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This Is a Forest ‘Trapped In Time’

The aquatic life of the San Pedro Mártir River in Tabasco, Mexico, finds refuge in the submerged roots of the red mangrove forests.
The aquatic life of the San Pedro Mártir River in Tabasco, Mexico, finds refuge in the submerged roots of the red mangrove forests. Photo: Octavio Aburto

The Yucatán Peninsula looked a lot different when the forest first started growing than it does now. Sea levels were about 20 to 30 feet (6 to 9 meters) higher than they are today, flooding much of the lowlands in the state of Tabasco.

“The most amazing part of this study is that we were able to examine a mangrove ecosystem that has been trapped in time for more than 100,000 years,” study co-author Octavio Aburto-Oropeza, a marine ecologist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego and a PEW Marine Fellow, said in a press release. “There is certainly more to discover about how the many species in this ecosystem adapted throughout different environmental conditions over the past 100,000 years. Studying these past adaptations will be very important for us to better understand future conditions in a changing climate.”

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