Interactive effects of salinity and nutrients: linking physiological processes with patterns in mang

Mangrove forests are of major ecological and economic importance, yet little is known of the mechanisms underpinning patterns in productivity. The proposed project will determine how nitrogen nutrition affects 1) the leaf level compromise between photosynthetic nitrogen use efficiency and water use efficiency, 2) the functional coordination between leaf gas exchange and plant hydraulics, and 3) the patterns in carbon gain, allocation and growth of the mangrove, Avicennia marina, with variation in salinity and aridity. These aims are fundamental to understanding constraints on mangrove growth and productivity, and managing mangrove resources with change in climate and increasing influx of nutrients to the coastal zone.