Award of Excellence: Ghost Forests
A narrative picture story, essay, sequence, or series that increases the understanding and appreciation for science or the natural world. Studio scenes that are arranged by the photographer are not eligible.
A female catfish guards its eggs in the base of a cypress tree on the Black River. The dry season caused her to be stranded here, whereas normally she would be covered by feet of water. The Black River in North Carolina is home to the oldest cypress swamp in the world.
Ghost Forests
Ancient bald cypress once dominated the Atlantic Coastal Plain, anchoring waterways, swamps, floodplains and rivers occupying more than 40 million acres. Called the "wood everlasting" cypress was water-, insect- and rot-proof and was coveted by builders for shingles, decking and siding. By the mid-20th century, however, industrial logging, public apathy and federal incentives decimated all but approximately 10,000 acres of old growth trees. These last remaining stands of old trees are vital to not only wildlife and biodiversity, but scientists are gaining novel insight by studying the rings of these remarkable trees. As the fifth oldest tree species in the world, their annual growth rings reflect the seasonal rainfall patterns through soil moisture providing a climate record long before modern instrumentation existed. They are the stenographers of the past and also the harbingers of the future, warning us of what is to come. These trees occupy the sodden lowcountry of the southeast and are on the front line of rising sea levels and climate change. As saltwater intrudes into the low lying bottomlands of the Atlantic coast, cypress are dying in droves, becoming what scientists ominously call "ghost forests." Perhaps these ancient trees, which have withstood millennia of storms, hurricanes, fires and droughts can teach us how to be more resilient against the coming tide.
