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Wetland Ecosystems Research Lab

Featured Project: Coral Gables

Coastal wetlands provide essential direct livelihood services to millions of people, as well as critical regulating services such as maintenance of water quality, protection from storms and erosion, and carbon sequestration. Measuring the vertical movement of the coastal wetland surface and its constituent processes, and relative local sea-level rise (SLR) is necessary to determine whether a wetland can keep pace with SLR.

Tidal data can assist in understanding localized flooding associated with king tide flooding and sea-level rise. These data are an important resource for hurricane preparations and for recreational use about boat clearance through rivers and canals. LEARN MORE

About the Lab

Our research focuses on the ecology of wetland ecosystems. Much of our research is conducted in the Everglades, a subtropical wetland in south Florida. Ecosystems where we work include tree islands, mangrove forests, freshwater and estuarine marshes and tidal creeks. Our work integrates hydrology, plant ecology and biogeochemistry to understand ecosystem-level structure, process and change in the Everglades. We can use this information to monitor the response of Everglades ecosystems to large-scale changes including management actions undertaken as part of Everglades Restoration and sea level rise. We also participate in and conduct research as part of ongoing collaborative projects in Panama and Bolivia.

Recent Publications

Hurricanes fertilize mangrove forests in the Gulf of Mexico (Florida Everglades, USA)

Castañeda-Moya, E., V.H. Rivera-Monroy, R.M. Chambers, X. Zhao, L. Lamb-Wotton, A. Gorsky, E.E. Gaiser, T.G. Troxler, J.S. Kominoski, and M. Hiatt. 2020. Hurricanes fertilize mangrove forests in the Gulf of Mexico (Florida Everglades, USA). PNAS 117(9): 4831-4841.

The State of Coastal Wetlands Carbon Science, Practice and Policy.

Troxler, T., Kennedy, H., Crooks, S., Sutton-Grier, A. 2019. Introduction of Coastal Wetlands into the IPCC Greenhouse Gas Inventory Methodological Guidance. In A Blue Carbon Primer: The State of Coastal Wetlands Carbon Science, Practice and Policy. L Windham-Myers, S Crooks, TG Troxler (Eds). CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL. 480p.

Coastal wetland management as a contribution to the US National Greenhouse Gas Inventory.

Crooks, S., A. Sutton-Grier, T. Troxler, B. Bernal, N. Herold, T. Wirth. 2018. Coastal wetland management as a contribution to the US National Greenhouse Gas Inventory. Nature-Climate Change 8-1109-1112.

Our Team

Tiffany Troxler

P.I.

About Tiffany

Edward Castaneda

P.I.

About Edward

Emily Standen

Lab Manager

About Emily

Marbelys Garriga

Ph.D. Research Assistant

About Marbelys

Courtney Moore

M.S. Research Assistant

About Courtney

Luke Lamb-Wotton

Ph.D. Research Assistant

About Luke

Hailey Lazzaroni

M.S. Research Assistant

About Hailey

Caitlin Reisa

Research Technician

About Caitlin

Lauren DeVito

Ph.D. Student

About Lauren

Aida Stevenson

Resilience & Sustainability Analyst – Sea Level Solutions Center

About Aida

Brooke Enright

Research Analyst

About Brooke

Vanessa Lundsten

Research Technician

About Vanessa

Rachel Stovall

Ph.D. Research Assistant

About Rachel