ABSTRACT
Worldwide, mangrove forests are significant ecosystems that are found between the coastal lowlands and the ocean in both subtropical and tropical regions (Giri et al., 2011). They are important to both human society and the natural world as they provide multiple benefits such as stabilizing the shoreline and protecting wildlife and settlements from large storms; they are even capable of storing large quantities of carbon. Mangroves have proven to be reliable in mitigating the amount of coastal and inland storm surge flooding worldwide, along with limiting the damage caused by tropical cyclones as at many times they act as the first line of land-based defense against ocean-based flooding (Beever et al., 2016). Multiple studies have illustrated that the presence of mangroves can help reduce the water height and velocity of the storm surge caused by hurricanes and other natural disasters (Marois and Mitsch, 2015; Giri, 2016). Although mangroves provide plenty of beneficial goods and services, they are under threat by both human activities and natural disasters, especially with sea level rise and tropical cyclones. In the United States, the Florida Everglades contains the largest contiguous tracts of mangroves, most of them located within Everglades National Park. These mangroves are extremely vulnerable to hurricanes because Florida has been ranked as the number one location in which hurricanes made landfall in the USA since 1851 (NOAA/FAQ, 2019). Intensive storms can uproot trees, break branches, defoliate canopies, and alter forest structure and recovery (Smith et al., 1994, 2009; Doyle et al., 2003). In extreme cases, tropical cyclones can lead to a complete removal or large-scale mangrove loss and peat collapse (Cahoon et al., 2003), as well as long-term changes in mangroves (Whelan et al., 2009). A recent study of the effects of hurricanes Wilma and Irma, which made landfalls in South Florida, stated that these two hurricanes caused higher water levels, deposited sediment on the mangroves, and damaged the plants, which all hindered their growth (Lucas et al., 2019). According to Beever et al. (2016) and a recent review from Sippo et al. (2018), tropical cyclones are the primary natural factor that cause excessive mangrove damage worldwide. The increasing frequency, intensity, and destructiveness of cyclones, as well as other climate relevant events, have the potential to directly influence mangrove mortality and recovery.
