Characterizing disturbance interactions between hurricanes, wildfire, and harmful algal blooms (HABs) on the Alabama-Florida (AL-FL) Gulf Coast

In the Alabama-Florida (AL-FL) Gulf Coast region, ecological disturbances such as hurricanes, wildfires, and harmful algal blooms can interact and have direct impacts on ecosystem health and services. Further, this region is the primary biodiversity hotspot of the continental United States, hosting the greatest total numbers of species and endemic species of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, freshwater fish, and trees. Human impacts on landscapes and the climate system are also increasing ecological vulnerability to these disturbances, which can degrade ecosystem health, wildlife habitat, and water quality. This project focuses on the impacts of multiple interacting disturbances on ecosystems, as well as how disturbances interact across the boundaries between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, which have not been studied in detail before. Further, this project will provide new science to guide conservation of the biodiversity and endemic species of this region. In addition to funding new science, this project will also support the training of multiple undergraduate and graduate students, and broader stakeholder education through Auburn University’s Extension System. By using paleoenvironmental approaches, the project will resolve long-term environmental histories of disturbances (hurricanes, wildfires, and harmful algal blooms) and ecosystem diversity and state to resolve the complex relationships between disturbances and ecosystems of the AL-FL Gulf Coast. Project objectives are to: (1) Reconstruct hurricane and wildfire occurrence to identify relationships between these terrestrial disturbances; (2) Reconstruct harmful algal blooms (HABs) to characterize relationships between aquatic and terrestrial disturbances; and (3) Reconstruct terrestrial and aquatic community changes to characterize how the interactions of episodic disturbances (hurricanes, wildfire, HABs) impact community state. This multi-disturbance reconstruction approach is unique to the project and will enable novel insights into the long-term disturbance interactions and ecosystem impacts. The project will enable undergraduate and graduate students to obtain important research experience, and will facilitate public outreach and education. This project is jointly funded by the NSF Ecosystem Science Cluster and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.