Open AccessRelict inland mangrove ecosystem reveals Last Interglacial sea levels
Author(s) -
Octavio AburtoOropeza,
Carlos Manuel Burelo Ramos,
Exequiel Ezcurra,
Paula Ezcurra,
Claudia L. Henriquez,
Sula Vanderplank,
Felipe Zapata
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.2024518118
Subject(s) - mangrove , ecosystem , seascape , pleistocene , ecology , interglacial , biota , geography , marine ecosystem , glacial period , oceanography , geology , habitat , paleontology , biology , archaeology
Significance With geological sea-level fluctuations driven by climate change, the distribution of mangrove forests has expanded and contracted through time. We studied an inland, isolated mangrove forest located 170 km away from the nearest coastline in the interior of the rainforests of the Yucatan Peninsula (Mexico). Combining multiple lines of evidence, we demonstrate that this extant forest is a relict from a past, warmer world when relative sea levels were 6 to 9 m higher than at the present. Our finding highlights the extensive landscape impacts of past climate change on the world’s coastline and opens opportunities to better understand future scenarios of relative sea level rise.