“Thanks to the generous support of the Wetland Foundation, I was able to successfully complete two field experiments at Honeymoon Island State Park, FL during the fall of 2017 examining the recruitment dynamics of an expanding Avicennia germinans population. My first experiment examined how the intertidal position of A. germinans parental trees influenced the frequency of A. germinans dispersal direction and whether the tidal position origin of trees from which propagules abscise influenced propagule dispersal direction and distance.
My second field experiment examined how the parental tree origin tidal position of A. germinans propagules influenced establishment success, establishment rate, and post-establishment growth rate. A small-scale reciprocal transplant experiment was conducted between A. germinans propagules of lower intertidal (LI) and middle intertidal (MI) position, where propagules were individually tethered and placed in one of the two treatment tidal positions.
The financial help received from the Wetland Foundation was instrumental to the success of these two field experiments as it allowed me to purchase all experimental materials used. Without the support of the Wetland Foundation Field Travel Grant Type I, this research would not have been possible.”