Abstract
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The response of a mangrove coastline to sea level rise will depend upon shoreline topography. The stratigraphy and chronology of Holocene deposits on mangrove shorelines allow reconstruction of the way that mangrove forests have responded to rising sea level in the past, and thus provide some insight into how they may respond in the future. The survival of mangrove forests during the Quaternary shows that sea level rise rates of 10-15 mm/yr are unlikely to endanger the overall existence of mangrove forest ecosystems. Nonetheless, where sedimentation does keep pace with sea-level rise the forests will change their location. -K.Clayton