Palynological reconstruction of environmental changes in coastal wetlands of the Florida Everglades since the mid-Holocene

TitlePalynological reconstruction of environmental changes in coastal wetlands of the Florida Everglades since the mid-Holocene
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2015
AuthorsYao, Q, Liu, K-biu, Platt, WJ, Rivera-Monroy, VH
JournalQuaternary Research
Volume83
Issue3
Pagination449-458
ISSN0033-5894
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.

URLhttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0033589415000290
DOI10.1016/j.yqres.2015.03.005