‘Ghost forests’ are increasingly widespread in America

Forests of bald cypress trees (Taxodium distichum) along the coast of the Albemarle-Pamlico Peninsula, North Carolina, turned more brown this year, although in 2005 the area was still green, Newsweek reported on October 30.

“Ghost forests” are coastal forests where trees die due to rising sea levels, leading to saltwater intrusion and erosion. Saltwater from the ocean contaminates the groundwater these forests need, affecting soil chemistry and tree health, gradually killing them, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). ). The dead trees eventually fall and decompose, but while still standing, they look like eerie zombies amid the surrounding lush landscape.

“The closer the forest is to sea level, the higher the risk of trees dying and ghost forests appearing,” said Xi Yang, an environmental scientist at the University of Virginia.
Ghost forests are popping up around North Carolina and the US east coast, affecting many plant species, from cypress to pine. The area affected by these dead trees is increasing rapidly.

According to research in the journal Ecological Applications in 2021, 11% of forest land in North Carolina’s largest coastal wildlife refuge became ghost forest between 1985 and 2019. “Formation of this transition state of ghost forest peaked in 2011 – 2012, after Hurricane Irene and a 5-year drought, with 4,500 ± 990 hectares of ghost forest formed,” the research team wrote.

Ghost forests spread as sea levels rose worldwide due to rising global temperatures and melting polar ice caps. In particular, along the east coast of the United States, sea level rise appears to be exacerbated by combination with land subsidence. Sea levels in North Carolina are rising three times faster than the worldwide average, reaching 3 – 4 mm per year.

Coastal forests act as natural buffers, protecting inland areas from storm surges and erosion. This means that the loss of coastal forests makes nearby communities more vulnerable to damage. In addition, the spread of ghost forests in North Carolina’s bald cypress forests is also killing some of the oldest trees in the eastern United States.

“You can see the impact of climate change colliding with human development in satellite images like this one. Over time, marshes change location as sea levels rise, but there is no place Let the cypress forests move. They are surrounded by agricultural land or other developments. Therefore, these iconic wetlands are being squeezed and dying en masse,” ecologist Emily Bernhardt from Duke University shared.