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A multiproxy peat record of Holocene mangrove palaeoecology from Twin Cays, Belize

Alaska Stable Isotope Facility, Water and Environmental Research Center and School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, Duckering Building, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Alaska 99775, USA, ffmjw{at}uaf.edu

Rebecca Morgan

Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Box 755780, Fairbanks Alaska, 99775, USA

Sarah Fowell

Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Box 755780, Fairbanks Alaska, 99775, USA

Hermann Behling

Department of Palynology and Climate Dynamics, Albrecht-von-Haller-Institute for Plant Sciences, University of Göttingen, Untere Karspüle 2, 37073 Göttingen, Germany

Marilyn Fogel

Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington, 5251 Broad Branch Road, NW Washington DC 20015-1305, USA

The extent and function of coastal mangrove ecosystems are likely to be influenced by future changes in sea level. Multiple proxies of past mangrove ecosystems preserved in a 780 cm long peat core (TCC2) taken from Twin Cays, Belize, record palaeoecological changes since ~8000 cal. yr BP. The proxies included pollen and the stable-isotope (C, N and O) compositions of mangrove leaf fragments. Rhizophora mangle (red mangrove) has been dominant at this site on Twin Cays for over ~8000 years. Variations in ¹³ C and ¹⁵N suggest past changes in stand structure between dwarf, transition and tall R. mangle through the Holocene. Marked changes in the ¹⁸O (up to ~4) of mangrove leaf fragments throughout TCC2 most likely record variations in the proportion of seawater versus precipitation taken up by past mangroves, reflecting the degree of inundation of the site with seawater resulting from changes in the rate of Holocene sea-level rise. Notably, a decline in peat accumulation rate at ~7200 cal. yr BP correlates with a decrease in the rate of rise in sea level. This was not accompanied by a marked change in the pollen assemblages. However, changes in assemblage composition began to occur ~6300 cal. yr BP, with an increase in Myrsine-type and Avicennia germinans (black mangrove) pollen. An increase in the ¹⁸O between 6100 and 5300 cal. yr BP, which correlates with other records from Central America, indicates a significant increase in the rate of rise in sea level.

Key Words: Palaeoecology • mangroves • Holocene • stable isotopes • pollen • oxygen • carbon • nitrogen • Belize.

The Holocene, Vol. 17, No. 8, 1129-1139 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0959683607082553


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