Invaders control on post-disturbance succession in

coastal mangroves

Mangrove trees are greatly affected by large disturbances due to their large stature, but
mangrove associates or non-mangrove species are relatively less affected by such disturbances
because of their smaller stature. Studying the mangroves of Florida, Schmitz et al. (1993) also
reported a similar role of the invasive species E. crassipes in habitat modification and physical
barrier to propagule dispersal, causing reduced community-level establishment of large-seeded
mangrove species (see Gordon 1998). Surprisingly, the dimension of biological invasion remains
largely unaccounted for in understanding post-disturbance vegetation succession in mangroves.
The goal of this contribution is to highlight the effects of biological invasion on post-disturbance
succession in mangroves. We propose conceptual models of mangrove succession under normal
disturbance regime (regular tidal flooding and cyclones and infrequent large flooding and
cyclones) and recently experienced increased frequency of large disturbances (frequent large
flooding and cyclones).

A CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF MANGROVE SUCCESSION

Vegetation development in normal conditions

It is considered a mature mangrove stand comprising a mangrove tree species, Sonneratia

apetala Buch.-Ham (hereafter referred to as mangrove species) and a mangroves-associate
species, D. trifoliata (hereafter referred to as mangroveassociate species), and limit the scope of
this model to processes relevant to increasing abundance of mangrove-associate species in
mangroves. Vegetation development and recovery following large disturbances Large
disturbances (cyclones, hurricanes and high flooding) cause death and damage of mature
mangrove (dm) and mangrove-associate species (da). Only survived adults (1 _ dm and 1 _ da)
can produce seeds/propagules.

METHODS: A SCENARIO TESTING EXPERIMENT

 The research considered a hypothetical initial condition (Table 1) and estimated
proportion of mangrove species in recovered mangroves in the following year of a large
disturbance it considered two different scenarios of affected vegetation: (1) mangrove and
mangrove-associate species are equally affected (dm = da) and (2) mangrove species are two,
three and four times more affected than mangroveassociate species. Finally, we computed the
proportion of mangrove species in recovered mangroves when mangrove species simultaneously
experience higher (twofour times) proportion of affected vegetation (d) and higher dispersal
barrier (b) than mangrove-associate species.

RESULTS

When mangrove and mangrove-associate species were equally affected by large disturbances
(dm = 2d), mangrove species dominated (proportion of mangrove; >0.90), and this pattern was
consistent for most ranges of dispersal barrier by invasive species. when mangrove species were
more affected than mangrove-associate species (dm > da), the proportion of mangrove species
decreased but remained high enough to maintain the dominance. for mangroves than mangrove-
associate species, a relatively small disturbance affected the dominance of mangroves greatly
compared to when each of these factors acted alone.

Coclusion

Large disturbances affect mature trees more than the small-stature non-tree (shrubs, herbs and
climbers) species creating a larger propagule shortage for mangrove tree species than non-tree
species. Secondly, large disturbances facilitate invasion of free-floating aquatics, which may
interfere with the flow-facilitated propagule dispersal and seedling establishment of mangrove
species.