Like skeletons anchored in the earth, the gray, barkless trunks that emerge in the Chesapeake Bay are vestiges of ancient coastal forests. They are called ghost forestsareas where trees such as cedars and pines have died irretrievably due to the intrusion of salt water.

This phenomenon, which is becoming increasingly visible throughout the Atlantic coast of the United Statesis a tangible sign of the impacts of the climate changehighlights Jude Coleman in an article published in Knowable Magazine.

Many of the ghost forests are a consequence of sea level rise, says coastal ecologist Keryn Gedan of George Washington University in Washington DC, co-author of a paper on salinization of coastal ecosystems published in the 2025 Annual Review of Marine Science.

It states that, since the late 19th century, more than 150 square miles (388 km²) of forest in the region have been invaded by marshes or converted to barren land. Rising sea levels, more intense storm surges, and soil salinization are slowly killing the trees by depriving them of fresh water.

However, not all is loss. In some cases, these dead forests are giving way to marshesecosystems that provide key services such as carbon storage, storm protection, and habitat for birds, crustaceans, and salt-tolerant plants. In areas such as the coastal rivers of southern Georgia, marshes have demonstrated even greater capacity to sequester carbon than old-growth forests.

But replacement is not always balanced. On the peninsula of Albemarle-PamlicoNorth Carolina, North Carolina ecologist Marcelo Ardón has documented how cypress- and deciduous-rich forests store more carbon than the marshes that replace them. In addition, some failed transitions result in land that is barren or invaded by Phragmites, an invasive sedge that displaces native species and alters the ecosystem.

Stephanie Stottsa forest ecologist at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in Princess Anne, warns that these processes may take decades to show their full impact.

"When many of these forests die, instead of being replaced by a native salt marsh ... what actually takes their place is a Phragmites marsh," he points out.

It is not yet clear how these coastal transitions will develop and whether, as the trees succumb, they will give way to healthy marshes. Trees take several decades to die, Stotts says, so the full impact of these skeleton forests remains to be seen.

Source: Knowable Magazine