Researchers examined how Hurricane Irma fertilized mangroves in the Florida Coastal Everglades by comparing storm deposits and nutrient inputs across mangrove sites, and found that hurricane-induced mineral inputs to near-coast mangroves enhanced soil phosphorus concentrations and plant phosphorus uptake, promoted soil elevation gains relative to sea level, and facilitated forest recovery, suggesting that the natural phosphorus fertilization mechanism of hurricanes may be an adaptation of neotropical mangroves to phosphorus limitation and rising sea levels.
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Article #19-08597: "Hurricanes fertilize mangrove forests in the Gulf of Mexico (Florida Everglades, USA)," by Edward Castañeda-Moya et al.
MEDIA CONTACT: Edward Castañeda-Moya, Florida International University, Miami, Florida; tel: 337-322-5158; email: <ecastane@fiu.edu>