AUTHOR=Huang Zijian , Li Zhen , Wang Minhuang , Zhu Dehuang , Yang Qiong , Yu Shixiao 

TITLE=Coastal nutrient enrichments facilitated reproductive output in exotic mangrove species over two decades

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Forests and Global Change

VOLUME=Volume 6 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/forests-and-global-change/articles/10.3389/ffgc.2023.1183432

DOI=10.3389/ffgc.2023.1183432

ISSN=2624-893X

ABSTRACT=Litterfall may facilitate the outperformance of exotic species by inducing better resource acquisition and reproductive performance. Yet, it remains insufficiently investigated what drivers determined litterfall pattern in exotic and native species due to the lack of long-term observations. Here, we employed empirical dynamic modeling on a two-decade-long litterfall observation (1999-2019) in a subtropical mangrove forest in Shenzhen China to evaluate the relative importance of environmental drivers on different species. We found mangrove leaf litterfall in both exotic and native species was strongly altered by temperature, and the causal relationship was stronger in the dominant exotic species Sonneratia apetala compared to native species. However, the main driver on reproductive output differed largely between exotic and native species; temperature was the main cause on native reproduction but coastal nutrients instead drove reproductive output in exotic species. Our study highlighted that high nutrient availability in Shenzhen Bay in the past decade allowed exotic species S. apetala to gain better reproductive output than native species. We imply that enriched nutrients in coastal water likely contributed to exotic dominance in China’s coastal mangrove forest.