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Mangrove retreat with rising sea-level, Bermuda
Citation
Ellison, JC, Mangrove retreat with rising sea-level, Bermuda, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 37, (1) pp. 75-87. ISSN 0272-7714 (1993) [Refereed Article]
Copyright Statement
Copyright 1993 Academic Pres
DOI: doi:10.1006/ecss.1993.1042
Abstract
Low island mangroves keep up with slow sea-level rise by peat accumulation. Holocene stratigraphic records show that they maintain the same pace as sea-level rise at rates up to 9 cm/100 years. Tide gauge records from Bermuda since 1932 show sea-level rise at a rate of 28 cm/100 years. The largest mangrove area (6·26 acres) at Hungry Bay has for the last 2000 years been building peat at a rate of 8·5 to 10·6 cm/100 years. Retreat of the seaward edge has caused loss of 2·24 acres of mangroves, commencing in the last few hundred years, with a second dieback between 1900 and 1947, and a third dieback in the last decade. The substrate elevation of the seaward margin of mangroves is below mean sea-level, the normal lower limit for mangroves. Present dieback shows problems of erosion indicating that the Bruun Rule of beach erosion with sea-level rise is also appropriate for mangrove swamps. Stratigraphy shows that before 4000 BP sea-level rose at a rate of 25 cm/100 years, from 4000 to 1000 years BP the rate of sea-level rise declined to 6 cm/100 years during which time mangroves established, and in the last 1000 years there was an increase to 14·3 cm/100 years, during which time the mangroves died back. This study indicates that low island mangroves will experience problems with the rates of sea-level rise predicted for the next 50 years.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | mangrove swamps, accretion, erosion, sea-level rise, Bermuda |
| Research Division: | Earth Sciences |
| Research Group: | Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience |
| Research Field: | Quaternary Environments |
| Objective Division: | Environment |
| Objective Group: | Climate and Climate Change |
| Objective Field: | Global Effects of Climate Change and Variability (excl. Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica and the South Pacific) (excl. Social Impacts) |
| UTAS Author: | Ellison, JC (Associate Professor Joanna Ellison) |
| ID Code: | 132755 |
| Year Published: | 1993 |
| Web of Science® Times Cited: | 120 |
| Deposited By: | Geography and Spatial Science |
| Deposited On: | 2019-05-20 |
| Last Modified: | 2019-06-12 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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