Dr. Mathew Kirwan will give a talk on “Ghost Forests of the Chesapeake Bay: Implications for Dragon Run?” at the annual meeting of the Friends of Dragon Run which takes place at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 16, via Zoom. The public is invited to attend by registering for the talk at www.DragonRun.org.

Ghost forests are areas of dead trees adjacent to marshes that can be found in low-lying areas of the Chesapeake Bay.

They are an important indicator of sea level rise associated with saltwater incursion into wooded coastlines. Kirwan will discuss the growth of such areas in the coastal plain of Virginia and around the bay and address the implications of increased saltwater incursion in the Piankatank River and potentially into Dragon Run and the Dragon swamp. He will explain how ghost forests are a sign of ecological resilience in times of rapid change in the environment.

Kirwan is a leading authority on the challenges to coastal landscapes posed by sea level rise. His work on co...