Mangroves marching northward: the impacts of rising seas and temperatures on ecosystems at Kennedy Space Center

The climate change-induced expansion of mangroves into salt marshes could significantly alter the carbon (C) storage capacity of coastal wetlands, which have the highest average C storage per land area among unmanaged terrestrial ecosystems. Mangrove range expansion is occurring globally, but little is known about how these rapid climate-driven shifts may alter ecosystem C storage. Here, we quantify current C stocks in ecotonal wetlands across gradients of marsh- to mangrove-dominance, and use unique chronological maps of vegetation cover to estimate C Stock changes from 2003 to 2010 in a 567-km² wildlife refuge in the mangrove-salt marsh ecotone. This data release is associated with the following publication in Estuaries and Coasts: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-015-9993-8.