A survey of Red Mangrove Rhizophora mangle prop root community diversity along a latitudinal gradient

Climate change is causing shifts in species geographic distributions. This trend is seen
throughout the globe but the impact is especially noticeable in marine environments, which are
highly sensitive to phenological and ecological alterations. Here, systemic shifts have cascading
effects on the food web, productivity, and event timing. Throughout the tropics and the
subtropics, mangrove trees act as the primary foundation species that dominate the intertidal
zone. In particular, red mangroves Rhizophora mangle play a crucial role by acting as substrate
for sessile species within their ecosystems. In these ecosystems, secondary foundation species
that can colonize the prop roots of the red mangroves thereby further affecting the structure of
the community. The original habitat architecture limits species variety and the effectiveness of
species to utilize the space. Habitat architecture is strongly influenced by the foundation species
that form the base for community structure. Investigating the connections between a primary
foundation species, secondary foundation species, and the resulting biodiversity of sessile
species is critical to understanding the variability of the ecosystem. Association with certain
foundation species may provide a more positive environment for certain taxa than others and
thus ease stressors that otherwise could functionally eliminate a species from the ecosystem. In
addition, these associations can have cascading effects on neighboring species and neighboring
ecosystems. Here, we conducted a presence/absence survey from Key West to the Kennedy
Space Center to identify the species that utilized mangrove prop roots as habitat, their
associations, and distributions.