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Palynological reconstruction of environmental changes in coastal wetlands of the Florida Everglades since the mid-Holocene.
- Source :
-
Quaternary Research . May2015, Vol. 83 Issue 3, p449-458. 10p. - Publication Year :
- 2015
-
Abstract
- Palynological, loss-on-ignition, and X-ray fluorescence data from a 5.25 m sediment core from a mangrove forest at the mouth of the Shark River Estuary in the southwestern Everglades National Park, Florida were used to reconstruct changes occurring in coastal wetlands since the mid-Holocene. This multi-proxy record contains the longest paleoecological history to date in the southwestern Everglades. The Shark River Estuary basin was formed ~ 5700 cal yr BP in response to increasing precipitation. Initial wetlands were frequently-burned short-hydroperiod prairies, which transitioned into long-hydroperiod prairies with sloughs in which peat deposits began to accumulate continuously about 5250 cal yr BP. Our data suggest that mangrove communities started to appear after ~ 3800 cal yr BP; declines in the abundance of charcoal suggested gradual replacement of fire-dominated wetlands by mangrove forest over the following 2650 yr. By ~ 1150 cal yr BP, a dense Rhizophora mangle dominated mangrove forest had formed at the mouth of the Shark River. The mangrove-dominated coastal ecosystem here was established at least 2000 yr later than has been previously estimated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 00335894
- Volume :
- 83
- Issue :
- 3
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Quaternary Research
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 102851979
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yqres.2015.03.005