IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcli/v9y2019i6d10.1038_s41558-019-0488-7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Sea-level driven land conversion and the formation of ghost forests

Author

Listed:
  • Matthew L. Kirwan

    (College of William and Mary)

  • Keryn B. Gedan

    (George Washington University)

Abstract

Ghost forests created by the submergence of low-lying land are one of the most striking indicators of climate change along the Atlantic coast of North America. Although dead trees at the margin of estuaries were described as early as 1910, recent research has led to new recognition that the submergence of terrestrial land is geographically widespread, ecologically and economically important, and globally relevant to the survival of coastal wetlands in the face of rapid sea level rise. This emerging understanding has in turn generated widespread interest in the physical and ecological mechanisms influencing the extent and pace of upland to wetland conversion. Choices between defending the coast from sea level rise and facilitating ecosystem transgression will play a fundamental role in determining the fate and function of low-lying coastal land.

Suggested Citation

  • Matthew L. Kirwan & Keryn B. Gedan, 2019. "Sea-level driven land conversion and the formation of ghost forests," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 9(6), pages 450-457, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcli:v:9:y:2019:i:6:d:10.1038_s41558-019-0488-7
    DOI: 10.1038/s41558-019-0488-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-019-0488-7
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41558-019-0488-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Maricar Aguilos & Charlton Brown & Kevan Minick & Milan Fischer & Omoyemeh J. Ile & Deanna Hardesty & Maccoy Kerrigan & Asko Noormets & John King, 2021. "Millennial-Scale Carbon Storage in Natural Pine Forests of the North Carolina Lower Coastal Plain: Effects of Artificial Drainage in a Time of Rapid Sea Level Rise," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-19, November.
    2. Leonard O. Ohenhen & Manoochehr Shirzaei & Chandrakanta Ojha & Matthew L. Kirwan, 2023. "Hidden vulnerability of US Atlantic coast to sea-level rise due to vertical land motion," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, December.
    3. Samuel Asumadu Sarkodie & Maruf Yakubu Ahmed & Phebe Asantewaa Owusu, 2022. "Global adaptation readiness and income mitigate sectoral climate change vulnerabilities," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-17, December.
    4. Rebekah Grieger & Samantha J. Capon & Wade L. Hadwen & Brendan Mackey, 2020. "Between a bog and a hard place: a global review of climate change effects on coastal freshwater wetlands," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 163(1), pages 161-179, November.
    5. Rachael Sacatelli & Marjorie Kaplan & Glen Carleton & Richard G. Lathrop, 2023. "Coastal Forest Dieback in the Northeast USA: Potential Mechanisms and Management Responses," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-18, April.
    6. Lindsey S. Smart & Jelena Vukomanovic & Paul J. Taillie & Kunwar K. Singh & Jordan W. Smith, 2021. "Quantifying Drivers of Coastal Forest Carbon Decline Highlights Opportunities for Targeted Human Interventions," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-22, July.
    7. Kendall Valentine & Ellen R. Herbert & David C. Walters & Yaping Chen & Alexander J. Smith & Matthew L. Kirwan, 2023. "Climate-driven tradeoffs between landscape connectivity and the maintenance of the coastal carbon sink," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcli:v:9:y:2019:i:6:d:10.1038_s41558-019-0488-7. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.