Departmental Seminar

Mangroves thrive along coastlines and intertidal zones, where water availability is rarely a limiting factor. They serve as critical carbon sinks, sequestering carbon at rates disproportionate to their extent. However, during dry periods, mangrove ecosystems function more like semi-arid systems than well-watered forests. Modeling mangrove water and carbon dynamics is vital for robust coastal climate models, especially with rising sea levels and changes to hydroclimates affecting freshwater inputs.

This study, focused on the mangrove species Avicennia germinans, combined greenhouse and field experiments to explore responses to varying humidity and salinity. Water uptake in mangroves depends on salinity levels and the energy required to establish osmotic gradients for water absorption. We assessed sap flux, water potential, hydraulic conductivity, stomatal conductance, and photosynthesis under high vapor pressure deficits and salinity. The data informed a new plant hydraulics model, FETCH-osmo, which mechanistically incorporates osmoregulation in halophytes.

FETCH-osmo enables analysis of mangrove responses to changing humidity and salinity gradients due to disturbances like sea-level rise, precipitation changes, inundation, and elevated CO2. This model will ultimately integrate into the FATES module within E3SM. (Co-Author: Maria Ulatowski)