Physics of Mangroves: Species Diversity in Urban Mangrove Habitats

Mangroves are coastal trees found at the interface between land and sea. They are essential for mitigating storm surge, especially their roots, which are the plant's primary defense against currents and wave energy. In South Florida, mangroves are important nursery habitats for fish and other organisms vital to commercial and recreational fishing industries. Urban mangroves such as those in Miami are exposed to higher levels of environmental contaminants, including microplastics, which can negatively affect their roots and structure. The loss or degradation of this structure can be detrimental to the species that rely on it. We are measuring the subtidal biodiversity among the mangrove roots along Miami’s coast in heavily urban and more remote areas using Baited Remote Underwater Video (BRUV), a camera mounted on an aluminum frame with a bait crate. Biodiversity data will enable us to assess the impact of mangrove root structure degradation, in part due to environmental contaminants, on the fish and invertebrate communities that rely on the habitat. In the future, we will compare the efficacy of BRUVs for biodiversity assessment with that of the Aqua MiR Robot, developed by the Goldman group at Georgia Tech, in some of the same locations. This research is part of a larger project that focuses on the physics of mangrove root vitality in urban environments.