Ellen A. Raabe

Sea-level rise and coastal forests on the Gulf of Mexico

DISCLAIMER This publication was prepared by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, expressed or implied, or assumes any legal responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed in the report, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference therein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. Any views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof. Coastal forests of the Gulf of Mexico 7 Coastal forest change during the Holocene 10 Sea-level rise and recent coastal forest change: Shifts in vegetation zones 17 Effects of hydrologic and geomorphologic characteristics of the coast on rates, patterns, and mechanisms of forest retreat 18 Common patterns in forest retreat: Relict stands at the coastal margin 21 Forest change and retreat in estuarine floodplains 23 Swamp and Bottomland Forests of the Mississippi Delta 24 Effect of sedimentation on swamp forest response to sea-level rise 27 Swamp forests of south Florida 28 Coastal swamp forests of Texas 29 Forest change and retreat on coasts with lesser freshwater outflows 29 Forest change and retreat on sandy shorelines 33 Hurricanes: Effects on coastal forest and potential interactions with sea-level rise 38 Hurricane effects on swamp forest 38 Hurricane effects on pine forest 41 Hurricane effects on hardwood hammocks 43 Hurricane effects on sandy shorelines 46 The role of hurricanes in coastal forest retreat 46 References 48 Tables Table 1. Classification of Gulf Coast regions 9 Table 2. Relative susceptibility of tree species to hurricane damage 40 Figures Figure 1. Coastal characteristics and forest types of the Gulf of Mexico 8a, 8b Figure 2. Current coastline of the Gulf of Mexico and isobaths at 100 m and 200 m 11 Figure 3. Past coastlines and recent natural vegetation of the Apalachicola delta 14 Figure 4. Cypress/tupelo distribution in the northern Gulf states 15 Figure5. Four coastal forest environments 20 Figure 6. Forest response to sea-level rise on different coastlines (generalized) 21-3-CHAPTER 2 SEA-LEVEL RISE AND MANGROVES 65 Zuleika Pinion Responses of mangroves to sea-level rise 65 Predictions …