Ghost Forests: How Rising Seas Are Killing Southern U.S. Woodlands

Author Roger Drouin recently toured the Preserve guided by David Kaplan and Katie Glodzik from the University of Florida Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences. Using information from his visit he discusses the effects of rising sea levels on Gulf coastal forests in this article in Yale Environment 360.

E360 REPORT – Ghost Forests: How Rising Seas Are Killing Southern U.S. Woodlands

A steady increase in sea levels is pushing saltwater into U.S. wetlands, killing trees from Florida to as far north as New Jersey. But with sea level projected to rise by as much as six feet this century, the destruction of coastal forests is expected to become a worsening problem worldwide.

Yale Environment 360 is a publication of the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies.

Coastal Forests Retreat As Sea Levels Rise

In this article in The Palmetto — Florida Native Plant Society, Francis E. “Jack” Putz discusses the effects of rising sea levels on Gulf coastal forests. The Palmetto · Winter 2012

“The effects of sea level rise are often difficult to differentiate from the myriad of other drivers of coastal change, but the expanses of dead trees looming over Gulf Coast marshes is compelling evidence. The story unfolds very clearly in Yankeetown’s Withlacoochee Gulf Preserve…”