the Coastal Plain of the Southeastern U.S.

by Maricar Aguilos, Ge Sun, Asko Noormets, Jean-Christophe Domec, Steven McNulty, Michael Gavazzi, Prajaya Prajapati, Kevan J. Minick, Bhaskar Mitra and John King

Forests 2021, 12(8), 1123; https://doi.org/10.3390/f12081123 - 22 Aug 2021

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 2873

Abstract

Forest water use efficiency (WUE), the ratio of gross primary productivity (GPP) to evapotranspiration (ET), is an important variable to understand the coupling between water and carbon cycles, and to assess resource use, ecosystem resilience, and commodity production. Here, we determined WUE for managed loblolly pine plantations over the course of a rotation on the coastal plain of North Carolina in the eastern U.S. We found that the forest annual GPP, ET, and WUE increased until age ten, which stabilized thereafter. WUE varied annually (2–44%), being higher at young plantation (YP, 3.12 ± 1.20 g C kg⁻¹ H₂O d⁻¹) compared to a mature plantation (MP, 2.92 ± 0.45 g C kg⁻¹ H₂O d⁻¹), with no distinct seasonal patterns. Stand age was strongly correlated with ET (R² = 0.71) and GPP (R² = 0.64). ET and GPP were tightly coupled (R² = 0.86). Radiation and air temperature significantly affected GPP and ET (R² = 0.71 − R² = 0.82) at a monthly scale, but not WUE. Drought affected WUE (R² = 0.35) more than ET (R² = 0.25) or GPP (R² = 0.07). A drought enhanced GPP in MP (19%) and YP (11%), but reduced ET 7% and 19% in MP and YP, respectively, resulting in a higher WUE (27–32%). Minor seasonal and interannual variation in forest WUE of MP (age > 10) suggested that forest functioning became stable as stands matured. We conclude that carbon and water cycles in loblolly pine plantations are tightly coupled, with different characteristics in different ages and hydrologic regimes. A stable WUE suggests that the pine ecosystem productivity can be readily predicted from ET and vice versa. The tradeoffs between water and carbon cycling should be recognized in forest management to achieve multiple ecosystem services (i.e., water supply and carbon sequestration). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Carbon and Water Cycles in Coastal Forests under Climate Change and Variability)

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15 pages, 1303 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperEditor’s ChoiceReview

Impacts of Climate Change on Blue Carbon Stocks and Fluxes in Mangrove Forests

by Daniel Michael Alongi

Forests 2022, 13(2), 149; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13020149 - 19 Jan 2022

Cited by 30 | Viewed by 7614

Abstract

Mangroves store blue carbon (693 Mg C_ORG ha⁻¹) disproportionate to their small area, mainly (74%) in deep soil horizons. Global stock estimates for mangroves (5.23–8.63 Pg C_ORG) are equivalent to 15–24% of those in the tropical coastal ocean. Carbon burial in mangrove soils averages 184 g C_ORG m⁻² a⁻¹ with global estimates (9.6–15.8 Tg C_ORG a⁻¹) reflecting their importance in carbon sequestration. Extreme weather events result in carbon stock losses and declines in carbon cycling and export. Increased frequency and ferocity of storms result in increasingly negative responses with increasing strength. Increasing temperatures result in increases in carbon stocks and cycling up to a critical threshold, while positive/negative responses will likely result from increases/decreases in rainfall. Forest responses to sea-level rise (SLR) and rising CO₂ are species- and site-specific and complex due to interactive effects with other drivers (e.g., temperature, salinity). The SLR critical threshold is ≈ 6 mm a⁻¹ indicating survival only under very low-low CO₂ emissions scenarios. Under low coastal squeeze, landward migration could result in sequestration and CO₂ losses of 1.5 and −1.1 Pg C with net stock gains and losses (−0.3 to +0.5 Pg C) and CO₂ losses (−3.4 Pg) under high coastal squeeze. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Carbon and Water Cycles in Coastal Forests under Climate Change and Variability)

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