Will mangrove forests survive sea level rise caused by anthropogenic climate change?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.58445/rars.185Keywords:
Mangrove forest, Sea level rise, climate changeAbstract
Mangroves, forests that grow in coastal zones, provide many benefits to humans and the environment. They are some of the oldest forests in the world, having persisted through environmental changes over millennia. A key factor of their survivability is peat accretion, a process in which mangrove soil accumulates in layers in response to rising sea levels. As ocean levels rise, water currents transport sediment to mangrove forests, which accumulates in the soil along with decomposing organic matter to form peat. Newly formed layers of peat increase soil elevations, and mangrove forests continue to grow at these higher elevations. Most records of peat accretion are within the context of historical sea level rise caused by natural climate change. Only in the past few centuries have sea levels risen at unnatural rates, caused by human impacts on climate change. This paper aims to understand how contemporary changes in sea level will affect the process of peat accretion in mangrove forests. Specifically, whether mangrove forests will survive anthropogenic sea level rise is addressed by comparing current peat accretion rates found in the literature to projected future sea level rise rates. Mangrove forests’ short-term survival is variable, but accretion will inevitably fall behind sea level rise in the future if climate change is not addressed, after which mangrove forests will be forced inland. By addressing these and similar problems faced by mangrove forests, we will gain a better understanding of actions to take to protect mangrove forests from unprecedented sea level rise.
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