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Patterns of root biomass, productivity, and turnover in riverine and scrub mangroves post-Hurricane Wilma in the Everglades, Florida, USA, 2012-2013

Mangrove root biomass, productivity, and turnover in the shallow (0-45 cm depth) root zone were estimated at Florida Coastal Everglades Long Term Ecological Research (FCE-LTER) Program Shark River (SRS4, SRS5, SRS6) and Taylor River (TS/Ph6b, TS/Ph7b) mangrove sites during 2012-2013 following Hurricane Wilma’s impacts in October 2005. Root biomass was estimated at all sites in May 2012 with a PVC coring device (10.2 cm diameter x 45 cm length) using the same sampling protocol previously published for the study area (Castañeda-Moya et al. 2011). After collection, root cores were processed individually and initially rinsed with water through a 1-mm screen mesh to remove soil particles. Live roots were separated manually based on their buoyancy, turgor, and color (Castañeda-Moya et al. 2011; Cormier et al. 2015; Medina-Calderon et al. 2021). Live roots were further sorted into three size diameter classes including fine (<2 mm), small (2-5 mm), and coarse (5-20 mm). Roots greater than 20 mm in diameter were not included in this study due to sampling limitations (i.e., core area). All root samples were oven-dried at 60°C to a constant mass and weighed to estimate root biomass (g m-2). Root productivity was estimated with the ingrowth core technique (Vogt et al., 1998) using the same sampling protocol previously published for the study area (Castañeda-Moya et al. 2011). Ingrowth cores (10.2 cm diameter x 45 cm length) were made of synthetic material (3 mm mesh) and filled with root-free commercial sphagnum peat moss. This material has similar soil properties (i.e., bulk density, organic matter content, total C and N) as mangrove peat in our study sites. Ingrowth cores were installed in each of the cored holes formed during sampling of root biomass. At each site, ingrowth cores were deployed vertically into the soil to a depth of 45 cm and retrieved one year later (June 2013). Root growth within the ingrowth core was used to estimate annual root production (g m-2 yr-1) in